Legacy

Murphy

Eleven and one-half years ago, I got a call from the Los Angeles Airport informing me that Murph was here and that I needed to pick him up before midnight or he was on his way back to Arkansas. I left work, loaded a dog kennel in my Avalon and set out from Fresno, CA to LAX. Everyone at work gave me a great send-off. What a drive and what traffic. I finally found out that Murph was in some obscure warehouse at an airport the size of a city. When I first saw him, he was playing fetch with an airport worker in the warehouse.

It was very late when I picked him up, so I headed to a friend's home in Port Hueneme CA to camp out. The first thing Murph did when he entered my friend's home was to check out a candle. The result...a burned nose. After a well-deserved bath, Murph camped out with me on the couch. Our bond began. The next day's travel to Fresno was awkward. Murph was not use to driving long distances in a car. He threw up for four hours. I thought he had rabbies due to all the drooling. Another bath came soon.

As I have mentioned in the SJL website, training a Llewellin Setter was a new challenge for me. Like a new parent of a first child, I did many things wrong! My brother will attest to that I'm sure. Murph had all the natural skills to hunt, but I found ways to complicate things. I started right away with his training. I bought a remote collar and four pheasants. I would release the pheasants for Murph and he did well at finding them and pointing. However, one pheasant spurred Murph and the look in his eyes was: "What the..." He would find and point other pheasants, but would eventually lie down next to them and release his point. This greatly disturbed me. I felt like a parent who's kid didn't know what foot to lead with in throwing a baseball. Murph was saying: I want that bird, but not at the cost of getting spurred. I finally figured it out with the help from friends. I trained Murph on quail. It worked! After a few months of training Murph on quail, I felt it was time to take him to the field...the real deal.

Things in the field for the first year went slowly. Everything was new to Murph, including cattle and tweeties. One day, I shot a pheasant and it went out of site. I couldn't find Murph for a long time. Then, after a long wait, I saw Murph running toward me at about 300 yards out. As he got closer, I saw that he had the pheasant I shot in his mouth. I was so proud. Had there been anyone else there at the time, they would have heard a mouth full.

For 11 years, Murph hunted fantastically. He could never get enough of the field. Many times I had to pull him out of the field after eight hours of hunting. He just loved to hunt! He had endless endurance...Something I didn't have. He found birds in squirrel holes and other places I gave up on hours before. He always retrieved and frankly, didn't want other dogs to retrieve out from under him.

Murph hunted in many events including California Department of Fish and Game hunts, charity hunts, and private hunts. Many folks hunted over Murph. Yes...Murph and I hunted a lot by ourselves too. Folks knew the big white and orange setter. Many folks all over the West have pups out of Murph.

At home, Murph had one place on the couch where he slept. It was well respected by my other Llews Abby and Bowie. Murph also liked to sleep next to me, but I always had to make him move since his legs seemed to poke holes in my back. He could really become dead weight and tough to move. For the last few years of his life, he loved to sleep in my closet...go figure. He would move my dirty clothes and shoes into a barricade and plop down in the middle of them. I think Murph did this because he didn't like being touched by other dogs when he was sleeping...OK, he had a quirk. However, Murph loved to curl up in my lap and go to sleep. He loved me and other people very much.

Murphy's last hunt was in October 2010. It was a charity hunt. It was also very warm. He did very well under circumstances...the heat and the fact that he was 11.5 years old. Within the next few months after that hunt, I noticed a change in Murph. He became very ill. It was a life-changing event for him and me. When he died, I wept. Murph will always be in my heart. When I hunt this next season, I'm sure I will accidently look and call for him.

I could say much, much more about Murph. Thanks so much to all that called or emailed me about Murph's passing.

Sincerely,

Scott Moore

SJL

Rudy, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Paul Austria's Liko, HI, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Liko hunting Erkel's Frankolin Quail in Hawaii, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Terry Fox's Bonnie, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Doug and Chris Hansen's Sage, NV, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

SJL's Ron Holcomb with Maggie, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Hop-Along Toots

Joe Iseri's Kirby, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Eric Black with Eddie, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Skip and Neva Alf's Pepper, WA, Sire Bowie, Dam Abby

David Ahre's Katie and Samantha, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Abby

Ed and Robin Jones' Patches, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Hopalong Toots

Larry Hill and Ike, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Tim Ruiz's Joey, Las Vegas, NV, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Nick Rowley's Lexie, Iowa, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Bill and Jeanne McMasters' Gunner, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Jake (Tri-color) and Reno (blue belton), Jake owned by David Halsell, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Ruby, owned by the Rohlfings, NV, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Shasta, owned by David and Karen Hahn, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Camo, owned by Randy and Vicki James, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Molly

Reno, owned by Mike Lesnick, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Seirra, owned by Robert House, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Duke, owned by Rick Hendrix, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Hopalong Toots

Jessie, owned by Gary and Michelle Gibson, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Pip, owned by Ryan Johnson, UT, Sire Murphy, Dam Dancy

Bonita, owned by Felix Khan, AZ, Sire Murphy, Dam Dancy

Nevada, owned by David and Amie Sanders, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Dancy

Lilo, owned by Foung Vang, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

Bas, owned by Freeman Hardin, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Abby

The Benas Boys with Ruger, owned by Daniel Benas , CA, Sire Clyde, Dam Bonnie

Rusty, owned by John King, CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Molly

Riley, owned by John King , CA, Sire Murphy, Dam Molly

Abby, owned by Kat Kohlman , OR, Sire Bowie, Dam Bonnie

Butters, owned by Denise Henderson and Harry Tate , NV, Sire Bowie, Dam Bonnie

Colt, owned by Jared and Brynn Vawter, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Bonnie

Bandit, owned by Rob and Vanessa Burke, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Bonnie

Darla, owned by Freeman Hardin, CA, Sire Bowie, Dam Bonnie