Murphy's arrival

Murphy had a long day! When I first began looking at dogs that the Rat Terrier rescue, New Rattitude, had available for adoption, I was looking at Gizmo, if you remember, from a previous post. He was located in Morganton, NC, 150 miles away, which at the time, I thought was a good distance to travel. The rescue group does look for volunteers to drive parts of the route though, and if possible, no one needs drive more than approximately 70 miles. However, when we decided on Oslo (now Murphy), he was located near Atlanta, Ga, or around 360 miles away. Quite a ride for the little guy I'm sure.

We finalized the adoption of Murphy, the week before we were scheduled for our beach vacation, so the foster family kept him until we returned. They were able to schedule transport for the following Thursday, with me making the final pickup in Concord, just over 100 miles away. So, around 3;30, I began my journey to pick up the dog, I'd never met. I, being me, arrived ahead of schedule, and the person driving the leg prior was only slightly late, and Murphy and I met for the first time, outside a McDonalds in Concord, NC. The drive home was much better with the company for sure. We arrived home around 8:30, and Murphy was allowed to explore his new yard for a while, then introduced to Sydney outside. Things went better than I expected with this initial introduction. Then we moved inside, and though Sydney obviously didn't want this stranger in her house, there were no serious confrontations, just a bit of growling, which again, was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Then, my first unpleasant experience occurred. I assumed that Murphy hadn't been fed since the morning, and he was used to eating twice a day, so I decided to give him his quarter cup of food, in his shiny new bowl. I've seen dogs who gulp their food, but never a 15 pound little guy who tries to eat it all in one bite. The choking was the part that really concerned me, but he managed to get in all in, and down, and it stayed. Then outside again to do the necessary things dogs need to do after eating. It had been a long day for him, and only slightly shorter for me, after working almost a full day, then driving 200 plus miles, so Murphy was escorted into his new crate, with it's new bed, and settled in for the night, and I soon after, do the same, but on an old mattress, and of course with no bars separating me from the rest of the world. Tomorrow, Murphy's entrance to our lives can begin in earnest.