Reading Journal for Marley and Me

The first part that I read in Marley and Me was about the history of the breed Marley is, which is a Lab, and I found it very boring because it wasn't related to Marley at all.  Marley is an out-of-control dog and it is very amusing to read about what he puts his owners through.   They realized that their dog was in need of obedience classes and it was a very shocking when the instructor of the class told them that Marley was kicked out after only two lessons.  It seemed like during those lessons Marley was the only dog who wasn't grasping the exercises.  When the instructor tried to show Marley's owner, John, how to do them "the correct way," she failed at making Marley do the exercise successfully.  That was funny to me because she thought that it was all John's fault and shared some of that same humiliation with him. But if Marley was in need of some training and they were taking obedience classes, then she shouldn't have kicked them out, and I have the feeling that that incident may have had something to do with it.    

In another part, John and his wife, Jenny, discovered  that Marley has an uncontrollable fear of thunderstorms.  Marley is extremely unruly when he is excited, and when he is frightened he becomes destructive to the point where he destroys all objects in sight, scrapes paint off of the walls, and wood off of the door.  I found this notable because when the author, John, described it, I could picture the room in my head and the feelings of John and Marley.  It reminds me of the many times that I would awake to a room where my fruit scented lotions, chap sticks and candies are are ruined from my dog, Spanky.  I can very much relate to the anger, yet feeling of responsibility for the actions of my dog.  

Now, John and Jenny are planning on going on a vacation to Ireland with no specific plans or destinations to visit, and are exceedingly concerned with with how Marley is going to be while they're gone.  I found it quite ridiculous how they left a six page, single-spaced, rule book of how to care for Marley.  They also compiled a list of suitable dog-sitters, which was also a bit excessive.  It will be very interesting to read about how the dog-sitter goes about taking care a this crazy dog, and seeing how John and Jenny will function without their precious Marley.