Another week, . I want to tell you about the other curly-haired guy in the photo. The younger one with more grey. Meet Murray, my family’s dog, adopted from the Peninsula Humane Society in March of last year.
We had a dog-less year after we lost our beloved lab mix of 13 and a half years, Cooper. Then, when the time felt right, I started keeping an eye on dogs coming through the shelter. Within a few weeks, I met Murray in kennel D9.
I didn't pull any executive privilege and was not cherry picking from the back. Murray had actually been available for adoption for more than a week and had no takers.
I love this part of our story: He’s another shelter treasure, a really sweet dog who needed nothing more than someone to love him and give him structure, consistency and guidance.Like so many other great animals, he was surrendered to the Peninsula Humane Society by a family no longer able to care for him. Seems to me the circumstances were financial – lots of kids and at least a few pets; someone had to go, and they picked the bigger dog who required professional grooming, which was our good luck.
Since our adoption day, Murray has been coming to work with me daily. A wonderful perk! But this means he actually has to work occasionally. I get called fairly regularly by women’s clubs, service groups and business associations to give a talk about our organization. And, I never say no, always delivering one half of a real dog and pony show, with Murray, my wingman. As I like to say, I’m among the best speakers in my price range.
Murray makes a nice impression, too. Well, most of the time. That piece of cake on the table at the South San Francisco Women’s Club’s meeting was way too close to the edge. Poor guy couldn’t resist. Just before I took the mic, I had to wrestle a piece of chocolate cake from his mouth, both of us on the auditorium floor. In the end, a memorable opening, if nothing else. No animals were harmed and everyone laughed.
In this case and in every other speaking gig I can remember, someone in the audience asks about Murray before I can get rolling with my show, and it usually starts with “What is he?” The answer is that we don’t know what he is other than male, canine, 40 pounds and neutered. I’ve heard more than a dozen guesses including Portuguese Water Dog, Italian Spinone (which I thought was ice cream), Schnauzer, Golden Doodle and German Wire-Hair Pointer. His former owners said he was poodle and “that dog from the Beethoven movie.” I think that dog was a St. Bernard, so I took that guess off the table. I’m going with a Mystradoodle or Accidoodle, since the poodle part is clear, but the mix is either a mystery or accident. He’s a mutt.
He’s great with our two kids, age 3 years and 9 months (mutts as well, given their Korean, Italian, Irish, Danish and German ancestry), and he’s a wonderful representative for shelter dogs – for the Peninsula Humane Society. And, to date, he’s had just one accident in my office and one at home, but his home “scorecard” is actually at zero since he also made another accident go away. He pulled a dirty diaper out of the garbage and snacked! As those of us who have them know, sharing your life and home with a dog is fun, but ain’t always pretty.
See a photo of Scott and Murray at the "" fundraiser held for the Peninsula Humane Society on Tuesday at the Moss Beach Distillery.
