A year after Kim and I got married Kim brought a dog home, and we named him Murry! Murry was half Dachshund and half Beagle, with the appearance of a large deli roll of meat. When he got excited one ear would stick straight up, the other ear, the bottom half stuck up, but the top half drooped over. I thought he looked like a “Bat” so I called him my “Batdog” That dog went everywhere with us, and believe me he was one spoiled little wiener! Any time I would sit down Murry would be in my lap before my bottom ever touched the cushion! One day he was with Kim and I out at her parents’ house. Kim’s dad Joe had dug a ditch up the hill for an underground power line for the Granny House he was building. The ditch went through a very large patch of Poison Oak. I wasn’t able to help Joe in that section, because all I had to do was look at Poison Oak and my whole body would swell up. So while Joe worked this section of the ditch Murry kept him company, observing from the top of the dirt pile next to the ditch. He stumbled on some loose dirt and rolled right off the edge into the ditch!
Before Joe was able to lift him out, Murry had walked around in the ditch through all the Poison Oak roots where the sap was dripping. During our ride home Kim noticed Murry was breaking out with a rash all over his body. After we got home, that poor dog was looking like a Geographical Relief Map! Kim rushed him to the Veterinary Hospital, where the Vet gave him a shot. The Vet said Murry’s case was pretty severe, that most dogs don’t get poison oak as bad as Murry had. The following days proved to be the most miserable for Murry, but with all things, it finally passed. Whenever we would go over to Kim’s parents’ house; we always made sure Murry didn’t go anywhere near the Poison Oak! He was such a great family dog, and because he was so loved by our family, I believe that is why he lived 17 and a half years! Whenever Joe comes to visit or we go visit them in California, he always brings up the story of a giant Bologna that rolled into the ditch he was working in! I sure miss that old “Batdog”