A brief history and a hello
When I was young we always had dogs, but after my parent's divorce my father had enough on his hands raising 4 children (of which I was the youngest) and there was about a 7 or 8 year span where we had no pets. About the time I turned 13, he decided that a house full of teenagers could take care of a dog so we adopted a 3 month Old English Sheepdog. Even though we had lots of dogs in my early years, this was the dog that would always be the family dog. With my two oldest siblings entering college and my other sibling being indifferent, the care for the dog fell on me. So I grew quite attached to that dog. She was a permanent fixture in the family. We would never dream of going on a vacation where we couldn't take her. If you look at the family portraits we had taken during those years, you'll see the dog right there with the rest of us. Sadly, just a few years after I left home she succumbed to cancer and my father had her put down. She was only 8 years old. To this day, that is the only time I can remember my father crying, that's how much the dog meant to him. So fast forward 5 years or so, and my sister decided to purchase an Old English puppy (last February). I recall thinking at the time, that this was probably a bad idea as she has 2 toddlers at home that are a handful on their own. But I hoped for the best. I finally got to see the dog (Marley) this past thanksgiving and I was immediately heartbroken. The poor dog spent most of her time in either her crate or her kennel. No place to run and play and nobody willing to spend the time playing with her and training her. My sister was exasperated with the dog, because when it was out with people it was hyper and quite the handful. She just didn't seem to understand that the dog needed more attention. The more I think about, my sister never really was around while we were training our previous OES. She didn't see the hours I would play with it or walk it or go over basic commands. She just saw that this cute little puppy grew up into this fantastic dog. I think she assumed that would happen again. So when my sister jokingly asked if my fiancee and I wanted the dog, I jumped at it and said "Yes, we do!". So come new year's Marley is coming home with us. I'm not sure exactly what we have gotten ourselves into as we already have a Husky/Shepherd mix and 3 cats. But we are willing to do what we can. She is really a sweet dog, but is just desperate for more attention and some discipline. Our existing dog already goes to obedience class and we are going to start bringing Marley to the Beginner's class as soon as we can. Wow, that was long. Sorry. |
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Fantastic.....you sound like you have got the enthusiasm, and the love to care for this dog. Good on you and we look forward to piccies.....  |
Congratulations on your new family member, and welcome to the forum! 
What a wonderful story about your beloved childhood sheepie...good luck with Marley...we are all here to help if you have questions, or just a sympathetic ear to talk about his goofy sheepie antics! 
By the way...I have to ask...whats the story behind your user name 
(my employee calls me "High Priestess of Dagon",....because of my long, tentacle-like hair  ) |
| WELCOME!!
Pictures are required |
| Yes, pictures are required! Sounds like Marley will have his own, perfect Christmas, er New Year. What a wonderful thing to have happen. I hope your present animals are as generous. |
| Welcome - sounds like you are going to be a blessing for that pup - and probably get blessed at the same time!!! |
| Welcome to the forum from Australia, what a wonderful introduction, best wishes with Marley and I am sure he is going to have a wonderful New Year. |
| What a great story! I only wish it were longer! No, really!
Welcome to the community. I wish you great luck in bringing out the best in Marley. PLEASE lean on us for any advice/venting/bragging you need or want to do. |
| Welcome, from Minnesota.
It sounds like you and Marley will have a fun 2008. |
ravenmoonart wrote: By the way...I have to ask...whats the story behind your user name The story of my user name is much less interesting than you might think. When I was 15 or so I joined an online club where everyone had a "dragon" name. Since I was big into H P Lovecraft at the time I chose CthulhuDragon. After a while I just started to use it everywhere. It's never taken by anyone else. (my employee calls me "High Priestess of Dagon",....because of my long, tentacle-like hair ) |
Quote: The story of my user name is much less interesting than you might think. When I was 15 or so I joined an online club where everyone had a "dragon" name. Since I was big into H P Lovecraft at the time I chose CthulhuDragon. After a while I just started to use it everywhere. It's never taken by anyone else.
I am so lost????  |
WCLARKE wrote: Quote: The story of my user name is much less interesting than you might think. When I was 15 or so I joined an online club where everyone had a "dragon" name. Since I was big into H P Lovecraft at the time I chose CthulhuDragon. After a while I just started to use it everywhere. It's never taken by anyone else. I am so lost???? Cthulhu (and Dagon ) are monsters in the classic horror novels of the author, H.P. Lovecraft. VERY creepy, icky and scary! |
| How is that pronounced where you live?
...and in Boston? |
Ron wrote: How is that pronounced where you live? Ka - thoo - loo...and in Boston? |
| Welcome! |
| Welcome! Sounds like you are going to fit in great here! Can't wait to see pictures. |
| welcome! Are you keeping the name Marley? That is my girl's name - People always assume I named her after the book but she is namedafter Bob Marle. I didn't know about the the book about the Golden retriever, until after I named her. |
| Welcome from Germany, keep us up to date with everything that is going on. |
| Welcome to the community! What a lovely thing you're doing taking in Marley. I agree with Emily that it sounds like it will be a blessing for both of you. Congrats and we're here if you need us. |
kerry wrote: welcome! Are you keeping the name Marley? That is my girl's name - People always assume I named her after the book but she is namedafter Bob Marle. I didn't know about the the book about the Golden retriever, until after I named her. I think we are keeping the name. She is a year old and already attached to it. Not a name we would have chosen, but it's fine. |
| welcome and there is plenty of help here |
| Welcome from Pennsylvania! You sound so ready to take in Marley, and I'm sure she will turn in to the kind of dog you remember as a child. All she needs is some TLC and training, and you have a great handle on that.
As was mentioned previously - pictures are required!! |
| Well, she is home now. Took the 10 hour car ride far better than I feared. A little whining at first, but quickly settled down and slept most of the time. Along the way she got to play in snow for the first time. She looked quite confused when she ended up neck deep in a snow bank.
She also met her first cat. My 2 youngest cats went running for the hills as soon as they saw Marley, but my oldest, Grim, wasn't about to go hide in his own house. They had a good sniff of each other and touched noses. Then Marley got distracted by the next shiny thing and ignored him for a bit. Eventually she noticed him again and would circle around him over and over again. Not sure why exactly, but the cat didn't seem to care so I just let her do it. She hasn't been introduced to the other dog yet, that will happen later. I know Marley can smell her all over the house though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they not only get along but can help keep each other company during the day. |
| Congrats! Sounds like things are going well so far. Keep us posted and as soon as you can manage it, we'd like to see pictures!! |
Here is a quick shot I managed to snap of her last night. She doesn't sit still long enough to get any good shots.
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| Aw, what a cutie! |
She's a doll!  |
Welcome!  |
| Hi and welcome Marley looks great |
| Marley has been with us for 10 days now, so it's time for an update. As expected Marley is a very energetic dog. She has more energy than she knows what to do with. The first few nights were tough as she wasn't used to being out of her crate all night (we decided not to continue with the crating) and she would periodically bound up on the bed or bark at a random noise she heard. This has been getting much better and we are finally able to sleep through the night.
We introduced her to our other dog Priya, a husky/shepherd mix. That went pretty well, the first day was mostly about them decided who was in charge and then a lot of wrestling. There was one scuffle over possession of a toy, but that's been it so far. They keep each other very busy and spend a lot of time play wrestling. Helps to wear them out. We took Marley to her first obedience class last night. That went extremely well. She liked the one on one time she gets with me while we are there and had a blast learning to properly heel and to sit consistently. It's a good class, we took Priya through it a long while back and she is currently in the intermediate class. In 5 weeks, Marley will 'graduate' the beginner class and join Priya in the intermediate. My fiancee will handle Priya and I'll continue to handle Marley. It seems to work better that way. |
| great story thanks for sharing and congrats on your new family member. Welcome to the forum as well. |
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