Prince James Murphy
I’ve always wanted a dog. Who hasn’t? Even so, it wasn’t until a little over a year ago that my girlfriend, Anna, and I started seriously considering adding a pup to our family. Our time spent dog-sitting the most perfect Golden Retriever, George, was the coup de grâce. If we weren’t able to take George home forever (not an option, that would be illegal) we were going to raise our own perfect Golden. Fast-forward to today, and there’s the most perfect little (read: brat) Golden Retriever pup kickin’ it in our kitchen as I write this post.
Prince James Murphy – named after the late Prince and LCD Soundsystem’s front man, James Murphy – has been the quite the handful, but he’s also probably the coolest thing ever. And it shows in his strut. Over the course of three weeks he’s packed on an additional six pounds, eaten more dirt and grass than I’m willing to admit, and successfully (read begrudgingly) turned Anna and me into morning people.
Sure, raising a baby animal has its ups and downs. It commands about as much of your free time as you might think (read: all of your time), but it’s pretty rewarding (read: expensive). Just last week, I returned from an overnight business trip to Wausau, Wisc., headed up to our second-floor duplex, and let Merf out of his crate. I was greeted with immeasurable excitement and endless puppy kisses. He knew who I was – his dad (read: dude that controls the food supply)!
Murphy is a pretty awesome puppy. Smart, too! In the end though, he really just does it for the Vine: