How long did marley the dog live

Dogs, I know better, I know what it takes. I love this book and I am glad John Grogan wrote it. His memoir is so complete, moving, and beautiful. I want to live with that family. I want to be able to have Marley or Duff to lean on when times get hard. I absolutely love and cherish this book and will probably reread it just to live it all over again.

I was at work when I was reading it and I was sitting there at my desk, literally sheding tears. No one saw me though! I also highly enjoy the fact that John is a journalist, editor, and columinst. He inspires me! I want to go to his book signing in November down in Corte Madera, I may actually go meet him, he is that good of an author and now one of my favorites! Love it, love it, love it!!! Nov 05, Theresa Alan rated it it was amazing.

Marley destroyed countless pieces of furniture and screen doors. He routinely ate things like parts of their stereo equipment and once, a gold necklace that was a gift from author John Grogen to his wife, Jenny.

Everything about the book is funny or touching. Even the birth of their first child was told in hysterical detail. Marley got kicked out of obedience school the first time for being too incorrigible. View all 7 comments. My now husband bought it for me last year for my birthday.

When we had started dating, we found and loved a little mutt named Stella. When she was killed, our world was rocked. We felt foolish for being so upset over a dog. Neither one of us could stop crying for weeks. We didn't even have her a year when she died. This book made us both feel so good becuase it reminded us why we were so devistated.

It was that she was there wh I loved this book. It was that she was there when we fell in love. All of our memories of the begining had her there. She was our little doggie-angel that showed us so much and then left us to pick up the pieces and to go at it alone. That is why we were so upset. Reading this book was wonderful. When a story like this begins But you want to keep reading because you understand why it is worth it.

You know you will cry, but you also know it feels good. I often wonder, like the author, "Would we do it again? The pain of losing a beloved animal is worth the time you have with them on earth. If you love animals Oct 05, Will Byrnes rated it really liked it Shelves: nonfiction. Marley is a lovable lab and the structural element around which Grogan writes his own coming of age story. Grogan and wife are reporters in south Florida, and take on the responsibility of a pooch as a way for his wife to see if she is up to the challenge of handling a baby.

We follow Grogan as he tries to gain some control over the rambunctious Marley. He leads us through the life of a young couple as they try and fail to have a child, then try and try again, successfully. He shows us the chang Marley is a lovable lab and the structural element around which Grogan writes his own coming of age story. He shows us the changes in his neck of Florida, and the changes in Marley and his wife. We meet his babies and see how Marley attaches to them.

It is a charming tale, warmly told, of a flawed but lovable pooch. Eventually the family moves to Pennsylvania as Grogan takes over publishing duties for the Rodale Press. The Pennsylvania portion is definitely the lesser part here. Marley learns about snow and gets a taste of the Middle Atlantic, but all too soon he begins to go gray and soon after he begins a rapid medical decline. The final chapters address his demise.

I was relating particularly to the passing of Bo, our alpha cat, while reading this, choking up the whole time. Grogan tacks on his take on what Marley taught his human masters.

It was a bit maudlin, but what the heck. This is a very engaging and enjoyable read. Payload, such as it is, concerns dogs in general and labs in particular. But the joy here is the pure, untrammeled love of Marley for life and his loyalty to his family. Carry tissues. View all 9 comments. What a delightful book! John Brogan has penned a wonderful book chronicling the life of Marley and the evolution of the Brogan household.

But wait, who was Marley! He is introduced as lively and cute puppy brought home by the young couple John and Jenny. Marley would grow into a huge and handsome Lab — a massive hulk of boundless nervous energy. Words such as discipline and obedience did not exist in his dictionary. He left behind a trail of destruction in his wake — he had cost the Brogan h What a delightful book! He left behind a trail of destruction in his wake — he had cost the Brogan household a small fortune in damaged properties — been a source of public embarrassment many a times.

Funny for the readers but just imagine the plight of the Brogans. At a point of time, even Jenny wanted to get rid of him. He always rose to the occasion when the situation demanded.

A water logged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his.

How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary? How to give it, how to accept it. Where there is that, most other pieces fall into place. A very sensible thought, I agree. It is not what you could call a specimen of superior literary fiction. It just tells the story of a wild but very lovable dog. In my defense, it deserves the rating by merit of the sheer positive impact that the book has on numerous readers.

Jul 14, Oceana rated it it was ok Recommends it for: dog owners. Shelves: male-writers , , dogs , english. This is one of the handful of books I have read where I have read the ending first. See, Marley and Me is a book about a dog. And books about dogs, especially the ones written by men, usually end with the dog dying. They describe the whole life of the dog, make me fall in love with it, and then it dies. So, after I had fallen in love with Marley the dog, I decided to read about his death first, and then read about the rest of his life, leaving him at a point where he is still young and healthy a This is one of the handful of books I have read where I have read the ending first.

So, after I had fallen in love with Marley the dog, I decided to read about his death first, and then read about the rest of his life, leaving him at a point where he is still young and healthy and I could imagine a happy end for him.

Other than that, this book is entertaining, but it's a particular kind of entertainment only dog owners can fully appreciate. Because I really doubt people who don't have dogs will want to read about fleas, or dog puke, or drool dripping off everywhere. Marley, of course, isn't the worst dog, and this is the part where I got angry. See, where I live, no one would ever have the idea that a dog would be happy with the backyard and could be left alone all day in the garage.

People frown upon that kind of behaviour here, even people who don't own dogs. Dogs are commitment, they need walks, at least three times a day, ideally more, they need someone to be with them at least half the day, and they need contact with other dogs. So, if I read about Marley's "dog poo bombs" in the backyard, I don't feel sorry at all. My own dog would never even pee in our garden.

There is no reason for a dog to pee in his own territory unless there is no other place they can go to. And if I read about Marley being untrainable and having to be calmed with sedatives, I see a poor Labrador, whom nobody ever tried to train properly, who doesn't know what to do with his energy because he is only taken for walks every couple of days, who never really had the chance to play with other dogs. But what made me even more angry was that the author in the book becomes a father, and they leave Marley with the little babies.

He has the audacity to make a smart remark about people who warn against leaving your dog with a baby, because "the wild animal could surface every minute and the dog could kill the baby in seconds". Which Marley would never do,because "everyone can see that he protects the baby. I believe that most normal dogs will protect a baby that they consider part of the family. Even strange babies, because they see them as puppies, and normal, sane dogs don't hurt puppies. What they do with puppies however, is that they teach them not to totally misbehave.

And they do that by taking the baby's whole head into their mouth and shaking it gently. I've seen my dog do that with puppies, and apart from being wet from dog-spit, the puppy was impressed, but not hurt.

Some dogs will also take the puppy by the neck and shake it a little bit, or gently put their mouth over the exposed neck of the puppy to show them how such misbehaviour would end if they weren't so small.

All these methods have one thing in common: if applied to a human baby, they end up in serious injuries. It's up to you to know when your kids are old enough to understand what to do and what not to do with a dog, but hair-pulling or nose hitting or anything else that babies do out of curiosity can lead even the most patient dog to teach your baby some manners.

You cannot fault the dog for this, because it only reacts like a normal dog would react. But if you read up on "formerly harmless pets" hurting babies "out of the blue", you will see that it's mostly head injuries, and that all those poor dogs are being put to sleep because their owners thought it was cute how they took care of the baby. Those owners should be shot and never allowed to have kids or dogs again. Where were we? Oh, the book. Well, I liked Marley, but I think that people who have a dog for 13 years and still don't know the first thing about dogs, shouldn't be allowed to write books about them.

Let alone get a new dog. Dec 25, Jenny rated it did not like it Shelves: non-fiction. This guy has a pretty bad case of Precious Snowflake Syndrome. He's the kind of guy who appears to have a pretty average life with a pretty average wife and kids.

Lives in an average house. Makes an average wage. But that's all too boring so instead he has to act like he has the Craziest Dog in the World! His dog and everyone else in his life is a precious snowflake more beautiful and unique than anything else in the universe. His dog's digestive tract cleans gold better than any chemical! His This guy has a pretty bad case of Precious Snowflake Syndrome. His dog is just crazier than any dog that ever lived in the entire history of dogs!

His wife is so brilliant and perfect she can be cured of postpartum depression practically overnight with no drug interventions at all. His children sit quietly and only occasionally pop up to say adorable things in childish speech impediments. He probably rides to work on a unicorn and poops rainbows. While I'm sure he's a delightful man to know in real life, reading the book equivalent of a Norman Rockwell painting is not really all that riveting or funny.

View all 8 comments. Dec 26, Dixie rated it it was amazing. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. I like my books to remain looking as new as possible and I enjoy perfectly pressed paper with no "A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes.

I like my books to remain looking as new as possible and I enjoy perfectly pressed paper with no hint of wear. I couldn't help it. I was so moved by Grogan's words that I wanted anyone myself included who read or re-read the book to be as moved as I was.

This book for me was something special. I am stingy about giving 5 stars to any book I read. I hesitated before responding, "Uh, its alright". I was not overly impressed at that point. I was enjoying the story but I knew where it was heading.

I knew I would finish the book with tears which is not out of the ordinary for me. Sure enough, when I finished the book, tears streaming down my face I was sad it was finished and knew, for me, it was going to be a 5-star book. I was swept away with the writing and the story. It moved me emotionally and the more I think about it, the more I love it.

The author, John Grogan, is the owner of the crazy dog and the storyteller. For his profession, Grogan is a columnist so he has amazing writing skill.

I enjoyed his sarcastic humor and the creative way he told his story about Marley. My husband and I are non-pet owners and will likely remain so. We both work full time. We are clean freaks. We like to travel. That being said, my mind for a half of a second wanted to change as I dog-eared the second page: "He became part of our melded fabric, a tightly woven and inseparable strand in the weave that was us. Just as we had helped shape him into the family pet he would become, he helped to shape us, as well- as a couple, as parents, as animal lovers, as adults.

Despite everything, all the disappointments and unmet expectations, Marley had given us a gift, at once priceless and free. He taught us the art of unqualified love. Where there is that, most of the other pieces fall into place.

I don't have to see the movie to know that I already like the book more. A movie can't capture the thoughts of Marley's family like the book can. The movie will also lose the enchanting writing of very talented author. View 2 comments. Let alone on a memoir. Hell, if I could rate this more than 5 stars I bloody damn would. This is the first non fiction book that I truly ever find delightful.

It was such a joyride. I'm the most dramatic, soppy reader ever and this r 'In a world of bosses, you are your own master. I'm the most dramatic, soppy reader ever and this review will be just that. Dramatic and perhaps a bit soppy and maybe even non-sensical too because mind you, there will be a lot of gushings. I think I scared my mum while I read this because she threatened to lock me up in a mental hospital if I don't stop flailing around with this book and making weird cooing sounds.

This is how much Marley the Dog affected me. I've read a few memoirs back then and they were depressing and gritty as fuck. I was only eleven when I read about the real life accounts of a Yakuza's daughter and then another memoir about a girl living in the same roof with an alcoholic mother.

Right after I finished, I made a vow to never ever pick up another non-fic book. I did not even want to look at it. Thinking it will be uninteresting, depressing and boring. Now fast forward to the present, boy was I wrong about this book. But when they brought home a labrador retriever puppy that came to be known as Marley named after the celebrated singer Bob Marley their lives were changed for good. What was once a little furball, Marley rapidly grew into a hyperactive 97 pounds of a dog.

This same dog caused a wreck in their house; breaking furnitures, crashing screen doors, tearing cushions, gobbling up receipts, bottle caps and other things and he even figured out how to dug a hole in the wall. He humped strangers, stole food from unsuspecting kids, stuck his nose into poodle dogs's asses, and not even tranquiliser pills can get in his way.

Heck, he even failed obedience school. He was one unstoppable machine. To other people, he may seemed like a wild, ferocious uncontrollable thing but to John and his family - to his readers Marley was anything but " But the prowlers and predators out there didn't need to know that. To them he was big, he was powerful, and he was unpredictably crazy.

And that is how we like it. So why not try to enjoy every precious moments in life? I never for once owned a dog or a pet for that matter. I couldn't even take care of a fish. So I can't have known how the loss of a pet could affect me. I have never known that bond but when I read this book, I felt that connection between man and dog. The scene where Marley passed on jerked at my heartstrings and before I knew it I was crying Niagara Falls. Put aside Marley's awesomeness and you have John Grogan's excellent way of writing.

Plus, his humour is simply gold. Two thumbs up! I'd recommend this to those who love dogs, owns dogs as pets or even those who wants to have a dog for their own. Read this, laugh out loud, join the ride. Mar 27, Anna rated it really liked it. The funniest and saddest book I have ever read. John Grogan is a real bastard for making me laugh and cry so damn hard and he's amazing The funniest and saddest book I have ever read.

John Grogan is a real bastard for making me laugh and cry so damn hard and he's amazing Nov 16, Jake Doyle rated it really liked it. This book was great and gave me a real insight on what it would be like to have a dog. As a person who would like to own a dog when they get older, this book was a real joy because it shows how even though having a dog can be hard work, it pays off with the love and loyalty that dog gives.

Most reviews of the book praise it but some criticize it because they say John and Jenny were terrible dog owners because they didn't treat Marley like a child. This is silly because Marley didn't need to be t This book was great and gave me a real insight on what it would be like to have a dog. This is silly because Marley didn't need to be treated like a child and although he was still a bit crazy until the end, he changed a lot over the book.

I think a reader who would enjoy this book is someone who likes books that are about dogs and ones that allow you to imagine scenes. What I mean by that is that when a scene was laid out in the book, I imagined it and the book gave me a good I,age of what must've happened.

The dog lovers would like this book because, well, it's about a dog and his family who try to live with his craziness. I also think family oriented book readers would like this because a main theme of this book is the importance of family.

I think there is a huge character development in the Grogan family and how over the course of the book, Jenny and John become great parents after dealing with Marley, and Marley becomes tame but still keeps his puppy attitude. All in all, this ok was great and it would have been even better if I could've related to this family even more than I had. Jul 07, Alaina rated it really liked it Shelves: chick-lit , kindle-unlimited , romance , , ng , contemporary , fiction , young-adult , funny.

Definitely enjoyed this re-read and now I feel like I need to watch the movie again? Marley and Me gave me so much joy because it had a dog and I just love them. Plus it made me laugh so much because puppies and dogs in general get into so many things. They are definitely a handful but the love, kisses, and snuggles are well worth it.

John and Jenny also made me laugh so much and again, I died at the plant comments. But it was the eventual decline of Marley as he shuffled into old age that brought about some of the biggest emotional lessons for the family, especially in dealing with loss and grief.

Such is the bond between man and his dog that psychologists and psychiatrists have been moved to study it scientifically. Get the best home, property and gardening stories straight to your inbox every Saturday. Enter email address This field is required Sign Up.

It takes us about 70 years or so but it takes them about ten. We knew the kindest and most humane thing for this dog was to put him down It surprised me how deep that grief was and how long it was.

We didn't talk about it for weeks. It was months before we got a new dog. But when it comes to sick or ageing dogs the author said it's important to question why you're spending a lot of money on keeping them alive. Grogan will be on hand to sign books, chat to dog-lovers and answer questions. Dog owners have long argued that their pets can understand what they are saying, and now science has proven them correct.

For many Irish people, pets are an integral part of the family unit; for some, "fur babies" are comparable to children in their minds. But they're expensive to own, no question. Between the cost of chipping, food, grooming, vaccinations and other doggy paraphernalia, taking one on will certainly cost you a pretty penny over the years. A I journal all the time. I started in high school. I had those things before I knew I was going to write a book, just for a family keepsake kind of thing.

So, I had all my journals, and I'm also an obsessive documenter of things. I keep carbon copies before e-mail of letters I've sent. Q Was there a point at which you thought you might have a best- seller on your hands? A Yes. Fairly late. When my agent went out to sell it, I had my fingers crossed. I wondered who wants to read about this guy and his dog?

Two days later, my agent came back and said, "We have six publishers in New York who want to make an offer, so we're going to have an auction. Q Did they get the story close in the film? A About 80 percent of it is true to the real story and the rest is fictionalized to make it work in a movie.

But the great thing was, they explained to me why they did what they did. They were trying to make a page book work in a two-hour movie. A That was Jenny's deal. It wasn't set up through official channels or anything. Gracie the dog they got after Marley died was killing our chickens, who all have names and everything.

So our family pets were getting slaughtered by another family pet. Jenny was at her wit's end.