Murph & Me Force-Free Dog Training + Behaviour

15/11/2025

11/11/2025

26/09/2025

Do you need help choosing the right professional for your dog? 😊

I joined We Love Pets SA to discuss everything you need to know when it comes to choosing the right trainer & behaviourist. 🤍🐶

Choosing the right trainer or behaviourist can feel overwhelming, especially when your dog is showing behaviours you don’t quite understand.

In our latest YouTube interview with Amber-Jade from Murph & Me Force-Free Dog Training + Behaviour, we explore:

✔️ The difference between a trainer and a behaviourist
✔️ Red flags to avoid in South Africa’s unregulated industry
✔️ How to find the right professional for your family

🎥 Watch the full conversation here 👉 https://youtu.be/oNPioqW7FBM

Your dog deserves help that’s based on kindness, science, and compassion 🐾💛

10/09/2025

NO, It’s not “Just a dog”

When someone says “it’s just a dog” they miss the truth entirely. A dog is not just a thing you have or possess.

Our dogs are the heartbeat of our lives, the souls that sit beside us in silence when words fail and the reason we smile on days when nothing else feels worth smiling for. Our dogs are emotional and sentient beings who feel deeply. 🤍

Leaving a gathering early or missing it completely, spending extra on their care or planning a day around them isn’t ridiculous. It’s love in action. It’s recognising that dogs aren’t objects in our homes but living emotional beings who rely on us to feel safe and understood.

It’s honouring the trust they place in us when they look to us for guidance. It’s choosing to pause our chores to play a game, to leave a party a little early so they aren’t alone too long or to take an extra walk because they love being outside. 🤍

Choosing them in those small everyday ways doesn’t mean we’re giving up parts of our lives. It means we’re consciously making space in our lives for theirs. And there is nothing silly about love that is intentional or honouring our dogs needs.

Our dogs are part of the family. They weave themselves into the rhythm of our lives until every routine and every corner of the house holds their presence. To love a dog is to know devotion in its purest form and to lose them is to feel a silence louder than any sound.

So no. It’s never “just a dog”. It’s love deeper than you will ever know.

They are family.
They are our best friends.
They are our soul companions.
They are our everything. 🤍

23/08/2025

Anticipatory grief is something I didn't truly understand until I started to notice my feelings around seeing Nero begin to age. It’s the grief that shows up before the inevitable goodbye. An ache that creeps in when you see your dog’s body start to slow, when the jumps they once made so easily now take effort, when you catch yourself holding your breath when they stumble.

It’s such a complicated mix of sadness, quiet regret, overwhelming love, and so much gratitude. I find myself replaying all the moments I could have done better, even though I was always doing the best I could with what I knew at the time. That’s the thing about guardianship you walk beside your dog through every stage of their life without a roadmap. You learn as you go, you make mistakes, you adjust, and through it all, you keep showing up for them. Holding it together the best you can.

What strikes me most is how this kind of grief makes every moment feel full of meaning.

His playful smile as he comes running in from the yard after barking at the neighbor dogs.

His frustrated double foot stomps in the morning when I haven't gotten up to give him food quick enough.

The way he looks so peaceful when he sleeps sprawled out on the couch. Taking up far too much space for his medium size body.

His breathy nose boops as he shoves my hand expecting it to only touch him, instead of typing this post.

Each little moment becomes something I am so desperate to hold onto.

I tried to rationalize with myself telling my brain to just enjoy the moments, but it also flashes to a time when I will no longer have them.

Everything that seemed important... feels less significant. The only thing I wish for now is just more time.

I don't care how many tricks he can do.
I don't care if he pulls on the leash.
I don't care if he doesn't immediately respond to my recall.

All that matters is that we're together.

"Dogs lives are too short. Their only fault really." ~ Agnes Sligh Turnbull is one of my favorite quotes because of its accuracy.

If you’re walking this path with your own dog, please know you’re not alone.

Anticipatory grief is the price of love but it’s also proof of it.

❤️

08/08/2025

Have you ever struggled to choose the right professional to help your companion?

Murph & Me has written a comprehensive article & guide to help you choose the right trainer & behaviourist for you & your dog! 🐶

Download the awesome August issue of the We Love Pets SA magazine to find out more.🤩

You can read the full article here: https://www.welovepetssa.co.za/magazinea

07/08/2025

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