Snippets #4 - A Man's Best Friend Pt. 2

  Now the last addition to our family is a sweet Pekingese-Schnauzer mix named Marley. This little pup is a big bundle of joy in my family’s life—he is extremely playful, he can cheer up anyone with ease and sometimes I think he is just too smart for his own good; I think he toys with me, seeing if I’m as smart as he is. To be honest, if it wasn’t for my sister, we would never known how much fun and trouble this little puppy could be. Back when I was a senior at high school, every other weekday and almost every weekend, I volunteered at the Naples Humane Society and helped take care of all the animals that resided in there—cleaning the cats’ and dogs’ cages, making sure all their bowls were filled with food and water, cleaning up their fur and making sure there wasn’t anything in their cages they could choke on…it was a lot of work, but it was so much fun meeting all the different animals and learning about the names their previous owners gave them.

     I really didn’t think of the animals as my own, I kind of put myself in the place of a caretaker…an animal loving caretaker. I wanted every one of these cats and dogs to find a home they truly belonged in; I wanted to make sure that the person they were with had the determination and heart to take care of all these sweet, loving creatures. I loved it when someone wanted to adopt them, it made my heart lift with joy and happiness, but at the same time it was sad to see them go. After several months passed of helping getting animals adopted, my sister stopped and told me to come and look at the new addition that had came into the cat center. I followed her and looked into one of the cages and noticed a small black and brown puppy, lying asleep in his bed.

    “Isn’t he so cute?” my sister said.
    “Yeah he is, but what is he doing in the cat room?” I asked.
    “They didn’t have enough room in the doggie area nor the back room, so they put him out here,” My sister replied.
   
  Soon, the small pup turned his head towards our direction, looking at us with such curiosity and wonder—his tail was wagging so fast that it could cool anyone on a hot summer day. He was so adorable and small, but the cats hated his guts. All the cats would hiss and growl at him every time the young pup would try to greet them; a few of the cats would try and swipe at him. But he kept his spirits high and continued to bond with us up to the point where we adopted him.

    Marley…that was his original name and we had no intentions on changing it—it fit who he was and his personality, plus the name reminded us of two things, the movie and Bob Marley (which is the one we thought more of). He is still full of so much energy and happiness that he knows how to keep me smiling and on my toes; without him, I don’t think the family would be doing as much as we are today. He was a very small puppy when we first got him. I remember him being able to fit into my father’s large shoes, or hiding under the couch. He loved to play and run around the house; even though he was an endless bouncing ball of energy, he was always persistent. When he was small, he tried to join my mom and I on the couch with us, but because of his size, he could barely reach the seated cushion—the frustrated look on his face whenever we helped him up or when he failed at reaching the couch, but the determination burned within him. He kept trying each day without any assistance from anyone; then one day, when my mom and I were watching T.V., he leaped off of the carpet and successfully landed onto the sofa cushion. His tail was wagging happily and he was smiling with joy, just one look of him and I could tell how proud he was.

     He’s still a puppy, but not as tiny as he was back then—he’s persistent on accomplishing any task that’s bigger than him; speaking of which, the biggest task he’s trying to win over is the fights he has with the cats. Now these fights aren’t the “battle to the death” type, it’s more like the “get out of my way” or “don’t enter my space”. You see, after we adopted him, we took him home and introduced him to our cats; Scratchy and Itchy took cautious steps forward and sniffed Marley, either wondering what kind of animal he was, or what scent was in his fur. Unfortunately, the only homely “greeting” Marley received was a nasty hiss.

    “Scratchy! Be nice!” my sister spoke a bit sternly, “He’s your new brother and you have to treat him well.”

      The cat wasn’t having any of it—he didn’t care for Marley nor did he want to bond with him or have him as a brother; in fact, I sometimes think Scratchy would have some plan to get the poor pup out of the house. I wish I could say they are the best of friends, always got each other’s back and they are true brothers ‘till the end, but that isn’t true. They would fight over any silly thing, whether it is food, drinking from their water bowls, sleeping in a particular spot, or getting jealous because of the amount of attention one is getting than the other; and whenever the fight starts it starts with a hiss, then a growl, and then some swipes to the head and a nip on the butt. It seems like these fur balls will never get along, but despite their endless bickering, they do have a bit of respect towards each other. Well…not much respect for Itchy since Marley keeps humping him every now and again—I’m beginning to wonder if he thinks the cat is a girl or something; you would think that the amount of butt sniffing he does, he can take a hint.