Marley #9 Yellow Labrador Retriever Male 1 1/2 Years Old

August 2, 2019

Marley continues to be a source of love and laughter for us.  He LOVES affection.  He likes to plop on my lap and I hold the bone for him while he gnaws away.  Then, inevitably, he decides he wants to handle it himself and jumps down to the floor to hold his bone between those huge paws of his and quietly chew, chew, chew.

After 10 days with us, I can say he is VERY well house trained.  I let him out a lot without him having to ask, but a few times he has gone to the door to let me know he needs to go out.

He still jumps a bit but that has calmed down considerably.  We have been using the “Stop bad behavior” spray can training method and it works wonders with him.  For a potential adopter who doesn’t know about it, we will of course be happy to “train you how to train Marley :-)”.

He gets very excited when he sees his walking harness being taken down….at first it was almost impossible to get it on him, but now he knows if he doesn’t sit while I am putting it on him, it won’t get on him and he won’t go for a walk.  One time when he wouldn’t sit properly, I dropped it on the floor and walked away.  He picked it up and sat down.  I couldn’t believe it.  He knew what he had to do if he wanted to go for a walk.

He still pulls a little here and there on the walk but it is totally manageable and I personally don’t mind it even a little bit.  Our walks are for his enjoyment, not mine…..although I guess they are actually for mine too because I love seeing that happy wagging tail the whole walk – we go a mile round trip – too hot for anything longer since we have had him.  He likes to take a quick dip in the pool after his walks.

We have been told by our family members that we are crazy for not adopting him ourselves, we have been told we have hit the rescue dog jackpot.  Due to personal reasons, it isn’t the right time for us to adopt right now, but whoever does adopt him I say you you….you are hitting the rescue dog jackpot!!

July 28, 2019

Marley “the man” (and he is the man!) came into foster care earlier this week.  He was a little anxious on the way home; he stood for the entire 45-minute ride.  BUT, as soon as he came in the house, you would think he owned it.  He is very comfortable here.  I took him to the Pet Smart near me and he relaxed in the back seat immediately – a big difference from just a little over 12 hours later.

At 1-1/2 years of age, he is high energy, of course, and likes to run and play in our yard.  We’ve gone on many walks throughout the neighborhood.  He barks at other dogs but only because he wants to play.  When it is clear we won’t be playing, he just walks on his merry way.

Marley was used to sleeping in a kennel at his former home, but we have him sleeping in a mudroom to give him a bit more space. We put him to bed usually between 10 and 11.  My husband leaves the house around 5:30 and lets him out before leaving.  He hasn’t had any accidents in his mudroom/bedroom. When he is out in our yard, he has a regular spot he’s chosen to do his business which makes clean up much easier!

What we’ve learned so far:

He is a big ball of love but has no clue as to his size.  He sees no reason he shouldn’t be a lap dog!

He enjoys our pool.  He likes to go down a few steps, swim in a small circle, and come right out, but he does it probably a dozen times a day.

He loves his walks and really enjoys playing fetch in the yard.

He loves other dogs but can be an overly enthusiastic player at times which discourages some dogs from wanting to continue playing.

Although nearly perfect, he does have some bad habits — he jumps on people but after only a few days of training, we are already seeing a vast improvement.  I think we can have him just about totally broken of that habit before going to his furever home.  We just have to ask that his new family follow the same disciplines. He is a little bit of a thief who will chew things he shouldn’t when he manages to steal them!  He isn’t being bad really, just not sure what is a toy and what isn’t…what dog wouldn’t think a flip flop is a toy, right?  He hasn’t chewed up anything in his bedroom.  He also needs work on his leash walking skills.  We will be working on correcting those behaviors, but his adopter will need to understand that he is a puppy in an adult body who still needs supervision and training.

He is scheduled to be neutered on August 5^th and we are expecting to make him available for adoption once he’s recovered from surgery. Keep an eye on his blog for more updates!