'Marley and Me' by Mary. 1-7-2023

 1. What caused Marley to be Marley?

Basically, the owners caused Marley to be Marley.  They took no serious steps to correct or train Marley. They created this “monster.” They allowed Marley to do whatever he pleased which made him intolerable. The owners expressed frustration but did nothing to change their situation. Being around unruly, untrained dogs is not fun. At all. I feel bad for dogs like Marley who have no one to help them understand what appropriate behavior is. They don’t build a relationship with their owners based on trust like we do in the KMODT. It’s sad. 

2. What were the mindsets about Marley (referring to the training clip).

That clip speaks volume. The owners don’t seem to be taking the training seriously. They make jokes and laugh about Marley being out of control. They almost seem to like the idea that they have the worse dog there. Almost like they’re proud of his horrible behavior This training scene is handled in a comedic way but in reality, that was a very dangerous situation for both Marley and others. Once again, there is nothing funny about an untrained dog, especially one running amok like Marley. They’ve come to accept “Marley is Marley.” It seems like they know he’s going to fail before the lesson starts. They have no expectations and are okay with that, Marley is hopeless to them and on some level, they find that endearing. Ugh!

 

3. What lessons/observations would you make about what you saw in the movie given your history of training KMODT with Roxanne.

I can’t imagine living with a dog who has not been obedience trained. It’s those simple things that amaze me. I can put Molly in a stand, tell her to stay, then ask for her paw so I can put her jacket on. I can picture Marley being chased all over the house breaking and smashing things.  Then when finally caught they’d have to wrestle to get his jacket on or more likely, they’d give up. In going through the KMODT I have come to expect Molly to obey “come means come”, “sit means sit”, etc) When she chooses not to comply, she is corrected. A well-trained dog is one who makes the better choice more often.  If I hadn’t gone through the puppy training, the Foundation course and the retrieve course with Roxanne, I’m pretty sure I’d have a dog like Marley and that would be a nightmare to say the least. 

I’m so glad it’s Molly and me 😂😂😂😂