We’ll Miss You, Murphy Brown

Written by pbrown on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 ( 2 responses )

Murphy Brown came to live with us in 1998. Heidi and I were living in Medford at the time, and she really wanted a dog. She spent a bunch of time trying to decide on a breed and eventually settled on a Corgi. I remember the first time we met Murphy. She was about two years old, and her name was Candy Cane. We had driven up to a dog show in Grants Pass to meet her. She was living with a bunch of German Shepherds on the Oregon Coast because her original owner had left her at home to go to college. She was skittish and not very social. But Heidi fell in love, and we brought her home.
Almost immediately Heidi took her to the vet, and we had our first health crisis. She had heart worms, and we had to treat her right away. She bounced back pretty quickly though, and it didn’t seem to effect her after that.

We knew she needed a new name, but we couldn’t think of one right away. One night we were watching a rerun on late night TV and we both thought, “Murphy Brown?” And the name stuck.

Murphy followed us all over the Northwest. From Medford to an apartment in Spokane, to a house in Spokane, and an apartment and house here on the west side. The longer she lived with us the more her confidence grew and the more outgoing she got. It seemed like it took her about a year to actually bark around us, but once she started, it was tough to get her to stop!


We didn’t always see eye-to-eye on everything. She loved to leave her hair on everything she touched, and seemed to particularly enjoy rubbing up against my pants when I was most dressed up. She used to freak out when we’d turn the TV off, and when we’d leave the house. She had a bad habit of peeing in the house, but most of the time that was our fault for forgetting to let her out.

When our daughters arrived over the past couple of years, she was a model canine citizen. She was patient with Charlotte and her grabbing hands, and never once did anything aggressive. She followed Heidi around and kept her company during the many feedings that come with having babies around.

She had a great relationship with the feline member of our household too. Cougar and Murphy could often be seen cuddling on the floor, and Cougar would get upset when we took Murphy out of the house.

Murphy had been getting sick for the past few months, but you are never really ready for the end. This morning when I came downstairs I knew right away something was wrong. She didn’t get out of bed like she normally does, and when she finally went outside she collapsed in a flowerbed. Heidi had to pick her up to get her inside. Heidi took her to the vet when they opened, and after a couple hours of tests it was clear that her kidneys had failed her. Just after noon we went back and said goodbye to her, and the vet put her to sleep. Murphy was 13 years old, and lived with us for 11.