Published on January 27, 2006

I’ve just read on the CNN website a review of a book that should interest any dog lover. In “Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog”, John Grogan recounts his life with a hyperactive Labrador retriever who left destruction and other forms of havoc in his wake, as well as a huge capacity to love.

Believe it or not, this memoir, released last October and already on the bestseller lists, typifies the best and the worst of the canine world.

Here is a Lab who manages to eat anything he could get his mouth around, from dirty socks to speaker covers to an 18-karat gold necklace. He was an escape artist who could get himself out of any locked cage and so incorrigible that he was even expelled from his obedience-training class.

All these antics sound cute when you read about them in the review, but even in his interview with the Associated Press, Grogan admits that he and his wife should have known what to expect when they purchased Marley from a puppy mill in Florida.

When readers tell me that they bought their Lab (or a Persian cat) at a local pet shop, my heart falls. They are so proud of their newly acquired possession. “It’s pedigreed,” they burble, “and the pet shop owner said that I can get papers for it.”

Pet shops are not the best places for acquiring a healthy, well-bred pet. “Pedigreed” just means that the animal’s ancestry can be certified for several generations of pure-bred forebears. No matter how “pure-bred” the animal is, however, if the “pure-bred” parents don’t exhibit the right traits to pass on to their offspring, the word “pure-bred” doesn’t guarantee good quality.

I personally don’t visit pet shops – it’s too upsetting – and even though the pups and kittens are absolutely cute, the odds are against them turning out to be healthy, mentally adjusted pets. The Grogans took a chance, though, dropping by a puppy mill just to see what puppies were on offer. They weren’t even thinking of buying, but the minute they saw Marley, they fell in love.

They did see Marley’s father, “charging out of the woods covered in mud with a crazed but joyous look in his eye”, according to another review.

The warning signs were there – a hyperactive papa and a backyard breeder who began lowering the price of the pup – but the couple were already hooked.

Marley grew up to be the complete opposite of what a Labrador retriever is supposed to be. Instead of being calm, even-tempered and reliable, the pup managed to dominate their existence (and that of anyone else who came into contact with him). To their credit, the Grogans never gave up on him throughout his destructive career, which became even more devastating after the births of their own children. In return for their perseverance, however, he provided furry comfort to them during times of their deepest grief and even protected a neighbour during a knife attack.

I haven’t checked out the Bangkok bookstores yet to see if “Marley & Me” is on the shelves. However, Amazon.com lists the book in both paperback and hardcover.

n Questions about your pets? Fax (02) 751 4446 or e-mail laurie@nationgroup.com.

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