marley (& otis) & me

i just got done reading marley & me (john grogan). ever since i got otis, dog people have been asking me if i'd read it yet, so i finally did. it's about this yellow lab, marley (who reminds me a lot of otis: jumps on people, freaks out and scratches up walls when left alone in the garage, dragged an entire cafe table out from under the people eating on it and halfway down the street), and his human family. it starts with marley as a fuzzy little puppy and ends up where you had better have a box of kleenex with you. it's well-written, and if you're a dog person i'd definitely recommend it (it would probably be pretty boring if you're not).

but the thing about it was, it was just so damn norman-rockwell-y! it simultaneously comforted me and grated on my nerves that, despite the true-to-life gory detail with which grogan described marley's "adventures," he never seemed to get truly furious at this dog! marley did some stuff that was way worse than otis would even think of (got kicked out of obedicence school, chewed up his metal crate until his teeth fell out and he was bleeding, then ran around the house smearing his doggie blood everywhere and destroying furniture), and yet it was written about in this 50's sitcom, "look at that! silly old marley..." kind of way that made me feel guilty about the times i've shouted at otis--not out of discipline but out of pure, blood-boiling frustration--until he cowered in the corner tucking his tail (please don't send Dog Protective Services to come take my puppy away!).

john grogan did write the book after marley's death, however, so i'm sure a good deal of nostalgia and "don't speak ill of the dead" played into his style. and he did talk about the time his wife was ready to take marley to the pound, so he doubled his efforts and got up at ass-o-clock every morning for a last-ditch marley-training-effort until marley was at least as "trained" as he was going to get. maybe he's just an incredibly patient, devoted man. or maybe having marley grew and strengthened those traits in him. i know otis has done that for us. i have said, on more than one occasion, "i'm taking him to the pound!" (though i never mean it). and matt has told me a few times "there is no peace around here! just OTIS!" but we talk each other down from our otis-hating ledges, and we ramp up (however temporarily) the efforts to make him a good dog. and i think having him around for the last year has cultivated our patience tremendously. and that patience has helped us deal more effectively with our jobs, with all the stupid shitty things that happen in life (like weekly flat tires on my commuter bike...), and with each other.