Marley & Me

I started reading Marley and Me last night. My mother-in-law got it for me for Christmas, and I finally finished the thick historical fiction I was reading so I could start. It is going to be a quick read; the author's writing style is so easy and entertaining. When Judy gave it to me, I imagined that she felt it might go well with our new, big dog. However, he has been so amazingly good that the book only somewhat reminds me of him. Mostly, I envision our friends' dog Cokie on each and every page. She was a big black lab, maybe the smartest dog we ever knew. That was coupled with stubbornness, gluttony, separation anxiety, and excess nervous energy. So while she was tons of fun to take to the lake for hours of retrieving, and had an enormous vocabulary, she also cleared out the fridge, cupboards and countertops, destroyed shoes, cushions, furniture, whatever was around, and everyone knew to quickly raise their drinks when she came through before her tail crashed them all to the floor. Her "puppy phase" never really ended and sometimes finding dog-sitters was tough.
One memorable dog-sitting moment for us was when we went out, thinking we had dog-proofed the kitchen. Cokie found, at the far back of our lazy susan cupboard, a huge Sam's Club size bag of Hershey's Kisses. We arrived home to find the plastic bag (no aluminum wrappers) laying by her, and she spent the entire night moaning and groaning before being sick all over the floor. Cokie was able to survive that and countless other gastronomic mishaps, although they did lead to health problems and rolls of thick fat.
Another famous thing about her was her drool. It was profuse and made of some bionic material that could not be scrubbed off many surfaces and ate through paint. Her sweet face was always accompanied by one or two long strings of the stuff hanging six inches or more from her lips.
Despite all this, we all loved Cokie. We didn't envy being her owners, but we loved her all the same.
So as I read this book, my mind keeps substituting Cokie for Marley, and I picture her black oily coat and thick otter tail, body wiggling from head to tip, defining the term dogged determination in everything she did, good or bad.