Murray

Murray, or Mur-Monster as she's affectionately known, is our crazy mutt. I picked her out from the Kent County Animal Shelter when Ted and I had only been dating for about a month. I had been thinking about getting a dog for a few months, since I was living alone and missed having a dog to come home to. 

How could I resist that poor little innocent puppy? I signed all the paperwork and she had to stay an extra couple days so they could spay and microchip her. I picked her up on a Friday after work so I would have all weekend to spend with her. Ted was excited to have a dog to play with again since his parent's moved away with his family dog Baylee.

So how did Murray get her name? I had been looking at another male dog that was adopted when I came back for a second look. My middle name is Marie and my dad used to always call me Murray for a nickname. We used to watch Mad About You when I was a kid and they had a dog with that name too. So when I found a female dog instead of a male, I decided she was a Murray anyway and the name stuck. 

Look at that little monster face. She's probably scheming what she can chew up next. Oh yeah, Mur's a chewer all right. We've lost a couple remote controls, shoes, our living room rug, countless dog toys, catalogs, and she's even gnawed on a few windowsills. I leave a snowbrush in the backseat of my car just to give her something to do on car rides. Because she freaks out in the car too. She's a little demon in disguise. 

That would be one rug, one catalog and one pillow down for the count.

Yeah, we know your tricks Murray. 

One thing I was very happy about was the fact that I was allowed to bring her to work with me. She was only six months old at the time and still had a couple accidents at home once in a while. We tried crate training her, but the little houdini kept escaping and making a mess, so we gave up on that. Luckily, my office was full of dog lovers, so Mur stayed in my office with a baby gate if I needed to keep her contained. I could let her out whenever she needed to go, and I could take her for a walk on my lunch break. 

She's telling me she needs more water in this one.

After about six months of her going to work with me everyday, I quit my old job and got a new one where I wouldn't be able to bring her with me anymore. She was old enough by then that she was fine staying home all day, and I'm able to go home for my lunch break now to let her out. We found out she has some pretty bad food allergies, so after a switch to hypo-allergenic (EXPENSIVE) dog food, she's doing wonderfully. 

Little monster knows she's not allowed on the bed, but couldn't care less if she gets caught.

Ted saw this picture of Buddy, my parent's dog and called it his "Glamour Shot." Haha. Buddy can't help it he's a pretty boy. I took this picture when we first got him back in 2007.

When we got our engagement pictures taken, we brought Murray along because she's part of our little family. She was really jealous of Buddy's picture, so now they're even lol. 

Murray might be terrible to walk on a leash, chew up umpteen rolls of toilet paper and terrorize the squirrel population in our neighborhood, but for some reason we love her anyway. She is very affectionate, playful and sweet natured otherwise, so apparently that's enough to make up for her craziness. Let's just say we watch a lot of Dog Whisperer.