2007-10-09 Love Conquers All !

Every dog owner has had bad moments. Perhaps your beloved pet snapped at a baby. Or ripped up the wallpaper in the living room. Or teethed on an expensive shoe. Or ran in front of a car and was injured.

Well, nothing you experienced will probably approach the virtually non-step disasters that the loopy Marley brought to Grogan family. Unless you've also known a mentally imbalanced Labrador, Marley will make you count your blessings about your luck as a dog owner and lover.

Mr. Grogan and his wife had each had good experiences with childhood dogs. They were unsuspecting when they went to buy the cute purebred Labrador puppy that Mr. Grogan dreamed of showing. There was one little hint: The sire raced by them on the first visit in a particularly bizarre way. Well, the son was a true heir to that behavior.

I won't go into all of Marley's problems . . . but he had almost all of the bad habits a dog can have except for eating his own stool. To compensate for that one point of relief, Marley developed a taste for chicken droppings late in life.

It wasn't unusual to have to rebuild rooms, replace screens in doors, buy new furniture and drag valuable items out of his throat.

Even on tranquilizers a thunderstorm was a terrible trauma for poor Marley.

The remarkable thing is that the Grogans' love for Marley surmounted the inconveniences of living with Marley. As you read about their remarkable patience, you'll be reminded on many moments when your patience was also tried . . . and you'll relive the happy times in your life with dogs.

The book covers Marley's entire life . . . and the changes that occurred in the Grogans' lives because of Marley.

Mr. Grogan is an exceptional writer, and he makes all of his episodes fun to read. I'm sure they were much less fun to experience. But he keeps it as light as he can.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Mr. Grogan was the one member of the family most attached to Marley.

By the way, let me clear up one mystery: Marley was named for Bob Marley, after the Grogans couldn't agree on a more traditional name, due to their affection for the late singer's music.

Even if you don't think you'll like this book, read it anyway. I cannot recall a more charming book about dogs in the last decade.