Finally watched "Marley and Me"

Since pretty much all the TV shows we watch are done for the season, Jenn and I watched a movie from the On Demand selection. Jenn picked, Marley and Me, which was fine by me, it seemed like something I would like. 

After watching the movie, actually I thought of this during the movie, I think Quincy might be the reincarnation of Marley. Actually, I should say our last dog, Cosmo, and Quincy together are the reincarnation of Marley. Sure, some things are different, but I couldn't imagine dealing with Quincy's and Cosmo's issues while taking care of babies. We have enough trouble with two kids ages five and seven. Heck, right now on the floor next to me is a little doll for my daughters dollhouse. It's feet are gone, eaten off by Quincy. It also has Phyllis Diller hair, but I think that is from my daughter giving it a shampoo. 

Let's try to compare a little. Cosmo destroyed two couches. Yes, you'd think we would have learned after the first one, but we didn't. We should have known better really, he wasn't well trained and we should have kept him in his crate while we were gone. We felt a little guilty and wanted to give him freedom. Not freedom to chew up a couch, but freedom to sleep where he wanted to. Maybe the couch was too lumpy for him and he wanted to make it fit the contours of his body better. I'll tell you what, he certainly slept on there much better after chewing it up. He also was smart enough to wait until we moved the couches around to hid the hole until he chewed up the other one. Turned out he could look out the little window next to the front door from that one spot. So he had to make the new couch comfy for him to watch too. It just makes sense when you think about it. 

We finally got a trainer for Cosmo after Jenn said she couldn't live with him anymore. She was mostly serious. He kept jumping up and grabbing her arm in his mouth, causing bruises all over her arms. I'm sure her co-workers were ready to call the police on me. So, after some training from a woman not unlike Kathleen Turner's character in the movie, and a little minor surgery, he calmed down after another year. Lucky for us, we didn't have kids for about another four years after that. We both said how we knew Quincy, or Cosmo as a puppy, would have chewed up the diapers. Now that I think of it, I think Cosmo used to take the wet ones. He would bring them downstairs and put them next to his toys. At least that was halfway to the garbage. 

Now, with Quincy, we have the chewing machine. He goes in the kids toys searching around for something to chew like it is a treat box for him. It's really annoying. Then he runs under the table to hide from me, when I go to get him, he starts running around like a mad dog. It's funny, and irritating, all at the same time. Basically our house is littered with half-chewed pieces of paper and kids toys. Anytime the doorbell rings I freeze. I'd like to ignore it, but the kids and dogs run over there and make a bunch of noise. It's hard to pretend I'm not home with all the racket. Unless I want someone to call the police. Nothing like having the neighbors think I leave the kids home by themselves. 

I will say Quincy walks pretty good. Certainly better than Marley did in the movie. Well, as long as a person doesn't walk by the other way. Trying to hold the 86 pound Quincy back when he wants to say "hi" to somebody is not easy. I have come close to dislocating my shoulder a few times. 

I think the end of the movie was the most similar to our experience. With Cosmo, it was an unexpected end. One day he just couldn't walk. His back legs were almost useless. He didn't seem to be in pain, but he could barely walk and he really couldn't go potty. When I came home from work and my wife was sitting with him in the backyard, I knew it wasn't going to turn out well. He didn't have the same problem as Marley, but the scene in the Vet's office was similar. I was there by myself and had to say good-bye. What do you say to a dog anyway? I certainly had forgotten about all the trouble he caused when he was a puppy, I just reminded him that he was a good dog and we were going to miss him. He knew what was happening. He may have been only a dog, but I think he knew it was the end. So, I said my good-bye, took his collar, and went to work. Yeah, I had to work afterwards, that was fun. 

The end also got me thinking about Quincy. He's been much more problematic than Cosmo, but he's just looking for attention. I think. I'm sure we will feel the same way we did about Cosmo at the end. It doesn't help the Quincy has the same coloring as Marley did. Not to mention the fact that the names are similar, at least to a dog they are. Quincy looked the the TV quite often when they called Marley. I think he liked the movie, too. 

I hope I didn't ruin the movie for anyone...