The Murphy & Co. Team
Over 10 Years of Animal Care Experience
My animal care career started when I studied equine care and management at Writtle College. This led to years of running a stud yard, which bred and trained dressage horses.
In my time working at the yard I was responsible for taking care of all of the animals, horses, cats, dogs and even chickens. I learned many things from the everyday care to helping to teach young horses to be ridden. I also trained as an artificial insemination technician and was involved in every aspect of the breeding program from insemination to birth of the foals.
One of the dogs at the yard was a Clumber spaniel named Buffy. I immediately fell in love with Buffy and was delighted when she gave birth to a litter of gorgeous puppies and this is where Murphy joins the story. (Find out more about Murphy Below)
A few years into my life at the yard I decided it was time for a new challenge, I had been taking care of the pets of friends and family and knew that this was something I wanted to become more involved in. So, back to Writtle I went. I studied to become a dog training instructor and later as a professional dog groomer too.
This is where my dog training and pet care journey began, I started to run local dog training classes for basic obedience and puppy socialisation. I also started running doggy day care and home boarding from home. Walking daily with my regular clients allowed me to expand and grow into regular dog walking which became so busy, I no longer had the time to have dogs staying at home.
I had also begun to train Murphy in Heelwork to Music with Louise from Canine Performers. We eventually started to compete and have had a lot of success, we are still competing to this day. I was asked to study to become a judge and occasionally judge at HTM competitions. Louise also asked me to join her as a teacher for HTM workshops and also to perform displays in nursing and care homes with my dogs.
Murphy and Mia
Murphy is a Clumber spaniel, he was born in 2011 and I was lucky enough to know him from the day he was born. By the time the puppies were a few weeks old, I was already certain which one i would be bringing home. I spent every lunch time cuddling Murphy until he was old enough to come home with me and once he was old enough, I took him home but brought him back to the yard every day while I worked and he spent the day playing with his mum, aunty and sister.
Murphy is a happy loving boy who you will often find, swimming, sleeping or up to mischief. He is content to just spend the day with me, whether it be out walking for hours or sharing the sofa.
He loves nothing more than learning and showing off new tricks and that's why our HTM career has be so enjoyable. We love to travel around the country to attend different shows and perform our routines.
Murphy was devastated to lose his elderly terrier companion named Frere and after a short time learning to cope with being the only dog in our household, Mia the bonkers Irish Setter came bursting into our lives.
Mia joined our family in 2016. She came from Many tears rescue centre who found her at a puppy farm where she was used to breed as many puppies as possible. She was mentally and physically fragile when she came to us but has an incredible bond with Murphy and has come on leaps and bounds.
Mia is not quite the performer that Murphy is and suffers a little with stage fright but is becoming more and more confident. She is now thriving in the nursing home environment and is lapping up the attention of the residents and is working towards being able to complete routines in competition.
We sadly said goodbye to Murphy in 2019 but he's forever loved and remembered as the one who started it all.
Over 12 Years of Animal Care Experience
My animal care career started when I studied equine care and management at Writtle College. This led to years of running a stud yard, which bred and trained dressage horses.
In my time working at the yard I was responsible for taking care of all of the animals, horses, cats, dogs and even chickens. I learned many things from the everyday care to helping to teach young horses to be ridden. I also trained as an artificial insemination technician and was involved in every aspect of the breeding program from insemination to birth of the foals.
One of the dogs at the yard was a Clumber spaniel named Buffy. I immediately fell in love with Buffy and was delighted when she gave birth to a litter of gorgeous puppies and this is where Murphy joins the story. (Find out more about Murphy Below)
A few years into my life at the yard I decided it was time for a new challenge, I had been taking care of the pets of friends and family and knew that this was something I wanted to become more involved in. So, back to Writtle I went. I studied to become a dog training instructor and later as a professional dog groomer too.
This is where my dog training and pet care journey began, I started to run local dog training classes for basic obedience and puppy socialisation. I also started running doggy day care and home boarding from home. Walking daily with my regular clients allowed me to expand and grow into regular dog walking which became so busy, I no longer had the time to have dogs staying at home.
I had also begun to train Murphy in Heelwork to Music with Louise from Canine Performers. We eventually started to compete and have had a lot of success, we are still competing to this day. I was asked to study to become a judge and occasionally judge at HTM competitions. Louise also asked me to join her as a teacher for HTM workshops and also to perform displays in nursing and care homes with my dogs.
Murphy and Mia
Murphy is a Clumber spaniel, he was born in 2011 and I was lucky enough to know him from the day he was born. By the time the puppies were a few weeks old, I was already certain which one I would be bringing home. I spent every lunch time cuddling Murphy until he was old enough to come home with me and once he was old enough, I took him home but brought him back to the yard every day while I worked and he spent the day playing with his mum, aunty and sister.
Murphy is a happy loving boy who you will often find, swimming, sleeping or up to mischief. He is content to just spend the day with me, whether it be out walking for hours or sharing the sofa.
He loves nothing more than learning and showing off new tricks and that's why our HTM career has been so enjoyable. We love to travel around the country to attend different shows and perform our routines.
Murphy was devastated to lose his elderly terrier companion named Frere and after a short time learning to cope with being the only dog in our household, Mia the bonkers Irish Setter came bursting into our lives.
Mia joined our family in 2016. She came from Many tears rescue centre who found her at a puppy farm where she was used to breed as many puppies as possible. She was mentally and physically fragile when she came to us but has an incredible bond with Murphy and has come on leaps and bounds.
Mia is not quite the performer that Murphy is and suffers a little with stage fright but is becoming more and more confident. She is now thriving in the nursing home environment and is lapping up the attention of the residents and is working towards being able to complete routines in competition.
We sadly said goodbye to Murphy in 2019 but he's forever loved and remembered as the one who started it all.
Fergal
Fergal is a Clumber Spaniel and was born in Aug 2019.
Fergal came home at the beginning of October 2019 at 8 weeks old. He settled in immediately and has seamlessly become a crucial part of the fabric of Murphy and Co family.
The first few months of Fergal's life were devoted to having fun exploring and socialising in every environment possible, from meeting new dogs, cats, horses, evenings in the pub, puppy training classes to boat trips and everything in between. Our main goals maintain a happy confident mindset and continue to experience new things in the same happy-go-lucky manner.
As he matured we focused on training and developing his skills for everyday life and in particular with a goal of competing in Heelwork to Music. He has been incredibly easy to train thanks to a combination of his huge drive to work, desire to please and intelligence. he has been incredibly successful so far in his career and by the age of 4 had been selected as a member of the Team GB squad for Heelwork to Music. He has also been selected for a number of different demo teams to perform at Crufts, showing the public what is involved in the training for HTM.
Not only has he been competitive in HTM but he has also been a member of the Clumberjacks, competing in Obreedience. Obreedience is a team event in which four dogs of the same breed complete a heelwork round with a set floorplan and each dog must perform an individual obedience task. Our team were invited to compete at Crufts 2024 and had a wonderful time showing the versatility of Clumber spaniels.
Dingle is a Clumber Spaniel and was born in Oct 2022.
Dingle was a surprise addition to the family, he is related to both Murphy and Fergal and it just felt like he was supposed to join the family.
He has been slow to mature both physically and emotionally, I decided to allow him time to grow up before really beginning his training regime. A new procedure for me but he was quick to get frustrated and I could tell he needed more time before he was ready to take it in.
I slowly introduced things to him and at a year old I began to work him with more formal training and exercises, this seems to have paid off as he is now working beautifully and in May 2024 he won at a fun show after his first time working in the ring. I can't wait to see what he is able to achieve as we progress to entering more competitions.
In his spare time he's a cuddly baby who loves to leap around and swim at every opportunity.