We brought Murphy home from the rescue centre in May 2005 aged 8. When we met for the first time he was so big and very overweight. We were rather anxious about how he would settle into our country homestyle. Funny remembering how our 4 year old son remarked that we had not brought him home a dog but a 'donkey'!! Then we woke one morning shortly after he came home to hear Scott shouting, 'He's going to eat me'.... on rushing to the kitchen Murphy was sitting facing our son who was standing on the top of the sofa with his back against the wall. Murphy had the most bemused expression that was so funny. They were basically the same height as each other!!
We all fell instantly in love with him and with lots of patience and time Murphy's weight dropped from 60kg to 47kg. He looked fantastic and his vets were delighted that all the hard work had been worth it for Murphy as he was a different dog, no longer struggling to get up and plodding about, not able to run or play with a ball as he was so overweight. He would now race about and greet you in the driveway like an excited puppy, bound round the 8 mile forestry track behind our house with us, go up the hills, play football with the boys, run along beside us on the push bikes etc. He was our 2 boys new best friend and they were so close, loyal and affectionate to each other, especially our 12 year old as they were the same age as they grew older together and often he would sleep on the kitchen sofa to keep him company.
Our cat Ziggy and him were like Tom and Jerry but they had the mutual respect for each other. He loved the snow and was like a big bear rolling about in it and chasing the boys on the sledges. Murphy became the big friendly bear to all who had the pleasure to meet him. Sadly 18 months ago he developed a number of health problems including spondulosis and a spinal cord condition that began to take its toll on his mobility. He was known as the 'Big Gentleman' to his 2 vets who were amazing with him and who he visited often in the past number of months. They would comment that smaller dogs were the most troublesome but Murphy was a pleasure to treat.
The big walks stopped even though he wanted to go, he seemed happy to just be about his home and the big garden he loved to run round (1 and 1/3 acres). At Xmas this year due to the sever frost we had to take one of our chickens inside to heat up and he was right there as always making sure she was ok and keeping guard. Sadly we knew the time had come for Murphy when he yelped in pain depsite his high doze of daily Metacam. So it was with a very heavy heart that we set out with Murphy on his final journey on the 11th February 2010 and we said goodbye to our big, handsome boy and special friend, who at 12 1/2 years crossed over to Rainbow Bridge to meet new friends.
Murphy came into our lives as an older dog, yet made a huge impact on all who had the honour to meet him as he behaved like a youngster. He was the perfect gentleman all round and has left a big void in our lives. Our 2 boys now 12 and 8 miss him but were comforted when they read the Rainbow Bridge poem and know we did right by Murphy and he is now at peace chasing the rabbits... Many happy memories we hold from the past near 5 years. Thank you for letting Murphy come into our lives and although having previously had GSD's from puppies nothing was more rewarding than taking an older dog who had several issues, mainly his weight to work on, we went through so much together to get him in top condition, it was so rewarding and he repaid us in full with the love he gave in return. The impact Murphy had on so many in our small community has been huge and so much so his vet and staff sent us a condolence card for our deep loss. Good night Murph, run boy run xxx
Love from Allan, Carrie, Ali and Scott xx and all who came to love you dearly xxxx