murray is our true “earthdog” – this dog was made for digging. just take a gander at his shovel-like paws; his low-to-the-ground, girthy body; his long, floppy ears providing flying dirt protection; and his course hair that makes him truly self-cleaning. he also, coincidentally, happens to be my idea of one of the greatest beings in the world. i often say that when i look at him he literally hurts my heart…i am truly enamored of this guy and i am certain that he was made just for me. probably because of my overzealous fondness for murray, dave isn’t as adoring of him – quite frankly murray drives him crazy.
when we lived in a house with a smaller yard dave was constantly yelling at murray to quit digging. only making matters worse was the fact that i would generally tell dave to stop yelling at murray, citing that clearly murray was made for digging – it’s his job. while dave agreed, he couldn’t deal with our small yard being dug up…guess i can’t blame him for that. now that we have a few acres dave has relaxed on the digging thing and seems to understand that murray is a much happier dog when he’s allowed freedom to dig – plus he realizes that we would actually have a sizeable mole problem if not for murray. i, of course, revel in murray’s vindication!! i always knew he wasn’t digging indiscriminately. dave has asked nicely every spring that i fill in murray’s holes which, every year i happily agree to and, admittedly, have never done. i’m actually giving him the opportunity to tell me “i told you so” when i fall in one of the holes and break my ankle. these are the little gifts i give.