Anne no it doesn't help him to avoid obstacles but it does make him a little cautious when he is going from light to shadow.
Everything here is going as well as can be expected. Toshi seems to be showing some signs of early allergy issues but that isn't surprising given the weather he have been having.

Now that Murphy has gotten older he has gotten more lovable and that isn't a bad thing! That's a funny story about your shoes... what a good boy!!
-----

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.