Marley And Me

Marley And Me Advertisement?

December 5, 2008 By Colby Leave a Comment

Today’s my birthday so I decided to get a quick, fun post up that I’ve had sitting amongst my drafted articles. No it’s not another picture of Derby, but it is a great action shot!

The moment I saw this image I thought this could very well be an advertisement for the upcoming movie Marley & Me. Take a look at the picture:

Marley and Me?

I found this picture while surfing stumbleupon at the on the fotocommunity.de website.

I love the way his two hind legs are parallel to the ground with his front legs between them…reminds me of a rabbit. It looks a little like Derby. Of course this couldn’t be Derby and can you guess why? Derby as a guide dog puppy in training is not allowed to play with tennis balls. Tennis balls and Frisbees are the two toys Derby is not allowed to play with.

Do you have any great photos like this of your dog? If so, send them over and I’ll do my best to add them to the website.

Lessons From Marley & Me Part 2 – Naming Your Dog

January 3, 2008 By Colby 2 Comments

I’m only on chapter 2 of Marley & Me and already I feel like I should post another article about the book. Chapter 2 covers the ever important decision of what to name your dog. Of course this will effect both you and your dog for hopefully the next 10, 15, or 20 years of your lives.

Here’s a little information on how John Grogan and his wife came up with the name Marley. I also wrote a short bit on Guide Dog Puppy Naming and how I named my shelter dog. Finally, I added a short section on hints for foster puppy raisers on naming a litter of puppies (works for any litter of puppies).

If you haven’t already take a look at Part 1 of my writings on Marley & Me:

Marley And Me Part 1 – The Perfect Dog and Buying Puppies

Bob Marley

After choosing a puppy (they have to wait a few weeks before the pup is old enough to come home) Grogan and his wife begin arguing about what to name their puppy on the drive home. After listening to the soothing reggae music of Bob Marley they both simultaneously come up with the name Marley for their new puppy. I happen to think that is a great name for a dog and may use that some time in the future (I’m a fan of Bob Marley myself).

A quick aside: I was watching the movie I Am Legend the other day and Will Smith’s character in the movie explains that he named his daughter “Marley” after the legendary singer Bob Marley. I must say that is an interesting, but cute name for a little girl. By the way, do you think the title of the move “I Am Legend” has a heavy Bob Marley influence as well?

Guide Dog Puppy Names

When I first got involved with Guide Dogs of America I wasn’t sure if the school would name the puppy or if I would have the opportunity to name him. Every Guide Dog school is different, but at Guide Dogs of America you get to name your own puppy. There are a few guidelines:

Each litter is assigned a letter from the alphabet. For instance my puppy came from the “S” litter and therefore his name had to start with the letter “S”
Your puppy cannot have the same name as one of the existing active guide dogs or puppy’s in training.
You have to get final approval from the Puppy Program Manager at GDA.

***they discourage you from using extremely common names.

There were 5 puppies in the “S” litter:

Stetson - my puppy
Stuart
Skylar
Salem
Sukie

Four out of the five puppies were black labs and one was a yellow lab just like Marley. By the way, congratulations to Stuart who I saw won the puppy trials for his age bracket at the GDA Open house last summer.

Where Does The Name Stetson Come From?

Everyone seems to like the name Stetson and often wonder why and how I came up with that name. Stetson is a type of hat (cowboy) and also there is a cologne name Stetson. Well, a few years ago my cousin was dating this guy who happened to be in the Stetson cologne commercials. We always called him the “Stetson” man. For some reason that stuck in my head and when it came time to name my puppy I thought Stetson would be a cool name.

***the new Stetson man (last I saw) was Matthew McConaughey.

Shelter Dog Puppy Names

I had no idea what to name my puppy when bringing him home from the Carson shelter. Of course there are no rules when naming your shelter puppy and after bouncing a few names around with my ex-girlfriend we had three we liked:

Linus
Fiver
Max

Linus came from the Peanuts (you know…Linus and Lucy, Charlie Brown…) cartoon strip. Fiver was a name I read about in the Richard Adams book Watership Down. In the book Watership Down Fiver got his name because he was the fifth in the litter and the runt. I liked the name Fiver because the animal shelter said their were five in the litter and the puppy I chose was the runt. Finally, my ex-girlfriend came up with the name Max…she said he just looked like a “Max”. We went ahead and stuck with the name Linus and I must say he really does look like a Linus (he even has his own blue blanket).

Fostering and Puppy Names

If you are interested in fostering puppies then you will have the chance to name several puppies at the same time. My suggestion for naming litters of puppies…think of a movie or book that you enjoy and name them after the characters in the book/movie. For instance, are you a bit of a geek and are fostering a litter of nine puppies. Why not name the puppies after the nine in the Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Samwise, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gandalf, and Gimli.

Usually after foster puppies are adopted their names are changed by their new forever owners anyways.

Puppy Name Resources

Here are a few links on puppy/dog names:

http://petrix.com/dognames/

http://www.puppy-names.com/

http://www.funpuppynames.com/

I’d love to hear what you think? Do you have any plans to name a new puppy?

Filed Under: Dog Training Books Tagged With: Dog Names, Dogs, Marley and Me, Names, Puppies

Lessons From Marley & Me Part 1 – The Perfect Dog and Buying Puppies

December 31, 2007 By Colby 3 Comments

Today I began reading Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog and wanted to relate some of my experiences with puppies and dogs as I read through the book. The book starts off with the perfect dog and buying puppies.

The Perfect Dog

Many of us have grown up with what we percieved as the perfect dog. In the preface John Grogan covers his perfect puppy/dog named Saint Shaun. Saint Shaun was very easily trained, never did anything wrong, the envy of all his friends, and to top it all of would back into the bushes to do his business (it all sounds a little over the top to me).

What do I think of the preface and the perfect dog? Saint Shaun may very well have been perfect, but as kids I don’t think we’re always exposed to all the responsibilities of owning a dog. If we forget something such as picking up after our dogs, brushing, washing, or grooming the dog our parents will often cover for us. Often times as kids, we don’t even realize all the responsibilities involved with dogs. I guess what I’m trying to say is there is a big difference between the family pet we owned as kids and the puppy/dog we buy/own as an adult. The full responsibility of owning a dog is something we should consider with great care. Of course not everyone thoroughly thinks through dog ownership and this can be seen by the ever increasing number of dogs and puppies that are euthanized at the shelters.

Buying Puppies

In Marley & Me Grogan’s wife researches the newspaper classifieds to find the perfect dog. Is this the best way to buy a dog? I don’t claim to know the best way to get the perfect dog, but I have talked to many people and currently own two dogs of my own. Check out Dedicated to my dog Linus to see some of my writing on dog adoption. I was considering a pure bred golden retriever or labrador retriever before I picked up Linus from the shelter. It was recommended to me that I attend dog shows to find a reputable breeder and not to find a breeder by looking through the classifieds. I was told that a good reputable breeder has no need to advertise their puppies.

However, I did look at classified ads and did visit some of the puppies in the ads. The second thing I was told about buying a dog was that before you buy a pure bred find out what genetic defects the breed may have and make sure the parents are certified. By the way, it is very difficult not to take home all the puppies when you see, touch, and play with the litter. I highly recommend using Grogan’s strategy when looking at litters, but unlike Grogan stick to it!

From Marley & Me:

The deal I had struck with Jenny when I agreed to come here was that we would check the pups out, ask some questions, and keep an open mind as to whether we were ready to bring home a dog ‘This is the first ad we’re answering’ I had said. ‘Let’s not make any snap decisions.’ But thirty seconds into it, I could see I had already lost the battle. There was no question that before the night was through one of these puppies would be ours.

I’m going to reiterate…please don’t give in and stick to the plan!

Meet the Parents

As you can see Grogan and his wife choose one of the puppies from the first litter they visit. It is a backyard breeder who has AKC certified puppies. However, Grogan does not mention whether the puppies parents have certified hips, elbows, and eyes which is very important when buying a pure-bred labrador retriever (yellow lab was the same dog I was researching before I found Linus).

Parents are a good indicator of how the puppies will behave. Grogan and his wife meet the mother just as they arrive at the house and describe her as “just what we pictured a lab would be -sweet natured, affectionate, calm, and breathtakingly beautiful.” The chapter ends with meeting the father…Grogans description: “…very big yellow blur…as it galloped past…soaking wet and covered up to its belly in mud and burrs…tongue hung out wildly to one side and froth flew of its jowls…odd slightly crazed yet somehow joyous gaze in his eyes…” Not exactly the perfect dog and a foreshadowing of things to come.

Let me know what you think. Have you read Marley & Me? Are you interested in buying puppies?

Filed Under: Dog Training Books Tagged With: Buying Puppies, Dog, Marley and Me, Puppy