Together for One Year

It was one year ago on Sunday that Marley came home with Debbie and me.  We didn't have a cake or get Marley a new toy, but we did go for a nice long 3.5 mile walk. 

Marley was excited to be with both of his "parents" and to be taking a route he didn't normally follow.  At first, Marley thought we were taking him to the dog run, and he was jumping and trying to run in that direction.  After a few blocks, he realized we were going in another direction and settled down a bit, but I still had to hold him back a bit.  We have an Easy Walk harness, which gives us a degree of control over Marley, but when he's particularly energetic, you just have to hold on and run along with him.  We like the harness because it goes around his body and we're not pulling on his neck, as we would be with just a leash.

Half way through our walk, we stopped for lunch.  Debbie and I took turns eating inside the deli, while the other sat at a table outside with Marley.  We gave him water and some treats.  While I was sitting outside with Marley, a girl came up and asked what kind of dog he was.  We get a lot of that.  On the way home (southbound), a couple stopped us and said they saw us going north and noticed Marley's floppy ears.  We get a lot of that as well.

During the year that Marley has been our dog, I have gone through some changes.  I never realized how attached I could become to an animal.  I have also lost a lot of weight (37 lbs) and I enjoy being outdoors and active a lot more than I did any time in my 30's and 40's.  During the year that we have been his masters, Marley has gone through some amazing changes.  He grew big and strong and healthy - he gained 50 lbs during the year.  He learned to trust us and grew as attached to us as we are to him.  We taught him some commands, although he doesn't always want to obey.  He knows the limits that have been set, but he tests those limits.  He was always a bright dog, and he has learned a lot about the world around him.  He has learned to play nicely with all kinds and sizes of dog.  He loves to be around all kinds of people.

Last night, Marley fell asleep about 10:30 in the living room.  He followed me into the bedroom when I turned in at 11, and he crawled under the bed.  I got up for a minute early this morning and Marley lay next to my side of the bed.  I stroked his back and underside, and kissed me profusely.  He stayed there while I was out of the room and when I got back into bed, he gave out a soft whine.  I reached over and pet him until it was time to get up.  While Debbie was getting the coffee, I gave Marley his little bone, stuffed with a slice of American cheese.

Some day, he will be gone, and I will still be here.  But he will be my BFF.

DNA test

We were never sure what Marley's breeding was, because he came from a shelter and they didn't know which dog was his father.  Marley's mother was a red Australian Cattle Dog (ACD).  More people who know about ACDs are familiar with the 2 blue ACD types rather than with the reds.  Everyone thought that Marley would be a huge dog, because his paws always looked big, no matter how large he grew.  We were initially told that Marley would get to be perhaps 35 pounds.  He blew through that a long time ago.  He was 11 to 12 lbs. when we brought him home almost a year ago.  He had a tremendous growth spurt between 4 and 10 months.  At 15 months, Marley is 62 lbs.  We expect that he could get just a little bit bigger.

Speculation was that Marley was part Akita, or German Shepherd, or that he was pure ACD.  The book said that ACDs get up to 45 lbs., so we knew pretty quickly that some larger breed was in the mix.  So I looked at the pictures of different breeds in the book, and then I looked closely at Marley.  Some of his features reminded me of German Shepherds.

Several people said we should do a DNA test.  They said the DNA test was simple and pretty cheap.  So, about 2 months ago, I ordered one from jbpet.com for about $60.  One night, I swabbed Marley's cheeks, put the swabs in an envelope and sealed it.  Debbie mailed it the next day.  I figured we might not get a good result.  The possibilities seemed like:
  1.  The sample was contaminated - food particles in the sample;
  2.  The sample would get lost in the mail or the testing company was a scam;
  3.  The results would not be valid for Marley's breed; or,
  4.  We would get a credible result. 

It was supposed to take about six weeks to come back and that they might send an email before the regular mail delivered a certificate.  Six weeks came and went, but we didn't get anything.  I looked for it on my email every day for another week.  Then I forgot about it, and a week later the certificate came by snail mail.  The first line said that about 30% of his background was comprised of German Shepherd.  There was a bunch of other stuff that I interpret as meaning ACD and various other mutt breeds.

Marley and I were at the dog run this weekend.  A woman asked what kind of dog he was.  I said, "ACD and German Shepherd."  She said, "I saw the Shepherd right away.  The ACD explains his body coloring.  Cool."

Telephone

Marley is starting to understand what the telephone is, but he's not quite there yet.

Towards the end of 2009, I went on a couple of business trips.  I called home at night, and Debbie put the calls on the speaker for a minute or two.  It might go something like this:
     "Marley, who's on the phone?  Could it be your daddy?"
     "Hi Marley, this is Lewis.  Are you a good boy, Marley?  Were you good for your momma today?"
     "Yes, Marley was a good boy today."
     "You're a good boy, Marley.  You're my good dog."
Marley would look at the phone, like something strange was happening and then he would dive under the bed, clearly freaked-out.

When the phone rings, Marley often barks and runs to it in the bedroom.  If we don't go to answer the phone, he barks more.

I was out of town on business last week, and called home each night.  The "conversations with" Marley were the same, but I was told that he sat up and looked at the phone when he heard my voice.

Debbie tried an experiment when I was at work this week.  She called my name, and Marley sat up.  She called my name again, and Marley went over to the phone and nudged it with his nose.

He's starting to figure it out.  He could probably dial with either his paws or his nose.  Holding the receiver in a position from which he could both hear and "speak" might be a problem.  If he put it on speaker, he'd be all set.

Destroyer of Beds

Deb's mom (Marley's grandma) sent a large cushion with a blue cover for Marley when he was 5 months old.  She had sent similar cushions to Mark (Deb's brother) for his dogs.  They loved those cushions.  Marley liked his cushion because it was soft, but he scratched the cover a lot.  After a while, he discovered the zipper and started playing with it.  It took some time, but he opened the zipper and started going after the cushion and its stuffing.  We zipped it up each time Marley unzipped it, but sometimes he had 10 or 15 minutes to do his damage.  Then, one day, he just mangled the zipper and it was all over.  From that point on, he could remove the cover at will and freely grab the stuffing.  That cushion lasted maybe 2 months before we had to get rid of it.

The next bed we got for Marley was a thick rubber tube with a soft cover.  I ordered it online from a pet supply warehouse in Nebraska.  The advertisement said that it was indestructible.  When it arrived, I went to the bicycle shop on the next block to get it inflated.  We put the cover on and let Marley go on it.  He was good for about 20 minutes.  Then he started attacking it.  The zipper was broken in no time.  Then he nipped at the rubber.  In a half hour, it had gone flat.  So much for indestructible.

The next bed was filled with green foam and had a white soft cover and a zipper.  This one lasted about six months, mainly because it took Marley that long to pull out, and sometimes eat, the filling.

Debbie went to Pet Central early this week to get Marley another bed.  They said it was indestructible.  Marley waited 2 days before starting to attack it and the zipper is already broken.  Are these people liars or is Marley particularly skilled at destroying beds?

The next, and hopefully last, bed we get for Marley will be a flat sheet supported by a metal frame.  No cover, no zipper, no stuffing, no problem.