La Petite Chinoise : LPC

While vacationing (read: vege-ing) in Corsica, I finally had a big chunk of time to sink into a few books, in between the many naps I took. This year, because of late planning on my part, our dog Ziek, vacationed in a kennel with his girlfriend Tina. I must have missed him heaps subconsciously, as I brought my first “dog book” ever, and on vacation.

Marley and Me is definitely a dog lover’s book. Only a dog lover can keep up with what seems like the dog from hell. I kept shaking my head from the first chapter when Paul and Jenny brought Marley home… “Uh-oh, they are in for a rough ride.”

Marley has bulldozed through door screens, ran off with women’s underwear, chewed through drywall, couches, and ate its master’s jewellery. The dog has a knack of stealing food and chomping down anything he deems fit. Whenever he would chomp down something he knew was “out-of-bounds”, he would do the Marley Mambo… backing up and swaying his hips from side to side. I had never heard of a dog that got kicked out of obedience class before reading the book. It grossed me out to read about Marley’s fur, his dribbles and splatters of saliva in the car, on the couch, basically, everywhere. Eeeks! Marley, however has a heart of gold, and was an active part of the Grogan family through it’s ups and downs, and even playing a small role in a movie, and helping to save a victim’s life.

While reading, I thank my lucky stars for Ziek, our half chow chow, half Caucasian shepherd. Having said that, Ziek is no angel. We too have had our fair share of chewed up magazines… sleepless nights with the bravest dog in the world during lightning storms and thunderstorms. Ziek would just about flip out of his skin to hide in the deepest hole on the ground. I could also sympathise how difficult it can be having a dog in the city and all the sacrifices we make for our furry family member.

I cried buckets when Paul and Jenny had to make that difficult decision towards the end of Marley’s life… no matter what a pain-in-the-neck the dog is, he’s still family… it felt like they were chopping a part of themselves off.