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Friday, April 18th, 2008
The Bad Dog Club
Our family was given not one but two copies of Marley and Me after our first family pet Hollie died August 2006. I couldn't bring myself to read the book then and didn't even consider it until I was visiting with my Parents last month. My Dad had been sick and through quite the ordeal of medical tests. No doctor he saw or tests they took could determine his illness. To make what could be a long story short, he had bypass surgery and during his recovery his Cousin visited him and gave him a copy of Marley and Me. Mom began to read out loud the preface, I couldn't hold the tears back, mom got choked up but we made it through. She then read chapter one and the next night and chapter two. A few more nights passed but we got distracted and didn't get back to the book. After I returned home, I was determined to read the book, it felt like the time was right.
I can no way write all the stories about Hollie as John Grogan did about Marley, but I can say Hollie was a good dog too. She was loyal and loved everyone. We were officially in the "bad dog club" and didn't know it. We all miss her, her time came too soon, she was only seven and it was very unexpected. Emmy and Hollie were puppies together and had their own way of playing together despite the difference in size.
Hollie tried to eat the house and I do mean eat the house, we had to have siding added to the back of the house, we have a bald patch in the carpeting in our bedroom, we went through 2 recliners, one couch and several loaves of bread. But she was the first dog that we could finally make part of our family. We had tried puppies a few years before but we just were not ready to be true dog owners yet. Her name really should have been lucky for all the times she escaped from our back yard to chase either bike riders, baseball players, rabbits or anything that pretty much moved catching her attention and realizing the CWLP man had left the gate unlatched after checking the meter. I am sure she was saying "I'm freeeee!!!!" but she was a lucky dog. A Westchester family found her once and were nice enough to drop her back off into our back yard, thanks to the dog tag that day. A customer from the old Sportmart was nice enough to call saying he had our dog in the parking lot, again thanks to the dog tag. The scariest time we lost her was when someone had taken off her collar. I am not sure why it was off, but it was and to our horror, we couldn't find her this time. Only by luck, the person that found her had reported her to the pound the next morning. Needless to say, she lived in Chatham, no Hollie didn't runaway all the way to Chatham, but had taken the bike trail over to best buy, tried getting into the store, they shooed her out and took her down to Petsmart, only to be kicked out by management back into the parking lot. Fortunately, one of the dog trainers had a heart and took her home with her. Hollie was wearing a pink hanky, so this was our only proof that she was ours. Her paws were torn up and bloodied, I think from the bike trail or from all the traveling in the parking lots. She was a pretty pampered dog, when we went on walks she liked the grass most of the time so her pads weren't very callused like most well walked dogs.
Those kinds of days were pretty tiring on all of us, but we loved her and would do anything to find her. She was so healthy and we were taken by surprise when the weekend came to loose her for good. No more barking, Emmy was alone, and I think she was a little depressed, of course we all were.
Our house just wasn't the same and the void of a second dog was apparent. Which lead to our addition of Joey. I will save the blog for his homecoming another time. I must say, he is following in Hollie's footsteps, I think he is eating the house. More carpet has been disappearing from our bedroom. JOEY!!!! ... yep, we are still in the bad dog club!
*Dedicated to Hollie
The Bad Dog Club
Our family was given not one but two copies of Marley and Me after our first family pet Hollie died August 2006. I couldn't bring myself to read the book then and didn't even consider it until I was visiting with my Parents last month. My Dad had been sick and through quite the ordeal of medical tests. No doctor he saw or tests they took could determine his illness. To make what could be a long story short, he had bypass surgery and during his recovery his Cousin visited him and gave him a copy of Marley and Me. Mom began to read out loud the preface, I couldn't hold the tears back, mom got choked up but we made it through. She then read chapter one and the next night and chapter two. A few more nights passed but we got distracted and didn't get back to the book. After I returned home, I was determined to read the book, it felt like the time was right.
I can no way write all the stories about Hollie as John Grogan did about Marley, but I can say Hollie was a good dog too. She was loyal and loved everyone. We were officially in the "bad dog club" and didn't know it. We all miss her, her time came too soon, she was only seven and it was very unexpected. Emmy and Hollie were puppies together and had their own way of playing together despite the difference in size.
Hollie tried to eat the house and I do mean eat the house, we had to have siding added to the back of the house, we have a bald patch in the carpeting in our bedroom, we went through 2 recliners, one couch and several loaves of bread. But she was the first dog that we could finally make part of our family. We had tried puppies a few years before but we just were not ready to be true dog owners yet. Her name really should have been lucky for all the times she escaped from our back yard to chase either bike riders, baseball players, rabbits or anything that pretty much moved catching her attention and realizing the CWLP man had left the gate unlatched after checking the meter. I am sure she was saying "I'm freeeee!!!!" but she was a lucky dog. A Westchester family found her once and were nice enough to drop her back off into our back yard, thanks to the dog tag that day. A customer from the old Sportmart was nice enough to call saying he had our dog in the parking lot, again thanks to the dog tag. The scariest time we lost her was when someone had taken off her collar. I am not sure why it was off, but it was and to our horror, we couldn't find her this time. Only by luck, the person that found her had reported her to the pound the next morning. Needless to say, she lived in Chatham, no Hollie didn't runaway all the way to Chatham, but had taken the bike trail over to best buy, tried getting into the store, they shooed her out and took her down to Petsmart, only to be kicked out by management back into the parking lot. Fortunately, one of the dog trainers had a heart and took her home with her. Hollie was wearing a pink hanky, so this was our only proof that she was ours. Her paws were torn up and bloodied, I think from the bike trail or from all the traveling in the parking lots. She was a pretty pampered dog, when we went on walks she liked the grass most of the time so her pads weren't very callused like most well walked dogs.
Those kinds of days were pretty tiring on all of us, but we loved her and would do anything to find her. She was so healthy and we were taken by surprise when the weekend came to loose her for good. No more barking, Emmy was alone, and I think she was a little depressed, of course we all were.
Our house just wasn't the same and the void of a second dog was apparent. Which lead to our addition of Joey. I will save the blog for his homecoming another time. I must say, he is following in Hollie's footsteps, I think he is eating the house. More carpet has been disappearing from our bedroom. JOEY!!!! ... yep, we are still in the bad dog club!
*Dedicated to Hollie
I loved Marley and Me. Glad you finally read it.
Look forward to hearing about Joey.