Marley
To begin, he’s HOME.
Miracle Marley found his Forever Family <3
723 days, thousands of miles if you add ‘em all up, 5 foster homes, 3 surgeries, thousands of $$, hundreds of people. We did it. Thank you.
Our involvement in Marley’s life ultimately goes back to a small group of incredibly dedicated, passionate people who volunteer their time and energy for the local shelter dogs. Note I didn’t credit the shelter. Not this time. The way this dog’s tenure and exit was handled created a more jaded me and took another chink out of my trust in some folks but that’s a tale for another day, about how one person can have such an impact even in the political world of animal sheltering – and that one person can choose to do good or not. It goes both ways. No, Mar’s light is shining today because of folks who get paid in canine body fluids, dirty dog fur, a roller coaster of emotions with perhaps a nip or two thrown in, and often only with thanks from the dogs and fellow volunteers (and a select few staff people). These people are the shelter volunteers.
One day a couple years ago, a friend asked if I might be able to help this one dog with a bum leg who was suddenly on the short list. The shelter never contacted me as they sometimes will do when a dog needs out. Without that one email, Mar likely wouldn’t be here. But here he is, and we completed our mission last week 🙂
shelter dog
Marley sat in the shelter for almost 6 months doing as well as could be hoped for thanks to volunteers who brought him out to see daylight as often as possible. A true testament to both the dog’s nature and the vol’s commitment that he lasted so long behind bars without going nuts, not even getting out of his kennel every day of the week because there aren’t enough dog walkers. Unfortunately for Mar, he turned up limping that year end which turned out to be his scheduled end. The vets determined that he had chronic cruciate disease, something they’d missed over the previous 5 months of his tenure. We were given 5 days to secure a qualified foster home for a 70 lb. pit bull type dog and figure out how to come up with the thousands of dollars needed for his surgery and care (even though there were empty kennels at the shelter). That was 5 days of extreme stress, panic and frustration but we succeeded.
Our boy left the shelter for the last time on Dec. 17, 2013 and moved into a temp foster home that would see him thru his first surgery and the new year. His right ACL was repaired 3 days later, and at the time we thought we were done. We moved Mar to his long term foster home in early January ‘14 for several months of crate rest and rehab, gradually rebuilding strength and increasing exercise. To our dismay, by spring our boy wasn’t regaining use of that right leg as expected. Off to the specialty hospital we went.
The specialist really rained on our parade and delivered a double whammy. Marley’s right cruciate wasn’t the only issue. His right patella was luxating and unfortunately that was missed while the leg was open the first time. In addition, the specialist stated that the cruciate in his other leg would need to be repaired too. Wtf. Ouch. And ya, ouch for the poor dog who had been living with these bad knees for who knew how long. As I walked out of the hospital that day, I tried hard not to have a meltdown. How in the hell were we ever going to come up with thousands and thousands more, and fast?
such a trooper!
Well come up with it we did, thanks to countless donations from new and repeat donors across the nation. Big hearted people who instantly gave what they could when the cry for help went out. Thank you! In May 2014, we moved Marley to another foster home that saw him thru surgeries 2 and 3. A professional dog trainer, she taught Marley a host of tricks to keep his mind busy during the months of crate rest and rehab. She had to battle his weight thanks to severely restricted activity, and through her efforts Mar completed his triple surgical rehabilitation and regained his shapely figure 🙂 His was not an easy task for any of his foster caregivers and man, it’s hard to ask so much of people. The world and its critters are fortunate that there are such people out there. Thank you to foster caregivers the world over. You are selfless, amazing, compassionate people doing something that most can’t or won’t do. Thank you.
As 2015 got underway, Mar’s manners took a dive. He had such a long ordeal of surgeries, rehab and restriction that he had forgotten how to be a dog. He ultimately spent time with two more foster care providers this year who helped him to regain his social skills and life balance. I was overjoyed to see the real Marley return after all that he’d been through. Then I kept waiting for the apps to pour in. And I waited. And wondered. And waited some more. Everyone loved him but no one could take him home. The story of so many pibbles.
Finally last month, we joined several other rescues and shelters for a 2-day adoption event weekend hosted by Best Friends and NKLA at the La Brea Tar Pits. OMD did that ever pay off. These are difficult events for small groups like ours who are spread all over SoCal, and it’s an incredibly long and stressful day for the furbags let alone two days in a row. Most of our team from San Diego drove up with our SD dogs, slugging through I-5 weekend traffic only to hit the parking lot known as the 405. It wasn’t as rough for the OC and LA crew but it wasn’t pretty for them either. (We have a small but mighty team, in case you weren’t in the know.) Marley manned the front of our booth two days straight, showing literally thousands and thousands of people just how amazeballs is The Pibble 😉
Marley and Jimi at an event over the summer
Mar the Magnet. Yep. We left him out front for a reason. He draws people in with that stellar pit bull smile, but I chose him that one day at the shelter because of his electric personality. He has all of the qualities in a pit bull type dog that I look for and want to put back out in the world, and yes, I have to make choices because resources are so severely limited. Our Wagging Dogs are selected for their potential as wonderful, safe family pets for the right forever family. Connection with people is at the top of my list of qualities, and Mar has that a million times over. And in his case, I’ve never seen it manifest in such a way before.
I missed the entire meeting of Marley and his two boys at the end of the 2nd event day. My friends said it was electric, and I know now what they meant. When Mar’s boys walked up with a family friend, our pibble melted himself into them <3 You can see his raptured gaze that day into the eyes of his oldest boy Noah in that upper right pic of Mar’s adopted collage 🙂 Twu Wuv? Yep! Mar’s mom sent in their app the next day after her oldest son, who never asks for anything, came home that Sunday and asked for Marley.
Heart head and I climbed into my truck for one last drive together on November 19th. After a couple hours in the car, we arrived to a family brimming with joy and love for their new family member. Like seriously, it was tangible. Very special. We chatted about all things Mar for a couple hours and waited for the fourth human to get home from school. Marley was a bit disconnected and distracted with the long ride, new surroundings and smells, and new people. When Noah got home and walked in that front door, Marley instantly came alive and started flipping out to the point that I was worried about his bionic knees and all the jumping and pinging. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was as if Marley had known that young man his entire life, or in a previous one. The connection with these people was so apparent from the beginning, and especially with the boy he chose himself out of thousands that he met at the Tar Pits.
The updates I received over the next couple weeks were more than I could have hoped for, just as these people were more than I ever dreamed of. Marley was quite obviously home for good. He had found his special groove in this universe with four amazing people who have assumed guardianship for our beloved dog and taken him farther than we thought possible. He’s been on his best behavior, a perfect house companion, a warm and loving snuggle buddy, a heart healer. Marley has embarked upon the next grand adventure – the beginning of the rest of his life as a cherished forever family member.
On December 10th, 723 days after he escaped a worse fate, we made Miracle Marley’s adoption official! From e-list to A-List, rags to riches, orphan to FAMILY. Mar’s journey is complete.
Marley and his forever family.
Aren’t they the cutest??!!
Rescue takes a village, for every single dog. Some dogs need bigger villages, as was the case with Miracle Boy. I won’t be able to name everyone so please know that you are ALL appreciated, remembered, and life saviours. Many many thanks to that original small group of shelter peeps who went to bat for him (to remain unnamed, you know who you are); to Marley’s foster caregivers Lorette & Alex, Julie & Brad, Cat, Allison, and Ashley & Nate; to Mar’s many vet teams at Mission Animal & Bird Hospital, Bressi Ranch Pet Hospital, Veterinary Specialty Hospital; to his hundreds of financial supporters; to all his cyber supporters who have loved, encouraged and shared him for the last two years; to his devoted WDR volunteers who chauffered him to vets, events, trainers and promoted him for a forever home; to his faithful shelter volunteers who kept his sanity; and of course to his Forever Family of kindred spirits. THANK YOU TO INFINITY <3
Together we saved this special life and made this beautiful family whole again. And we have not lost a dog but gained a larger family! That’s one of the things that I find to be among the greatest rewards of our work. We give the dogs life. They restore our faith and give us strength. Sounds like a more than fair trade to me.
Eternally grateful to all of you. MARLEY is HOME.
xo, Cassandra
;~)