Marley & Me
Marley and Me
I never watched “Friends” back in the 90’s, so didn’t rush
to see a Jennifer Aniston film at the movies. And even if I enjoyed Owen Wilson
in some of his comedy films, I wasn’t interested when he would jump into a
romantic comedy. But when you’re out with a beautiful girl and the kind of
movies you want to see are not first date material, then you have to settle for
your second choice. But that suited me fine when I saw “Marley and Me” at the
movies, because I discovered Jennifer Aniston could act, Owen Wilson could do
drama and this movie was no chick flick. And it was the first movie my wife
Nicole and I saw together back when we were dating, so it earns a special place
on my list.
You probably know the film? A young couple get married then
take the first big step in their new life together – they get a puppy! An
adorable golden Labrador they call Marley joins their life. What they didn’t
expect was that this is no ordinary dog. Seeming to be possessed with the soul
of a grizzly bear, the tiny puppy quickly proceeds to chew, eat or piss on
every item of furniture in the house, including part of the dry wall. The young
couple are in way over their head, and their patience is tested numerous time
as Marley grows, a and grows and grows and just as quickly, becomes more insane
and destructive. Marley is a handful in every possible way. Think of the
happiest Labrador in the world, on Steroids!
He eats three times as much as any
dog his size, and has a particular taste for Mangoes. He never stops playing,
and if you ignore him, he’ll get your attention in the best way. Like the time
John is giving Jen a gold necklace to commemorate their first baby, and as they
turn their eyes for a split second, Marley scoops the expensive piece of
jewellery of the table, and lets it dangle from his mouth as an invitation for
his owners to come and get it – if they can. After a short chase around the
house, Marley decides he’ll just eat the necklace anyway, and it’s pooped out
the next day.
As the couple soon discover Marley can’t be tamed they take
him to dog obedience school. Standing in line with the rest of the pooches,
Marley quickly ticks off the dog trainer. As John can’t keep his dog still for
a second, she offers to demonstrate, but even this hardened animal expert will
get a run for her money. Marley takes off to do his own thing, and as she blows
her whistle, his ears prick up, he runs back to her then leaps onto her,
knocking her down to the ground. John runs over just in time to stop Marley
mid-way through humping the trainers leg. His first lesson in obedience school
is his last, as Marley gets kicked out.'
Yep, this is no ordinary dog. And this was no ordinary
romantic comedy film. The story belonged to the dog, and the relationship
between the couple was just the backdrop for this entertaining little film.
Based on the book written by John Grogan, played in the film
by Owen Wilson, Marley & Me follows the lives of John and his wife Jen (Jennifer
Aniston) over about a twelve-year period. Shortly after they get married, they
welcome Marley into their world, and their lives accelerate from there on. A
few years later and the first child comes along. Then another. We watch this
couple learn the quick way, and the hard way, how much life can change once you
decide to have a family. Back at the age of 26, this all seemed so far off for
me, but somewhere in the back of mind I felt like the girl I was on a date with
would be the one I would marry. It didn’t take me long to know that.
Dog movies are a dime a dozen. They’ve been a regular stayer
in the film collective, but we may only get to see one a year or so. They
usually follow the same stream of events; the character who inherits the dog
struggles to live with the animal, but also can’t live without it. Remember
“Turner and Hooch” starring Tom Hanks and the biggest, slobbering dog ever seen
on the silver screen? Then another one, which will make even hardened criminals
cry, was “My Dog Skip”. For a movie about the bond between a dog and boy during
the pivotal years of his childhood, you can’t go past that little classic.
Warning – you WILL cry at the end.
By the time Marley & Me came along, my childhood dog had been gone
for a couple of years. Finding him at the age of 14, I had him for almost ten
years. I decided back then I wanted a dog, and told my parents I would look
after him. I looked through the Trading Post newspaper (don’t forget this was
1996), and saw the ad almost straight away – “Dog for Free. Looking for a good
home. A Good Dog”. That’s all the ad said. I rung and said we’d be down the
next day. In the car, my mum, younger sister and I hopped, and drove down to
meet Duke; a German Shephard – Kelpie cross. He was active, running around his
backyard, and when it came time to come into our car, he barked sadly in farewell
of his owners. Once at our house, he did the standard sniffing about and quickly
marked his territory on the brick wall at the corner of our driveway. Then he
entered his backyard, and met our
cat, Rusty. I had Duke on a leash, but he took off, ripping the leash out of my
hand and gave chase. Rusty didn’t hesitate; hopping onto the backyard fence and
leaping over it. Three days later, the cat returned, prowling along the top of
the back fence, and spotted our new pet was still there. In fact, Duke might
have been chewing Rusty’s blanket. Rusty left, and never came back. But that
was okay, because he was more of a Common cat, and was fed by at least four
other houses on our street. Duke was home and there to stay.
Over the years, I grew a bond with my dog, as any pet owner
does. The more years went by, the more human
he seemed to become; sitting on our couch, barking at us like it was a
conversation, and politely socialising with every single person who visited our
house. He was a great dog. And he had his moments in dog history, that continue
to make me laugh today.
If Duke didn’t get his daily walk for any reason, he was
restless and irritable all night. As he was usually in my room at night, he’d
growl and wag his tail, so it would hit the ground in a demanding beat over and
over. After a few hours of this, I would let him out the back. But our yard
wasn’t enough to tame his canine stress, so he would leap over our six-foot-high
fence, and high tail it down the street. Sometimes he’d come back covered in
mud or scratches from a fight with a cat, but one time, he came back with
something…. else.
After being gone for an hour, I went out the front of the
house, in the dark of night, and made a low whistle; not too loud to bother the
neighbours, but loud enough so Duke could hear me. Eventually, I could hear the
sound of his nails on the footpath as he came trotting back down the street
towards our house. As he got closer, and the occasional street light revealed
him, I noticed there was something hanging from his mouth. He got closer, and I
peered through the darkness to see something brown, and small dangling from his
mouth. Oh Shit! He’s killed something and brought it back to show me I thought.
And as he arrived at my feet, happy to see me and proud of
his own find, I pulled it from his mouth. Fortunately, it wasn’t a dead animal,
but rather a brown paper bag. I slowly opened it, and inside was half a sausage
roll, covered in tomato sauce. And it was still warm! Either he’d found a snack
someone had just dropped on the ground or he met someone sitting on the bench
at the end of our street having a late-night meal, and took it off them. Since
he’d been so industrious to find food and bring it home, I tipped the sausage
roll out of the bag, and let Duke finish it off. This story in particular has
become legend, and is the one I tell the most often about the adventures of my
dog.
Watching Marley & Me was a nice reminder of how a dog is
always by your side, whatever stage of life you’re in. Sure, they frustrate the
hell out of you a lot of the time, but you couldn’t imagine life without them. No
matter how bad your day was, you know your dog would be over the moon to see
you as you walked through the front door. The night before I left for my first
solo overseas trip, Duke was down. He had moped around the house all day, and
as I was sitting on the living room chair, he climbed up and sat on my lap.
He’d never done that before, and hung his head in my lap, and whimpered. He
knew I was going somewhere. He probably didn’t expect me to be away for a year,
and I heard that while I was away, he would sit at my bedroom door and wait for
me to come home.
When I did return in late 2004, I cherished every moment I
had with Duke, as he was nearly 13 years old by this point. 2005 was a hard
year for him, as his legs started to give way, his hairs were changing from jet
black to a silvery white, and he slept a lot. It was all in matter of about
three months that he started to go downhill. He would sleep on my bed most
nights, and I could hear him breathe heavily. I tried to take him for walks,
but he would stop after about ten metres, close his eyes, and gesture for me to
take him home. I had to carry him home a few times.
Then the sad day came. It was about January 2006, and I was
home alone, getting ready for work. On the way out, I headed into the backyard
to feed Duke. But I couldn’t see him. I called his name and looked in the usual
hiding spots, but he wasn’t there. Then I saw him lying under the house, as he
had found an opening in the fencing and looked like he was asleep. I crouched
down and called him again. His eyes opened just barely, and he looked
exhausted. I knew something wasn’t right. I gently pulled him out from under
the house and carried him over to the back door. I placed his food in his dish,
and he didn’t even react to that. He then lay down on his stomach, and his head
tilted to one side. His tongue was sticking out and it was cold. I immediately
carried him to my car and we drove to the vet.
En route, I called work and said I could be late as I had to
take my dog to the vet. Five minutes later I got to the vet, and carried my dog
in through the door. As we arrived, he was struggling to breathe, and his cold,
pale tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth. “Hello. Can someone help me
please?” but the desk was unattended. Just then, a nurse appeared from a room
towards the back of the foyer, and told me to follow her into the operating
room. I lay Duke down on the table, and went to the desk out front. The
receptionist returned, and I gave her the details. “Hang out Duke” I could hear
the voice of the vet say from the other room. I was panicked, and hoped my dog
could just hang on a little while longer. A few minutes passed, and the vet
returned saying Duke was stable and on life support.
I went back into the operating room, and there was my dog;
lying down with a drip connected to his front right paw, and he was struggling
to keep his eyes open. The vet said she would continue to monitor him for the
next half an hour, so I got out my phone and made some calls. At this stage, it
was just my mum, dad and youngest sister at home. I rang each of them, and said
if they could get to the vet, they should definitely try as I wasn’t sure how
much longer Duke would be with us.
Within half an hour they all arrived. By this point, the vet
had more of an update for us. She said they had detected internal bleeding,
from the spleen, and Duke wasn’t doing well. They could arrange a blood
transfer, but that was a serious operation, and that might keep him going for another
6 months, but he would be very weak and not very mobile. I now had a choice to make. I had seen my dog slowly struggling for
the past few months, and to see him continue to suffer was just heartbreaking.
I took some time to think about it, and then made the toughest decision of my
life up until that point. “Let’s let him go” I said, and the vet began to make
the preparations.
I was joined in the operating room by my sister and parents,
where I sat next to the table, with my sister. Mum and dad stood behind us. I had
about twenty minutes with Duke, where I gently stroked his ear, which he loved,
and placed my hand on his body. Then Duke did something I have never forgotten.
Mustering up the little bit of strength he had, he pulled out his front left
leg, which was tucked under the other leg, and stretch it out just far enough so his paw touched my hand. He knew the end was coming, and he wanted to
let me know he was ready. I held his paw, and told him everything would be okay soon.
I told the vet she could go ahead, and she injected Duke’s
drip. There was a slight shudder from him, then his eyes slowly closed, closing for the last time. A minute passed, and his body took its last breath.
Mum, dad and Clare left the room, and I continued to sit there with my best pal
for another twenty minutes. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want him to leave.
But Duke’s time had come.
My mum called work for me shortly after and explained what
had happened, and said I wouldn’t be in. I went home, and even though it was
only about 8pm, I went to bed. At some point during the night, I woke up and I
could feel the weight of Duke on the end of the bed where he usually slept. I
looked over, but the bed was empty. Duke was there, I knew it.
After ten years in my life, Duke’s presence was still felt
around the house for a long time afterward. Those who met him will remember what a lovely dog he was.
Kind to everyone, exceptionally loyal and a real character.
I’ll take it you’ve probably seen Marley & Me, but if
you haven’t here’s a Spoiler Alert…
… the dog dies.
But it’s a dog movie, so you’d expect that. The scene in
which poor, old Marley slips away, lying on the table with his proud owner John
sitting by his side, brought the whole wave of emotions back when I said good
bye to my dog. Watching that scene was like saying good bye to Duke again. Then
in the final moments of the film, John says these words…
“A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes, or designer
clothes. A water log stick will do just fine.
A dog doesn’t car if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb…
give him your heart, and he’ll 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 haven’t had a dog since Duke, and I’m not sure I will
again. He could never be replaced, and his love and loyalty can’t be forgotten.
I do recall my mum asking me later that year after Duke passed if I would get
another dog, and my response was “I should probably get a girlfriend now” We
both laughed.
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