Blue Moon Hike to end 2009

Tonight was a Blue Moon. It din't look blue to me at all, but what do I know?

Mom says a Blue Moon is the 2nd full moon of the month, or the 4th full moon in a season. Either way...the moon was huge tonight and very bright!

Mom and her friends decided it would be the perfect way to start New Year's Eve....so we were off to Cowles Mountain, a local mountain near San Diego that is perfect for a moonlight hike. Cowles Mountain has well maintained trails and a great view of the city in all directions.

The trail was dark and I got to wear my flashy light. We had a pretty big group with 2 other doggies, but one of the doggies (a 8 month old boxer) didnt like me so I wasn't able to play with them at all.

It was a fun hike though. 1.5 miles to the top.

Marker at the top of Cowles Mountain

My adoring fans can be found everywhere...even at the peak.

Me & Mom at the summit...see the blue moon in the right corner?

By the time we got home, I was pooped. I was so tired I din't even want to eat dinner...instead I just found the most comfortable spot in the house and passed out.

don't bother me..I'm sleepin!

52 weeks for dogs (2010)

Mom is very excited...she was accepted into a Flickr group called "52 weeks for dogs". Its a photo challenge for 2010 where she will have to submit 1 picture a week of yours truly.

That means I am going to be seeing that flashy camera thingy in my face. A lot.

lucky me

48 week measurements (11 months!)

48 weeks (11 months), 124 lbs, 34.75" tall

My First Christmas

Mom and I headed up to the Grandpawrents house on Christmas eve. It was kinda a slow drive cuz of traffic, but soon enough we were there.

The house was decorated with all kinds of red & white! Mom called some of the decorations "Stockings"...can you guess which one is mine?

There was a great big tree all decorated with lights and ornaments. And guess what?! It was in the HOUSE!! I never seen a tree in the house like that before. I thought it was kinda silly, but I'll go with the flow.

Then I saw all the presents under the tree! I sure hope some of them are for me!!

Later on, I got to meet someone super special. This is my GREAT Grandmaw! She is 93 years old, and right away we hit it off.

The last day we were at my Grandpawrents Mom and I got up super early and got to see this beautiful present! I think its perfect and told Mom it was a sign from Sophie that she was now happy and healthy and havin fun at the Rainbow Bridge.

Goodbye Sweet Sophie...

Murphy's Mom here...

Tonight my heart is breaking. A piece of me is missing, gone forever...my beautiful sweet gentle Sophie has gone to the rainbow bridge. It was with a heavy heart that I helped her make the transition. I have so many doubts...even though every inch of my brain told me it was time to help her make that journey, at the same time every inch of my heart told me it was too soon.

As I write this, I can hear an enormous fireworks display being set off...literally. My house is located close enough to the football stadium to hear the fireworks celebrations when a game is going on. Tonight however, the celebration is in honor of Sophie KitTON and the love and joy she has brought to my life for over 17 years.

The thought of falling asleep tonight, without her soft fur against my skin...without her strong purr in my ear is more than I can bear. Even now sitting here in front of the computer, I expect her to come and sit next to me...waiting for me to pick her up so she can lie in my lap while I type.

Sophie has been my one constant for so long.

And now she's gone.

I know she's in a better place. Rubbing, purring and headbutting against Bristol, Tyler and Hannah. Free of the evils of cancer, free of pain and discomfort. Free of taking medicine every day, twice a day.

I miss her though, I want my kitty back...with every fiber of my being. If I could have one Christmas wish it would be to have her back. Even if it were just for one more night.

I love you, Sophie KitTON.

Rest in peace

Wordless Wednesday

Tryin to get into the Christmas spirit

Mom took the day off today to in order to use up the last of her vacation days and to get some last minute Christmas preparation completed. Instead of hitting the crazy malls though, she decided to take me over to Balboa Park for a nice long walkie.

One of the Christmas traditions here in Sandy Eggo is for the outdoor theater to put on a performance of "The Grinch". Mom decided she wanted to get a picture of me with the Christmas tree, but found it a little difficult as I got a little skeered of all those creepy "Whos from Whoville". It took a little doin for me to finally sit in front of the tree...and even then it was pretty nerve wracking for me!

In the end Mom decided it was just best to torture me thru digital art. Obviously, she has no concern over my pride or dignity...especially since she is posting it on my bloggie for all the world to see. But, check it out...finally! Snow in Sandy Eggo!!

Happy Holidays from Murphy the Red Nose Great Dane!

Rover!

How exciting!! You remember the coffee table book I am in?

Well, it got some pretty nice publicity over the last couple of weeks. Just in time for Christmas I guess!

1st, it was a feature on the "Extra" television show. You can watch the video here.

Then (and Mom's even more excited about this!) it was one of Ellen's giveaways on her show! Check out that video here!

If you watch carefully, you can see a glimpse of me on the back cover! WOOF! WOOF


You can even become a fan of Rover on Facebook!

if you are interested in buyin it, there are 2 different options for the cover. If I were you, I would pick the smilin pittie mix. Mainly cuz your's truly is on the back cover of that one. But that's just me!

A nice way to end a Saturday

Hokey Smokes Bullwinkle! I got an award!

The prettiest little Bossie (Border Collie Australian Shepherd Mix), Emma Rose, was handing out awards to her blogging doggie friends, and she picked ME!

This whole bloggin community is super neat. Who knew there were so many incredible doggie bloggers out there in this big wide world? Oh, and we can't forget their humans (aka, secretaries). Without those opposable thumbs, where would us doggies be?

Since she was so sweet as to pass on this awesome award to me, I am gonna hafta do the same.

Some of my favoritests blogs are as follows (in no particular order!). All of these doggies are funny and sweet, and have the most wonderfullest adventures! I sure hope they enjoy this award as much as I did!

Niamh & Ambrose over at Setter Tails.

Heffner & Bess (most super awesome doggies who just sent me pawsome toys!) at Life with Big Dogs.

Sage, Guiness & WeirdO (err...uhm, I mean GrouchO!) over at Splorin Wolfies.

and lastly, but not leastly...some doggies who are amazingly agile in agility. Wicca, Vito, Boone & Pixel over at Many Muddy Paws.

You say its December?

It was yet another sunny, warm day here in Sandy Eggo. You'd think I'd get tired of it, huh? You think wrong.

Over the last few weeks its been pretty chilly. While the days have been kinda warm (mid to high 60's), the nights are kinda cool (low 40's). It felt nice and wintery according to Mom and we even had a fire in the the fireplace a few nights! Mmmmm...I've decided I like fires. They sure feel good!

The on Saturday, we had a heatwave. Ok, I guess you can't really call it a 'wave' since its only suppose to last for a day, but either way, I'll take it!

Mom took advantage of the nice weather to head out to another Great Dane Meetup. Can you say FUN?!?

All my favorite GD's were there, including my 2 girlfriends Cloey and Maggie. These 2, along with their sidekick Dexter (an Italian Greyhound) are regulars at my normal doggie park, so I see them a lot and we have a really good time together!

Cloey

Maggie (lookin quite cute!)

Dexter

Bentley also came out, although we didn't play together so much today. He came without his sister Cleo cuz his Mom was going to lunch with the rest of the peoples and Cleo is too naughty to take to a place where there are foodables. The last time she went to lunch with us, she stole part of her Mom's sandwich, and tried to steal sumthin else from a table who wasn't even part of our group! It was kinda embarassing for Cleo's Mom so Cleo has been banned from the lunch outings.

Bentley

Tuttle

I got to play with other doggies besides my Great Dane friends too. Me and a Boxer played keep away for quite a while. It was FUN!

Bentley and I played for a bit.

Harlow also came out to play today. I haven't seen her in a little while cuz she recently got spayeded and pexied. I forgot how pretty she is! And, boy...does she have a LONG tongue!

Harlow

This was a new park that we hadn't been to before, so there were lots of new smells to investigate.

Dexter, the Italian Greyhound, is so much fun! He's not like your typical little doggie...since he grew up with Great Danes, I think he believes he is one! (a mantle of course!)

He really likes Ari and Titan so he spent a lot of time playin with them.

Tuttle and I played lots. He has been to several of the meetups, but this was the first time we had such a good time together!

Right before we left, this cute little girl got to the park. She was a 5 month old bloodhound. Just check out those ears! She sure is gonna be a heartbreaker when she gets older!

Mom keeps tellin me not to take for granted the pawesome weather we have in Sandy Eggo. I'm not quite sure what she means by that, but I sure do plan to take advantage of it every little bit I can!

Gettin the hang of it

Mom says if you're squeamish you may want to skip this post. Lots of raw meat pictures...some kinda bloody (just the way I like em!)

Its been 9 days since Mom started me on the raw diet and both of us are really startin to get the hang of it. Mom found a great price for whole chickens, so she has been buying a bunch and stockin up.

Here's what about a weeks worth of food looks like...pre-processing.

yummy chicken.

At first, Mom was removing the skin so my tummy couldnt get too freaked out by the new food I was eating. The skin is pretty fatty you see, and can sometimes cause digestive issues (aka, runny poops!) in doggies with sensitive tummies.

Once I was eating the skinless chickens for a few days, Mom decided to just leave the skins on and see how I did. I am happy to report I have had no problems!! Other than losing a couple pounds from not eating enough in the first few days, I have made a smooth transition over to a completely raw diet.

Now, lucky me....here's what I get to eat in a day. Half a chicken!! Mom gives me one half in the morning and one half for dinner. It sure is yummy! As soon as she opens the fridge now, I am headed for my pen, ready to eat.

Mom's gettin the hang of things too. Cuttin up and freezing the chicken has gotten to be a much more efficient job. Takes hardly any time and right now there's about 2 more weeks worth of food stored in the freezer. She's even freezin me the yummy innerds from the birds! She says those are special treats that I'll get in a few more days. Guess I'll have to wait to see how I like em!

46 week measurements

46 weeks, 120 lbs, 34.25" tall

Mom's gotten kinda lazy with this...I think cuz I haven't really growed all that much more in the last few weeks. Watch for a few more posts on my height & weight, cuz once I turn a year she said she's gonna stop keepin track. Instead she might go to once every 3 months or so...just not every week.

Sophie KitTON

Mom is kinda sad these days...Sophie KitTON is sick, and is not going to get better.

You see, Sophie KitTON has lymphoma. She was diagnosed over 3 years ago and Mom has been treating her with lots of medicines. She is such a good kitty! Every morning and every night she takes her pills without a complaint.

Earlier this month, Sophie had to go to the special list for her regular 8 week checkup. It was there that Mom found out some bad news. The betterinarian says there's a mass on Sophie liver. She is not sure if the lymphoma has spread, or if it is a different type of liver cancer, but either way its not good news.

Mom had to make the hard decision. The betterinarian wanted to do something called an uhltra-sound and biop-sea to find out exactly what is wrong with Sophie KitTON.

Mom said no. Sophie KitTON has had enough.

That was a very hard decision...but Sophie KitTON turned 17 in August and has had a VERY full life. 3+ years of living with lymphoma and keeping it at bay. Mom say's that's 3+ years longer than she thought Sophie KitTON would be around. Its really not fair to Sophie to put her thru any more. Sophie told me she is tired of having to go to the betterinarian every 8 weeks for blood work. She doesnt mind the pills, but she doesn't want more surgeries. And she sure as heck doesnt want to have to take IV drugs to fight the liver lymphoma, if that is what it is.

So, now we are waiting. The betterinarian told Mom it could be 6 weeks...or it could be 9 months. It all just depends on what it is.

But now...after only 2 weeks, Sophie KitTON isnt eating very well. It prolly doesnt help that I keep stealin her foodables...but they do taste oh so yummy. She also has kind of a fat belly, which is strange since she isnt eating much. Mom said she prolly has fluid in her abdomen, but without more tests its hard to know.

Now its just about quality of life for Sophie. She is gettin all kinds of attention, and Mom won't even let me harass her anymore. Life is definitely not fair, but I guess its all about Sophie right now. I just keep leanin against Mom so she knows she is making the right decision, as hard as it is. It doesn't always stop Mom's eyes from leaking though. 17 years isn't long enough.

She's a lucky KitTON...over 17 years with Mom. I can only hope to grow that old one day!

breakin the law, I'm breakin the law...

My feet are on the floor...

my butt is on the (cat) bed.

so technically, that means I'm not on the furniture, right?

Paw It Forward!

I got mail!!

Dis is the first package EVER that has come special to me. At first, when I saw that the UPS guy had been here, I was a little wary.

That guy can be bad news.

I think it has sumthin to do with his brown shirt, brown shorts and brown shoes. I usually have to chase him away with a bark and a grrrr.

Mom and I investigated by the back door to see what he had left, and whaddya know! The package was for ME!!

It came all the way from my fellow (and fella) doggie bloggers in Oregon! I'm not so sure zactly where dat is, but Mom says its kinda far from here. Its part of a game called Paw It Forward. They got some super fun stuff from Darwin who got super fun stuff from Moose (and so on and so on!), and then I was one of the lucky guys to now get super fun stuff from Bess and Heffner! This bloggin community sure is fun!

I could smell the fun inside. Just waitin to be let out.

Can I open it Mom? Can I?
I was right. Dis box was FULL of fun!

It definitely called for some more investigating.
I used my sniffer a bit to detect the level of funness.

There was all kinds a fun stuff inside. A squeaky ball with legs, a crinkly doggie, some fun bubbles Mom said we could play with at dog park tomorrow, and a supersized squeaky tennis ball! I wonder how they knew I loved sqeaky stuff so much?

I got down to business right away, testin each of the toyz out. First the crinkly doggie.

Next was the red squeaky toy with legs. Yeppers...that's a mighty fine squeaker in there!

Mom even got a video of me playin with the squeaky red toy. Its not annoying or anything!

Then, I realized why I loved the yellow crinkly dog so much! Its just like one of my first toys that I had when I was just a young pup!! I immediately removed the plasticy bottle from inside..flippy floppy toys are much better than crinkly crunchy ones. BOL.

So...I have to send many "Thanks!" to Bess & Heffner for their thoughtful toys. And now Mom says its my turn to Paw It Forward! So, the first 3 people who send me a comment that they want to participate will be part of the fun! Please have your human leave their email address in the blog comment and Mom will contact them to get your snail mail address. I might not be able to pick out gifts soon enough for Christmas, but they'll be a lot of fun for the new year!