Lakeland College

Man's Best Friend
Posted on 7/12/2011 8:46:21 PM

Hello again.

I just have to say upfront that this blog will be based on two things: 1) the movie "Marley and Me" and 2) my personal story of my old dog and the dog that my family currently has. I will start by talking about the movie and expressing why I chose to write about this and finish with a personal touch. So bear with me and you might get to see some of my soft side. I do have to mention though, if you haven't seen the movie "Marley and Me" I strongly recommend it, especially if you have a pet dog at home. I will be talking about the movie though, so I hope it doesn't ruin the movie for you.

I can actually remember when this movie first came out in theaters. I remember walking into the theater thinking to myself "What a dumb movie. I already know the whole movie will be about this dog. What makes this dog so much different than any other dog? I guarantee at the end of the movie the dog dies. Why would anyone wanna spend money on this movie?" If you could have seen me in that movie theater crying like a baby at the end of the movie that alone would have been worth $9.50. For me, this movie was much more than just a movie about some dog; it was about the relationship that a dog has with a person. It was about how much a dog can have an impact on a family's life. It brought back the journey I had with my dog and made me realize how lucky I was to have her as part of the family.

Essentially what happens in this movie is the two main characters are married and the wife wants to have a child but the husband isn't ready yet. In the mean time he picks up a dog so they can take care of something that isn't a kid. Little did they know the dog they picked up was a trouble maker. The movie progresses and Marley gets bigger, older, and causes more trouble. The couple ends up having 3 children and the family moves from Florida to Philly for the husbands job as a writer. The movie starts to get really sad as Marley gets older. Eventually, you guessed it, Marley dies. It almost felt as though Marley was your dog because of how you were able to watch this dog mature throughout the movie, and that makes it tough to watch. You may be wondering why I decided to write this blog about "Man's Best Friend" after watching this movie. Well, let me talk about my personal experience for a bit...

When I was just a young boy, about 6 years old, my mom and dad decided that they were going to get me a dog for my birthday. They took me to Saukville, next door to my aunt and uncle's house, to pick out a dog. As I was looking at the dogs that were there I noticed one dog in the corner that the mother and the other puppies were neglecting. This dog was a peach color, much different than the black and white color of all the other dogs in the litter. I looked up at my mom and dad and said "she's the one I want". I fell in love with this dog immediately. She was the runt of the litter and to be completely honest I wanted her to have someone to play with. I took her home and decided that her name should be Peaches, after her color of course. Well, much like the movie, this is where my journey began. This dog was my dog. I needed to feed her and take care of her, play with her, basically everything. She was my responsibility and I loved it. I can remember nights where she would come and sleep with me and curl up right next to me in bed, it was adorable. As the years went on I started spending less time with her because I was spending more time at school or with friends, but every night when I would come home she was right there waiting for me to give me a kiss hello or to lay with me at night. She was always there when I was having a bad day and I could talk to her about everything, she would always listen. Overall, just the best dog anyone could ever ask for. Unfortunately, during my freshman year of college Peaches started to get really sick. She never went to the bathroom in the house or threw up, but she was doing this on a regular basis at this point. She loved to go outside and run around, but she would do nothing but lay around the house. We took her to the Vet and they couldn't figure out why she was so sick. It eventually was released on the news that there was a toxin in the solution we were using to mop our floors with that was actually killing pets. The product was recalled and when we found this out we knew what was wrong with her. We took Peaches back to the Vet and they said that her internal organs were destroyed and were starting to shut down. We had no choice but to put her down. This was definitely one of the hardest days of my life up until this point. I wasn't just losing a pet, but I was losing a friend.

My family currently has a new dog at home, her name is Zoey. I don't have quite the attachment to her as I did to Peaches because technically Zoey is my brothers. But I do enjoy taking her for walks and I am the only one in my family that does that. I also noticed that every time I come home she welcomes me by jumping up on me and licking my face. She may be young yet, but she is definitely working her way into my heart and she is most definitely part of the family and hopefully she stays there for many, many more years.

I think my experiences with Peaches and Zoey explain why I was so affected by the movie "Marley and Me". I know I'm not the only person who has ever lost a pet, and I know I'm not the only person who has ever had a good relationship with a pet, but it was definitely hard. You still might be wondering what the reasoning is behind me writing this blog... well here it is. The movie ends with this quote "A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes; A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb; give him your heart and he will give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?" I don't know how I could have said it any better. My dogs Peaches and Zoey did just that. They made me feel extraordinary when they jumped up on me and licked my face; when they would lay their head on my leg when I was having a rough day; when they would come and lay in bed with me just to keep me company. It may be cliche, but a dog really is a man's best friend, and for good reasons.