Marley Monday

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Marley Monday

It’s been quite a while since the last Marley Monday update and I’m sure you’re eager for one so I thought it would be nice to hear one in his own words.

My friend they call Deb came over the other day.  Even though I pretty much love absolutely everyone who meets me, she is my special friend.  She came to get me when I was sad and lonely and she brought me to this great home with my dad. When my Deb came in the door, she was a little different than usual.  She was crying a little bit, but then I ran to her and she hugged me and kissed me like she always does so I figured everything was good.  After all, who can look at all this hunky handsomeness and be sad?


This day was special because I used to always have to be still and not run around but this day we got to go outside and play! I showed my friend how I do zoomies around the yard and romp like a big piggie in the grass. 


I get to do that now because I got rid of all of the wormies that used to live in my big heart. Those wormies were pretty sneaky too because I went to my doctor’s office to take a test to make sure the wormies were all gone, and I went to sleep and when I woke up my bottom parts felt really different.  I think those wormies took something with them when they left me. My friend told me that I had a whole village who helped me get well, so…thank you Village! 


I had a really nice time playing and snuggling with my special friend.  She and I have a very special bond.  


When we were hugging she told me that she would always love and protect me and I believe her.  I love her very much and I know she loves me. After a while, though, I heard my daddy say something funny.  He asked when I could be officially his little boy (I thought I already was??) and my special friend said, “Right now.”  I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but my daddy got really happy and that made me happy too.  I found out that was my ‘doption day.


My friend and my Daddy talked and wrote scribblies on paper then Daddy said, ” I never knew what I was missing until this guy came into my life.”

And we lived happily ever after…

Love,

Marley

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Marley (Like Mary Poppins) Monday

Practically perfect in every way.  That’s Mary Poppins’ tag line and it really applies to Marley.  I hadn’t been over to visit him in a couple of weeks and surprisingly it was weighing on me.  I can’t think of a single dog that I’ve helped place into a home that I feel strongly about keeping up ties with as much as with Marley.  I don’t know, maybe it’s because his foster dad doesn’t Facebook or use social media and I don’t get as many updates like I do with so many other of “my babies.”

Anyhow I was feeling especially Marley-less and decided to take some time to go visit the big galoot.  As I prepared to head over there I wondered what I would encounter.  We hadn’t seen each other in a couple of weeks and I’m sure that as he settles more in to his Foster home we’d maybe lose a bit of our bond to each other.  Maybe he wasn’t quite as handsome as I remember, maybe not quite as sweet.  Maybe as he became more comfortable in his surroundings he’d be likely to…I don’t know…love me?

  
When we picked him up and our eyes met through that wire fencing, I knew we’d be bonded but to what extent?  One the car ride back to Fort Wayne I promised him I would always look out for him and protect him but that didn’t necessarily mean he would come to live with me, so wrapping my head around what that might actually mean and how that would work was something I’d need to work on.

  
What I found upon my visit was a gorgeous specimen of a dog.  Marley has filled in some and has a huge happy-faced head and well defined muscles for a dog who is on “quiet time” rest.  He met me at the door  with a wagging tail but it still seemed to take him about 4 seconds or so to really recognize me whereupon he decided that we two should share the recliner, or perhaps I’d just like to sit in the recliner while he sat on me.  We smooched and cuddled and while I was convinced…and still am…that my home would not be the best situation for him, I couldn’t help but fall just a bit more in love.

  
Fortunately his Foster Dad is all that and a bag of chips so I know Marley is getting the best care and the most love.  He told me about how Marley sometimes falls out of bed, so now there is a body pillow to cushion him, Marley has a special toy that he sleeps with and if it gets misplaced they look all over the house until it’s found.  I know about how Marley pouts if he doesn’t get that last sip of vanilla milkshake and how he’s getting suspicious of peanut butter since it was being used to hide medicine.

  
As I looked at Marley, I realized that in the next months his treatment is going to get more intense and the need to keep him quiet and calm is going to be critical.  I leashed him up and we ambled around the block so that he could showcase is perfect leash skills and I could have just a few moments more with him.  I told his Foster dad that I probably shouldn’t come around for awhile in the interest of Marley’s health, so after a few smooches, I scurried out to my car but not without peeking back through the window to see Marley gazing at the door waiting for my return.  I turned away with a tear and a sigh.

 

checking his peemail

  
 

 

 

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Marley is in a good place and his GoFundMe is climbing!  Actually with the addition of some cash that was donated, we are at $530 to date! We are so close to our goal!

 

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Marley Monday-Video

You often hear about how Pit Bull types just have to be with people and Marley is no exception. I know three months in a shelter can be a long time and though there are some dogs who can do well invthat environment there are others who just can’t handle it. I truly believe Marley is the latter type. 

I imagine that being away from his people and among so many others who were being considered for adoption took its toll. I’d like to believe it is that frustration that lead to him “becoming hard to handle” and “dog aggressive.” 

Since we saw that his happiness over being pulled lead to his immediate change in personality in the “hard to handle” department we were hopeful that the dog aggression would have been a similar byproduct of his frustration and not a true reflection of his personality. We have, however, proceeded with caution for two reasons. First and foremost while he is undergoing heart worm treatment we want to keep him quiet so even if he were to be friendly we can’t really allow him to play. Second, well if he isn’t a fan of other dogs that can be managed but if he really was aggressive we’d again be risking the elevated heart rate, etc.

Seeing Marley at the vet’s office near other dogs gave us hope that he was pretty friendly but we still took it very slowly. A couple of weeks ago, he met Queenie, one of our adoptable dogs and although she completely ignored him, he was tail-waggingly happy to see her. Just a couple of minutes and he was as smitten as can be and soon frustrated by the closed door barrier. 

On New Year’s Day we tested him with little Ori who is the owned and fabulous dog of one of our new foster moms. (And also the adopter of one of Ray’s littermates.) We knew Ori was a very good neutral dog who would be very willing to correct Marley about any transgression. Also since he had met a larger dog successfully we wanted to see how it would go with a small dog.

We are pretty much over the moon about All. Things. Marley. But this is just pretty darned awesome no matter how you slice it, right?

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Marley Monday-The Photoshoot

With the growing popularity of Pit Bull type dogs and with great campaigns like The Majority Project we see people from all walks of life who are now adopting our block heads.  Since we are such a small rescue we often spend a good amount of time with our adopters and I’ve been fortunate enough to become friendly with many of them.  I love being able to follow along with many of our pups on Facebook and celebrate all of the milestones as well as share a peek into their lives.

Recently I was working an adoption application and I remember telling the Board that I had a great feeling about this person and that was even before finding out that she is a very talented photographer.  A very talented photographer who volunteered to shoot some of our adoptable dogs and I immediately thought that Marley would be a perfect model.  We’re fortunate that we have a pretty good “turn around” time in the Fort Wayne Pit Bull Coalition but I knew that our Divine Mr. M would be in rescue for several months while undergoing heartworm treatment.

The thing about Marley is he is one of those dogs.  He’s one of those special dogs who just immediately melt your heart and make you fall in love.  When Tara met him today one of her first words were, “Oh I love him but I don’t have room for another dog.”  He just touches everyone he meets with his joy and just one look at this handsome block head and you know that he’s a happy, sweet soul.

It was fascinating for me to watch Tara setting up all of her equipment and busily snapping away while I had the honor of stuffing Marley’s face with treats in an effort to get him to pose.

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These four from Tara Denny Images

 

On one hand, I don’t think that when the time comes we’ll have trouble placing the big lug, however…will we want to?  Will anyone be good enough?  His future is still unwritten.

 

 

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Marley Monday

I figured you’d be looking for an update on Marley after having, I’m sure, fallen in love with him last week.

  

  
After one full week in foster, I’m happy to say that Marley is still considered by many to be pretty much the most perfect dog.  His happy spirit is shining though and as he becomes more and more comfortable he’s becoming more puppy-like in his happiness.

  
In the past week he has had a handful of visitors, all of whom have promptly fallen in love with him and been treated to an assortment of tasty dried body parts such as elk antler, beef trachea, duck feet, bully sticks and pig ears.  But most importantly he has begun his heartworm treatment protocol.

  
This is important for a couple of reasons.  Obviously because successfully treating the heartworms should save his life, but second, speaking of saving his life, never have I pulled a dog knowing that his chances were 50/50.  If in a few days to a week he didn’t decompress enough to pass assessment and show that he was adoptable, he would be sent for humane euthanasia.  How happy I am that he didn’t need days or weeks to decompress.  How happy I am that he showed his true gentle, loving self the moment he realized he was about to embark on his next grand adventure.

Sure, part of his future is uncertain.  Heart worm treatment is rough on a dog but being as pragmatic as possible, I know that if he (dog forbid) were to have complications tomorrow from which he couldn’t recover, he will have passed in the loving company of his foster dad, and with the love of the village who are pulling for him.