In Celebration of the Dog

So here it is, one year after the acquisition of my dog, my Marge.  

In celebration of that year, we asked several of our friends to tell us their dogs' story, and what their dogs mean to them.  Here is the long-awaited June 29th MargeBlog Collection!

BAILEY AND MARTHA

"We adopted Bailey in November 2008, quickly followed by Martha in December, They are both very different. Bailey is a little madam who does not like being told what to do! One of the reasons she ended up in rescue looking for a new home! She is such a personality! Bailey is very loving and very cheeky. She is so much fun, loves to play,

Martha is very quiet! She had been in kennels for six months and is scared of everything and very shy - she doesnt like meeting new people or new situations. What she does love is to be out on walks where she absolutely loves to run about and sniff everything. She used to be scared of everything, even toys and treats!

We had been six months without a dog and our house felt very quiet and empty. Our walks seemed very boring. There was an essential part of our lives missing.

We love Martha & Bailey very much. We are happy we were able to offer them a forever home and they, in turn, have given so much to us. They make us laugh every day! Every walk is an adventure. We have loved seeing Bailey settle down. We love watching Martha grow in confidence with every passing day.

Well that's it. we just adore the bones of both of them!"

BELL

"Here is a fun picture of my girl Bellerina. We would like to wish Marge the HAPPIEST of BARKDAYS.

(Bells turn to bark..)
Mom says the main reason she loves me so much is because I’m her little girl. I give her loves and cuddles when needed and she plays with me and feeds me when I need. BOL, to a dog that’s all I could ask for (I get toys and bones out of it too, so it works out pretty good w/my mom).
HAPPY HAPPY BARKDAY AGAIN MARGE"

DONATELLO

"Donatello's a great pooch, the best I've ever had and will probably ever have... I can't imagine life without him right now. He's like my "Knight in Shining Armor", yeah, yeah- He may be small, but he's my little-ankle-biter! We both have our moments where we get under each others' skin, but all is easily forgiven by bed-time..."

MAGGIE

"Does this dog look happy to you? I thought she might. This is Maggie's expression all the time. She has two speeds- One being everything you could guess from this picture, the other being sleeping. I often hear people say they think dogs who were rescued or helped in a big way seem to realize it, seem more grateful, or just plain happy. I believe this is the case for Maggie. 

She was found wandering my neighborhood and looked like death itself. She was skin and bones and obviously very sick. My stepmom took her in originally as a foster, and found out she had a bad bacteria that was demolishing her digestive system. She couldn't eat, and when she did eat, she had a lot of bloody diahrrea- Did I say a lot? I mean diahhrea covering the better part of a bedroom floor (wood floor!). 

Maggie stayed in the doggie hospital until she could eat on her own and keep food down. There were days we thought she wouldn't make it, but she pulled through. In the end we decided to adopt her- rooting for a dog to get through such an illness created a bond between her and our family. Now, when my stepmom takes her to trainings people often comment on how she always seems to be "just so happy." Even when it's not her turn during training and she has to sit off to the side, she does so with her tail slightly wagging. Even when one of the other dogs steal her treat or bully her for a better seat on the couch, the tail is pitter pattering. And when she was spayed she came home...tail still wagging.

So lets wish Marge and all the other rescued dogs out there a happy "coming home day" and birthday."

THE PORTUGUESE WATER BLOG CREW

"It's hard to choose a photo. I don't have any with all the dogs together, so I chose one of the pups when they were little and one of everybody waiting to go in the house. I've had dogs all my life and have always loved them. It's all I can do to walk past a puppy without holding it.

When I got Samba, my second Portuguese Water Dog, I knew I wanted to have a little pack of PWDs of my very own. The best way was to have a litter of puppies and keep some. I had only planned to keep two from the litter, but they all had such neat individual personalities that we couldn't choose and wound up keeping six of them.

Now I get such pleasure from watching my little pack play together and work with me on whatever I ask of them. I still will always have a rescue or two because it's important to give these wonderful animals good homes, too. They give back more than they get."

SAMANTHA

"Since Mom's writing here, gotta say that Samantha has contributed so much so my hubby, Bill and my life in the last two years that we've welcomed her home. Sam was offered up for adoption in February of 2006 due to a rabid case of kidney disease when she was just nine months of age. She recovered enough after a stay of three months in her foster home that we decided we loved Samantha too much to let her out of our sight! She's been with us ever since May 2006 and we hope she feels the same about us as we feel about her. She loves everybody, every toy and shys from other dogs in a community situation. But she adores hikes into the mountains, swimming and, of course, her kong!

Sam is a quintessential golden - curious, spontaneous and energetic. She can't leave any moving thing alone (and neither can her mom... so?) which spells a lot of common ground hehe! If I could run as fast as Sammie, I'd chase the kong too!"

STELLA AND RUFUS

"What do I love about Stella? Pretty much everything. The way she snorts like a piggy when you scratch her ears, the way her face is a squishy, the way she loves me no matter what, heck, even the way she looks at me like she's so innocent after the bathroom trash has mysteriously exploded all over the house while Rufus was in his crate.

And then there's Rufus. He's just so SMART! He may lack Stella's common sense (like: don't eat bees), but he can learn a new trick in a week. I love how now matter what kind of mood I'm in, Rufus will undoubtedly do something that's just so goofy or random (like jump right on Andy's, er, lap right after he's made fun of me) and cheer me right up!"

And, here's mine.. MARGE

"What has Marge done for me?  She's pushed the limits of my strength, knowledge and emotions, that's for sure.  She's taken me to places that I've never been before, be it the middle of the woods, the center of the agility field, or the squeaky aisle of the pet store.  She's been there to cuddle with me when I'm down and make my smile even brighter when I'm happy.

Sometime long into the future, I will look back at Marge and know that she's the one who'll have started it all for me.  I owe so much to her already now, so I can't imagine how much I'll be thanking her for then."

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Thanks so much to everyone who submitted.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's stories.  Maybe we'll try something new next year.

And, in celebration of Marge's year with me, I created this video.  It took a whole month to make.  I'm pretty darn proud of it.  It spans all the way from her days at the shelter, to her first day here, to all the adventures that follow.  Even though the video doesn't start with her as a puppy, I think it's easy to see how she grows and changes.  As for the songs, they just fit perfectly, though they're not the kind of music I ordinarily listen to.

(A lot of you have been asking questions about Marge's early life. In an effort to not make this post more gargantuan that it already is, check back tomorrow or Wednesday for some answers.)