Marley and Me

Towards the end of last Summer, I got a Labrador puppy named Marley. I realise this is not the most original name, but he did look a lot like the dog from the movie (although more handsome I would say!) and after several days of just referring to him as simply ‘puppy’ and not being able to come up with anything better, Marley was the chosen name.

Actually, he really has not lived up to his name at all. Every day it amazes me at how unbelievably well behaved he is, particularly for his age. Labradors are well known for being intelligent dogs, but even still he seems to be exceptionally bright.


For instance, we had him housetrained within a week. So by the age of 8 weeks, he had already learned to tell us that he needed to go outside into the garden if he needed to do anything. By the age of 9 weeks, he was already a master at learning to sit and wait. So we would make him sit and wait for his dinner, and only on command would he be allowed to approach his bowl of food.

On taking Marley to dog obedience classes, he was certainly the top of his class, picking up all the tricks and commands practically instantly. He absolutely never cries or whines about anything. If there’s someone at the door, if he can hear a dog barking or if there are fireworks, he doesn’t make a sound. He also hasn’t destroyed anything apart from a phone charger (which he did when he was still very young), in the time that we’ve had him. He’s quite capable of being left alone in a room without fear of him doing anything he is not supposed to. He is honestly the perfect dog!

He is also a very amusing little fella to be around. I thought I’d list some of my favourite moments that I’ve had with him so far:

• A few times a week I will sit down on the couch and watch tv. I will normally allow Marley to come up onto the couch as well. He will watch the television intently for the duration of programme/movie. You can almost see his little brain working, trying to figure out what is going on and what makes this screen so interesting to the rest of his pack. As far as I know, anything that a dog cannot smell, he does not consider to be real. So I’m pretty sure he watches this screen not because he believes that what it is showing is real, but that everyone else is watching the screen and so he will do the same to fit in with and please his pack. It is really quite sweet!
  
  
• Marley gets incredibly excited when meeting new people. He always wants to greet them and will sometimes jump up and his tail will wag like crazy. Last week I took Marley to visit some of my family who have children. The kids were all very happy to meet him and were playing with him and running around. But then some of their friends came to visit. None of them had ever had any real contact with a dog before, and so they were all extremely cautious and quite afraid of Marley. I was concerned that Marley would become excited (as usual) and scare the children away, but quite the contrary happened! I’m pretty sure that Marley picked up on their anxieties and fears, so he just lay down very calmly (into what I like to call “rug mode”) and allowed the children to approach him in their own time, so they could stroke him and pat him – he didn’t move and inch.
  
  
• Yesterday he had quite a comical moment. I was cooking, when a piece of chopped onion fell on the floor. As with most dogs, Marley lunged for it (as he would with any scrap of food that makes it to the floor). However on tasting it, his tongue must have burned a bit so he jumped back in shock. He then lay down and started growling at the piece of onion, before pouncing on it. He got burned again! So he moved back and decided to attack the onion from another angle where it might not see him coming! I then spoiled all the fun by picking up the onion and putting it in the bin. As entertaining as it was to watch, I didn't want him to hurt himself!
  

He truly is the best dog! Check back for updates on how Marley is developing and for more stories on his antics soon!