Thanks for many friends to help us to take care Murphy when we are out of town. Here is some suggestion that may help you to take care Murphy. I post here so we can reuse them later.
AREA - INDOOR BUT LIMITED SPACE
AREA - INDOOR BUT LIMITED SPACE
Murphy is an indoor dog. He feel much comfortable stay indoor. In the other hand, when he first arrive, the right thing to do is to show him where is his line. Be very clear to him which area he should stay by saying "NO" in harsh voice when he cross the line. He will respect that. We NEVER let him get into our bedroom area and he never cross that line. He only stay in our kitchen, living room and dinning room area. When my friends take care of him, Murphy always respect the line they setup for him in their home. But you do need to make it very clear to him when he first arrive, in the first day.
SOFA / CHAIR RULE
In our home, Murphy is only allowed to sit on the floor and are NOT allow to on any chair or sofa. (except one particular one we allow him to stay later). He know that is the rule so he won't climb on any sofa or chair. But when he come to the new place, since it is all new environment to him, you also need to make it clear to him. (In case he try to climb, say harsh voice "NO" to him should be enough). However, he like to sit next to any person on the floor. And he usually come very very quietly. So you do need to be extra careful NOT to step on him or be tumbled by him when you stand up from chair or walk.
CRATE
We have a Crate like this one. (may be in slightly different size). We will bring that to your home. It will be nice if you can keep that indoor somewhere. It is better if you put the crate somewhere close to the door to the backyard that he can get outside for potty. He will like to stay inside that crate. (It is his home. He feel safe inside that crate. So he will prefer to stay inside the first 1-2 days). The lock of that crate have some issue so you may need to use a chair or some heavy object to block the door to "lock it" (or simply move the crate to face a wall to block the opening) instead of using the lock on the door. He usually stay inside the crate at night time. Here is my suggestion:
- Always "lock" him inside that crate every night when you go to sleep. (Keep saying in nice voice "Crate" after him and point finger to the crate and he will go inside that crate). Lock him inside during the night.
- Always "lock" him inside the crate when you go out and leave him alone inside the house alone. He is new to your place and you should not let him loose in your home when no one at home.
- He should be with no problem to be lock for 6-8 hours without potty. Don't worry if you are shopping for 4-5 hours. Not a problem for him.
- If you lock him inside the create for more than 3-4 hours, open the door to the backyard first before you unlock him. Once you unlock the crate, say "Go Potty" to him and let him out right away.
POTTY
Murphy is an indoor dog and he will go potty only outside. And even you let him go to the backyard you may also want to keep saying "Go Potty" to let him know he is ok to do his business there. I never train him to potty on a particular spot so he may not be able to do it in a particular spot if you like him to do.
- As I stated above, open the door to the backyard first before you unlock him from the create every morning or when you back home.
- If he come to you and "sing". that mean he want to go to backyard. He may need to "go potty" or simply he want to play. Use your judgement to decide let him out or not. Most of the time, he need to go potty. but sometime he just want to get out to play and you can ignore him. But if he have not yet use restroom for > 2 hours, it probably really mean he need to "go potty".
GOOD MORNING / GREETING
He will come to "greet" you for about five minutes in the morning or when you come back. Give him a thirty second attention (by petting him and say "Good Murphy" in nice voice to him) will be enough for him to walk away. He just want to be friendly to you. He may try "climb up" on your leg in that period. But that is just he want to get your attention, say "Good Morning" / "Welcome home" and want you to pet him.
FEEDING
Murphy need dog food and water. And that is it. We will bring the dog food and Petmate Le Bistro Feeder with Microban and Petmate Le Bistro Waterer with Microban . Fill water into the Waterer and fill dog food in the Feeder and place them close to his crate. He will eat and drink whenever he need to. Just need to make sure he still have water and food once per week. He is self feeding. Don't worry about over feeding. Please do NOT give him any other food other than the dog food and treat we provided.
WALKING HIM OUTSIDE
Murphy is a friendly dog to human but his is not too friendly to other dog. I suggest you do NOT walk him in the neighborhood unless you really want to try. When he see other dog he may behave aggressively. If you see a dog far away, saying in very nice to him "It's ok, let say hello" to him may let him behave better. You need to pay extra attention when other dog around. Block his sight from other dog by using your leg may help. He do NOT need to be walk so don't feel bad if you do not walk him. He is perfectly fine just stay at home.
