Happy Gotcha Day, Marley!

Celebrating our first year with Marley the rescue dog.

This week we celebrate one year with our dog, Marley. He came to us via Warrington Animal Welfare following my three-month search for a new family companion. Our previous dog was a stray from the Stoke City dogs’ home, but since we now have young children, my search to re-home a dog took longer and proved more stressful than I anticipated.

Many dogs’ homes cannot re-home to families due to the unpredictability of the dogs in their care. In my family experience rescue dogs make the perfect family pets, and I was determined to find a dog that needed a home.

Marley-Mischief, as he has come to be known, burst into our lives like a whirlwind of chaos. He never spent time in the dogs’ home, but his previous owner approached Warrington Animal Welfare for help. Marley had lived in a small home previously and it soon became obvious that he needed some behavioural training.

He was overwhelmed with all the dogs in my circle of friends and family, and we had to take slow steps to introduce him to all of the dogs. He is still getting used to them now, because of course we had the pandemic and subsequent lockdown to contend with, so poor Marley was unable to receive the proper kind of training that he needed in a time-sensitive manner. I had to train him at home, with help from my daughters, using online tutoring from our local dog training experts.

We managed some training in the end, and Marley’s behaviour has certainly improved in twelve months. It took a while and we are still working on some issues (barking at people outside our house, aggressive behaviour towards wildlife), but he is my little boy and I love him unconditionally.

I know that Marley joined our family at the right time. He nursed me through a period of bereavement and grief, and he has become my little dog-limpet, always by my side, following me around the house, accompanying me on walks, and welcoming me home when I leave him. Happy Gotcha Day, Marley. We love you, little Mischief!