Marley: A Dog Like No Other. John Grogan

happily off the walls. “Yippee!” his excited movements told us. He could tell he was going for a car ride, and he didn’t care where.

      For Marley, any trip was a good trip. It didn’t matter where we were going or for how long. Take out the trash? “No problem!” Walk to the corner for a gallon of milk? “Count me in!”

      When I whistled, Marley bounded out the door and into the car. He was revved up and ready to go. Jenny drove and I sat in the passenger seat. From the backseat near the hand brake Marley balanced his front paws – just like he always did. His nose touched the rearview mirror. Every time Jenny pressed the brakes, he went crashing into the windshield. Marley didn’t care. He was riding shotgun with his two best friends.

      “Life doesn’t get any better than this,” his puppy joy announced.

      I rolled down my window a bit and Marley leaned against me, trying to catch a whiff of the outdoor smells. Soon he squirmed his way fully on to my lap. He pressed his nose so firmly into the narrow crack of the window that he snorted each time he tried to inhale.

      “Do you want a little more fresh air, buddy?” I asked. I opened the window wide enough for him to stick out his snout. He was enjoying the sensation so much, I opened it farther. Soon his entire head was out the window. His tongue hung out and his ears flapped behind him in the wind. Was he happy!

      As we drove down the highway, Jenny and I talked. Pretty soon I noticed that Marley had hooked both of his front paws over the edge of the half-open window. And now his neck and upper shoulders were hanging out of the car, too. He just needed a pair of goggles and a silk scarf to look like one of those World War I flying aces.

      “John, he’s making me nervous,” Jenny said.

      “He’s fine,” I answered. “He just wants a little fresh—”

      At that instant he slid his front legs out the window until his armpits were resting on the edge of the glass.

      “John, grab him! Grab him!” Jenny yelled.

      Before I could do anything, Marley was scrambling out the window of our moving car. His butt was up in the air, and his hind legs were clawing for something to hold on to. He was making his break!

      As his body slithered past me, I lunged for him and managed to grab the end of his tail with my left hand. Jenny was braking hard even though there was traffic all around us. Marley’s entire body dangled outside the moving car, hanging upside down by his tail. My body was twisted around, and I couldn’t get my other hand on him. Marley was frantically trotting along with his front paws on the pavement.

      Jenny stopped the car in the left-hand lane. Cars lined up behind us. Their horns blared.

      “Now what?” I yelled. I was stuck. I couldn’t pull him back in the window. I couldn’t open the door. I couldn’t get my other arm out. And I didn’t dare let go of him – I was convinced he’d dash in the path of one of the angry drivers swerving around us. With my face scrunched against the glass, I held on for dear life.

      Jenny put on the car’s flashers and ran around to my side. She grabbed Marley and held him by the collar until I could get out and help her wrestle him back into the car.

      All the action had taken place directly in front of a gas station. As Jenny got the car moving again, I looked over to see that all the mechanics had come out to take in the show. I thought they were going to pee in their pants, they were laughing so hard.

      “Thanks, guys!” I called out. “Glad we could brighten your morning.”

       7

       The Things He Ate

      

Before long, Jenny and I were expecting our first child. Marley would stop being the baby of the family, and we had to prepare him for the change. So every day we worked on his training.

      Now I was able to entertain our friends by yelling, “Incoming!” and watching Marley crash to the floor, all four limbs splayed.

      He always came on command – unless something caught his attention, such as another dog, squirrel, butterfly, mailman, or floating weed seed. He always sat – unless he felt like standing. He always heeled – unless there was something so tempting it was worth strangling himself over, such as another dog, squirrel, butterfly… Well, you get the idea.

      Marley’s training was coming along. But that didn’t mean he was mellowing into a calm, well-behaved dog. If I towered over him and barked stern orders, he would obey. Sometimes he’d even do it eagerly. But Marley was still Marley. And Marley was incorrigible.

      A giant mango tree grew in our Florida backyard, and mangoes rained down to the ground. Marley could never eat enough. Each weighed half a kilo or more. They were so sweet they could make your teeth ache. Marley would stretch out in the grass, anchor a ripe mango between his front paws, and remove every bit of flesh from the skin. It was as if he were performing surgery. He would hold the large pits in his mouth like lozenges. When he finally spat them out, they looked like they had been cleaned in an acid bath. There was not a speck of fruit left on them. Some days he would be out there for hours, frantically gobbling down mango after mango.