Marley and Us

We have been renting our entire marriage so we have not been able to have pets. We promised the kids when we bought our first home, we would get them a dog. We made good on our promise yesterday and rescued an 8-month old beagle mix from the local shelter. It was relatively easy. We went in, saw two dogs (two beagle mixes- they happened to be siblings), decided on one, filled out two papers and left with a dog! His name was Marley. We decided it fit him, so Marley it is!

The kids didn't seem all that excited when we got him (which really surprised us- I think they were a little overwhelmed or something). But today, they can't stop playing with him. They've been outside in the yard ALL day long teaching Marley to sit and shake and fetch. Marley came from a home where he was severely neglected. He was outside or in the garage all day and night. He never was allowed indoors and rarely played with the children in the home. So sad. He will not have that problem here! If anything the poor thing is exhausted from all the attention and stimulation already!!

Marley has a great disposition. He is patience and gentle with the kids. He is potty trained and hasn't tried to chew anything yet (which I am grateful for). We have a lot to learn about dogs, and Marley's still a puppy in a lot of other ways, but we are excited and grateful to have found such a sweet dog.

Wow, this dog's eyes turned green instead of the normal red eye. To my photographer friends, how do I fix that??

He likes his bed!

Good night!

So now we are the quintessential American family with a house, a dog, and a fish (who is somehow hanging in there even though we often forget to feed the poor thing- I'm hoping the dog fares better)!

Our silly boys: We didn't tell them where we were going until we arrived at the shelter to pick out our dog. We expected screams of excitement, but got...well, just watch and see- what a bunch of weirdies!

January 28, 2011