Chat to any dog lover and they'll praise the virtues of these awesome animals. Absolutely devoted to their owner, they ask so little and yet give so much. I could write so much concerning the merits of the humble canine, I could explain why plenty of people prefer the company of a dog rather than another human being or how a dog can fill a gap left by a deceased loved one. But I'm not going to, instead I'm going to tell you about one very special dog, my mate, Murphy.



We've had pet dogs in the family just about all of my life. We've had Greyhounds (Blackie and Bill Teal), a Great Dane (Toddy), a Bassett Hound (Bertie of course) and a Springer Spaniel (Bill). Every one left a massive void at the time of their departing and on each occasion we vowed never to have another dog, it was just too traumatic to say goodbye.

The year was 1993, the pain of Bill Springer's death some 12 months previously had eased and the possibility of getting a new puppy was raised amongst the family. Of course everyone was enthusiastic about the idea, who can resist a puppy dog ?. My sister had a copy of a magazine with lots of information on just about every type of dog available, their traits anf habits, their temperament etc plus a list of breeders. I already had some strong opinions about what type of dog I was looking for. Medium sized, neither small nor big. Short haired, I had neither the time nor the inclination to groom my dog for an hour a day. Perhaps a gundog, not that I'm into shooting but I definitely prefer that type of dog to the terrier or herding type and I'm definitely not into the "my dog's harder than your dog" breeds such as Rottweilers or Staffies, so favoured by certain sections of our society. Leafing through the publication I noticed this amazingly coloured breed that caught my eye. I'd never heard of the Hungarian Vizsla and wasn't sure that the breed existed here in England. I phoned one of the breeders mentioned in the book and had an extended chat, enquiring about the characteristics of the breed in general and their suitability as a family pet. The breeder confirmed that they made excellent pets and suggested that I might like to go along to a huge dog show taking place in Windsor in a couple of weeks time. It was a tremendous show with dogs of all shapes and sizes and there was a class just for Vizsla's. The rest, as they say, is history. I fell in love with the Hungarian Vizsla breed and wanted one !!.

Wanting one was completely different to actually being able to find one for sale. There was only a handful of breeders in the UK, the web and email were only a glint in the eye of a bunch of geeks, so it was a choice of the telephone or the postal service. All existing litters of pups had been sold and several of the breeders seemed very loathe to let a puppy go as simply a pet dog. They were looking for people who wanted to compete in working dog trials or dog shows with their Vizslas. I presume that they were trying to carve out a reputation for their particular stud dogs and selling pups as pets wasn't part of the plan. The long wait began. There were plenty of Labradors, Spaniels and German Shepherds but my choice was made, and my next dog was to be a Hungarian Vizsla.

The man that I had originally talked to and had subsequently met at the show in Windsor was Peter Harper and his "Pitswarren" Vizslas had an enviable reputation in the show ring. His champion dog, Pitswarren Levi, had won more best in breed prizes than any other Vizsla had ever won in this country. On one of my frequent calls to Peter, he told me that he and his wife had kept a dog and a bitch from the last litter for show dogs. Now that they were 4 months old they had decided to only keep one, so would I consider a 4 month old boy dog. I was in Andover as quickly as 4 wheels could take me. I was introduced to "Pitswarren Murphy Himself" and naturally he was wonderful and lovely and soft and sweet and everything else that a puppy should be. It's a fairly standard practice for the breeder to tell you to come back in a weeks time and I could pick him up. In the following week the Harper's phoned a couple of times and there were another couple of silent calls. I'm positive that each time it was just the breeders checking to make sure that we were who we said we were, and that their precious puppy wasn't going to be left alone all day whilst everyone went to work. We must have passed the test because exactly seven days later we were able to pick up Murphy, our very own Vizsla puppy.

He's now fourteen years old, and sadly he's coming to the end of his life on Earth. He is, and has been, the best dog in the World. He is my very best friend and has been my constant companion and I really hope that we've given him as much love and affection as he has so willingly given to us.