Murphy Woodward-Smith

Devastating news

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but very sadly and unexpectedly my darling IRR Murphy passed away yesterday afternoon (9 March 2024).

He was absolutely fine on our family walk in the morning (photos from that walk below)- a new walk that he had fun exploring. When we got back to my parents’ house he collapsed in their garden. I thought he was dying then but after a couple of hours he wasn’t better but wasn’t worse.

My Dad kindly drove us back to my normal vets. Although he perked up a bit and gave me some false hope, they found he had a clot on his heart and a mass on his spleen and liver and he had blood in his belly.

He very peacefully passed in my arms, but all just a total shock really. He was the sweetest soul and full of joy and life. There will be comfort to take from it, in time, but I’m just really going to miss him, as is his canine brother Chase.

History

THE BEST HOME POSSIBLE (8.6.2019)

His new Mum said, “Thank you to Jane, who fostered Murphy, for all your help and support in settling him in. Yesterday was Murphy’s first full day with us, so we went to a secure enclosed field that we can hire near us. He and my other Retriever, Chase, and my Newfoundland girl, Gracie, were not put off by the rain and they all had lots of fun exploring together.

Another trip to the dog field this morning with Murphy and crew. Even more settling in today. We’ve even had upside down sleeping, Chase and him have started playing together in the house and we even managed a very short grooming session this morning. They all needed lots of rest and sleep this afternoon.

This was the first upside down sleep and tummy rub for Murphy – it’s lovely to see him far more relaxed this evening. He is so different from 24 hours ago when he was pacing a lot and barking at any noise he heard outside”.

Well done, Murphy, it looks like you have fallen firmly on all four paws or maybe not in this case!!!!!

UPDATES FROM MUM PIPPA

12.6.2019 Today, we took Murphy out for his first proper walk with us. He took everything in his stride and did some lovely recalls (on his lunge lead). He also met my sister and nephew and they were as smitten as we are! We also did some practice of settling in my home study for when I work from home. I’m so impressed with how quickly he’s settling in and adapting to his new home life. Thank you Jane for all the time and love you gave him.

4.7.2019 Murphy has been a part of our family for 4 weeks now. He’s really starting to relax this last week. First few photos are of our favourite walk where he’s able to run free the whole walk (apart from a few mins when we pass The Bog.

We also had our second training class today – the last photo is of him chilling out in the shade. He’s great for the other dogs who are a bit nervous of dogs as he’s so friendly and bomb proof but he is equally happy to not interact with the dogs. He did almost disappear into a hedgerow at one point but he was on a long line and worked out how to get back out!

20.7.2019 Murphy in his favourite habitat…the sea! It’s so lovely that not only does he get on like a house on fire with Chase, but he also has a mutual love affair with Chase’s sister Misty (who my parent’s own). All of them are happy to play with each other and when they play in different combination duos, without the third. I feel so very lucky

3.8.2019 So lovely to see Murphy happy and covered in horse sh*t after a scary couple of days. Thursday afternoon he suddenly had trouble being able to wee. After an afternoon with the vets they were none the wiser as to why it was happening but they had ruled out a lot of the more serious options. It was so hard to leave him there, seeing his little face as I walked away he had another couple of visits to rule out more possibilities and each time he towed the vets back down the corridor to find me. He was such a star with all the procedures – I’m so proud of him. He thankfully seems to be back to normal now, with no real idea of what happened, but I’m relieved that anything serious has been ruled out.

7.8.2019 Thank you to everyone for your kind messages after Murphy was unwell. I’m pleased to say he is still doing really well and things seem to be totally back to normal and hopefully it will remain just a weird one off mystery. Photo is of Murphy enjoying our walk this morning. He gets so excited when we’re meeting up with my parents and their golden. He loves Misty as much as he loves Chase.

MANDY RICHARDSON said Glad you are feeling better Murphy you are a very sociable boy. Misty, Chase and yourself make a great team of goldies. X

15.8.2019 Murphy and co – a pre-walk breakfast stop. It made me realise how much Murphy has changed since he’s been with us. In the first few weeks he’d joined our family when we stopped for lunch or drinks at pubs/cafes he couldn’t cope with people eating food and he’d be all over the place and would bark at any people approaching our table. This morning we stopped before our walk (usually it’s mid or after) so he was very excited but he still managed to sit patiently (for the most part) and didn’t bark at anyone approaching our table and waited patiently for their little treat at the end. My parents are always commenting on how far he’s come and how amazing he is

21.8.2019 I love that Murphy is now feeling confident enough to try to climb up onto my lap while I’m eating my dinner…lovely cheeky chappy

18.9.2019 Thank you everyone for your good thoughts and wishes. Murphy is home! He’s not very happy having his catheter drained at the moment and it needs to be manually drained 4 times a day for the next week. The intern has given some tips so I’m hoping i can find a way he’s happy with while I train to be happy voluntarily rolling onto his side for me to access the catheter. I’m definitely not a natural at it but hopefully we’ll get there without too much stress for either of us. The good news is that he can have on-lead walks straight away which will hopefully help him with dealing with it all. The sweetest thing (apart from my welcome) was seeing how happy Murphy was to see Chase and vice versa.

REPLY ……Thank you all for your kind comments and words of encouragement. First bladder drain completed! It took about 30 mins but I just took it really slow and made sure he was comfortable with each step before moving onto the next. He had a few quiet grumble at each step but then settled into it and when I actually got to attaching the tube he was fine. Hopefully it will just get easier and easier for both of us each time.  

24.9.2019 Murphy and his Chase I love how much this pair adore each other.

25.9.2019 A week on from Murphy coming home and he’s just doing so amazingly well! Initially the bladder drains were taking anywhere from 15-45 mins long with the hardest part being getting him to lay on the correct side for me to access his drain. It now takes about 5 mins from start to finish. Initially he would grumble when I would even touch the top of his leg, I really took the time in the first few days to take it really slowly and only progress to next step in the process when he was comfortable and relaxed. I’m so glad I took that time early on as he now lays on the correct side first time and within a min he lays flat on his side which is the cue for me starting the process and I can just lift his leg and access the drain immediately. The catheter area is healing well – still a little bit of leakage but very close to being fully sealed. I hope it happens soon as he’s soooo desperate to run off lead.

29.9.2019 Never blooming ends for this poor lad! He’s now bleeding a bit at his catheter site. I totally freaked out but he has the best specialist vet who was very understanding about me texting him on a Sunday evening and thinks it’s either inflammation or a small infection around the tube. Thankfully the antibs he’s already on should clear up any infection so just keep cleaning it regularly and keep an eye that it’s not getting worse. I just need to get my blood pressure back down to normal now.

9.10.2019 Three weeks after coming home, his catheter site has FINALLY sealed! The skin is quite delicate so he can’t go crazy quite yet but I’m just so relieved we’ve got to this stage. He is now off all pills/lotions/potions other than his normal bladder medication and hopefully it’ll now stay that way! Thank you for all the support over the last couple of months since he started having his issues. Hopefully it’ll be plain sailing for my gorgeous boy from now on. I wish he hadn’t had to go through it all but very grateful that we seem to be getting there and to be there by his side through it all trying to make it a little bit easier. He’s one special boy.

I have to say, if anyone is wondering which insurance company to use for their IRR dog, Bought By Many have been amazing – only one question asking for his previous vet records and they were fine when I explained I didn’t have them and they’ve paid out about £7k now no questions asked. The specialist vet claimed directly from them too which was very helpful.

19.10.2019 This photo may not look like much but Murphy has made such huge strides in the 4 months since he’s been here. He resource guarded to people when he first came to IRR, his lovely fosterer started him on the path to trust. When he first came home with us he always wanted to take any chews away and ate them in the garden. He now has all his chews, however high value, in the same room as me and the other two. He has no issues with me walking near him when he has it. I haven’t actually done any active training with it as with his health issues he’s had enough to deal with so this has all just come with time and his developing trust in me. I just couldn’t be prouder of this incredible boy. I’m so grateful to IRR for bringing him into our lives 🥰

24.10.2019 Nom nom nom! Murphy’s first bone! Up until now I’ve just given him chews he can eat in one sitting. This was the next step up for him. Not only did he still stay in the room to chew it 🙌🏻 but he came into the garden, and left his bone, when I called them all out which gave me an opportunity to go in and pick up the bones without the dogs around. As you can see he has zero concerns about having such high value chews around other dogs. So proud of this boy! 🥰

13.11.2019 Bitey face play central round ours today

We spend Christmas at my parents’ and so today we did a trial run to see how the dogs would all settle in together and how Murphy would cope (after a beach walk of course! We meet up regularly with my parents and their Retriever for walks but this was the first time back to their house.

My sister and her kids popped round to visit too and we had a big roast dinner. All the dogs did us proud but I was so pleased at how relaxed Murphy was and how he took it all in his stride. Such a superstar!

6.12.2019 It’s exactly six months since we adopted Murphy! I cannot thank IRR and his fosterer Jane enough for all you’ve done for Murphy. He is such a special lad – everyone loves him and he’s just fitted in to our family perfect

10.12.2019 This fella had quite the adventure this morning…and scared the bejeezus out of me in the process!! After 3-4 months of solid recall in our local park Murphy has gone back to running to the river that runs alongside the whole park for a swim at any given moment. This morning I let him off in a part of the park where he has never run to the river before but he did this morning. To make matters worse it was still dark and with all the trees that line along the bank I couldn’t see him, even with the flashing light on his harness. I spent 30 mins frantically calling, whistling and walking up and down the side of the river. I honestly thought I’d lost him forever. Two lovely ladies who we meet regularly on walks stopped and helped me search for him. One of them finally got a sight of Murphy – when I got there I saw him climb out of the river onto a bank the opposite side of the river to where we were. Just horrendous. Thankfully he came back over and made it through the reeds to one of the ladies helping. I then burst into tears on them. So we will be going back to basics with keeping him on long line in the park for the time being. Has anyone found a regression in recall with their IRR dogs? I wasn’t really expecting it to happen in the middle of winter when it’s cold but the call of the water is clearly proving too tempting for him at the mo!

LEONIE PEACOCK That has made me smile in the kindest possible way. Alfie at 10 has discovered his inner most stubborn golden gene and recall is as much on his terms than mine these days. This is fine as he is now slower than he was and a run after a rabbit or deer seldom goes on to a place where he is out of site – it is just pure golden fun. The other day on a walk he vanished, I called and searched but could not find him. Finally very close to tears I phoned for a back up party. A few minutes later he appeared through the trees a little out of breath and clearly looking for me. So regression of any form with this beautiful, intelligent and funny breed seems so normal. Take care, it sounds like a very traumatic start to your day

14.12.2019 Murphy was surrendered to IRR with very little history given, so I have no idea how much experience he has had with kids, but I’m always in awe about how wonderful he is with my niece and nephews. He’s my superstar! 🥰

25.12.2019 Merry Christmas everyone! 🥰 Murphy’s first Christmas with us and I think he enjoyed it 😁 his first present opening, a lovely walk on the beach and being adored by my family. I hope everyone has had a lovely day with those they love the most xx

26.12.2019 Family Christmas round 2 and I think Murphy’s face says everything about how much he enjoyed being a part of the festivities! He’s absolutely shattered now (as we all are) but it was lovely to see his happy face and how well behaved all the dogs were with the total mayhem that is all my family together under one roof

29.12.2019 We’re making the most of the Xmas break – I think Murphy is enjoying all the beach trips and visits to my parents’ house

31.12.2019 has not been the easiest of years, however the biggest highlight has undoubtedly been Murphy joining our family. Little did I know it at the time but we were also joining the IRR family. You have all been so wonderfully supportive with Murph’s health issues and I’m so pleased that he’s ending the year in such good health and fully adapted to our bladder draining routine. I hope 2020 is a great year for everyone and I look forward to seeing all the new IRR dogs who will find their perfect forever families in 2020. Thank you once again for our wonderful boy. 🥰

A couple of months after adopting him, he developed a rare bladder condition and has a permanent catheter.

3.1.2020 Murphy enjoying a trip to his spiritual home (the beach 😂) AND a doggy donut when we stopped for a cuppa! 🥰

15.2.2020   Murphy’s first experience of a kite I think. He initially thought it was a bird to chase 🙈😂 but he was then happy to just sit and watch it. Perfect new drying coat from Barker & Brown (IRR themed of course) to dry off in after! Bamboo towelling lined and gorgeous soft fleece. He’s happily snoozing away in it now whereas with his ruff & tumble he was always following me around wanting it to be taken off

22.2.2019 I can’t think why he has the nickname PigPen

4.3.2020 Murphy smiles brighten up even the most grey and drizzly of mornings

5.3.2020 Lots of fun and running about in the rain, means a snoozy Murphy this evening

The one with the grin is Misty (my parents dog) litter sister to my Chase. She’s lovely

6.3.2020 There is a reason why Murphy has a squirrel themed collar

7.3.2020 There was ONE muddy puddle on our walk…just the one…pure Murphy

21.3.2020 Murphy full of the joys of Spring

HISTORY

Murphy is a 5 to 6 year old Golden Retriever. As is normal, he was legally prepared for travel to the UK by being vet checked and Rabies vaccinated so he could obtain his Pet Passport.

On arrival in the UK he went into foster with Jane.

GREAT NEWS (JUNE 2019)

Murphy went to his perfect Forever Home