Lessons From My Fur Babies Part II: Marley… “What’s Your Turkey?”
I absolutely love Marley. If ever you wanted a mild mannered, sweetheart, teddy bear of a dog, Marley would be the one. Most days he enjoys the comfort of being in the same room with me, lying on the floor or on his combat blanket. When I’m in my home office, he finds a corner and rests there until he’s interrupted by my movement, by Amazon, or by noises that he is compelled to investigate by first barging through the French doors.
He is the perfect dog.
I came to know Marley because of my godson who decided when he saw my CJ that he too, wanted a CJ. Marley was the closest that his parents could find. So, Marley quickly became an expected part of everything because my godson’s every move was wrapped around his furry best friend.
Marley is a living, breathing bear of a dog with a heart of gold. He’s trained the younger dogs in a way that humans never could’ve, and has special relationships with each of them. Watching him greet the other dogs everyday when my son takes them for walks is such a joy. Seeing him do any trick for bacon treats is bliss. Literally, Marley will do anything for a bacon treat.
He loves to play and to bring joy to others as long as he doesn’t have to be outside. Marley is not very fond of the outdoors and will only stay in the backyard if his humans are there or if his best buddy Nala is there to play with. But even in those moments, there’s a shelf life on the length of time that he’ll comfortably spend out in the elements. Heat? Cold? The rain? Forget it.
Marley also struggles with being behind closed doors which makes his crate a problem at times. He is so concerned with being where his humans are that his vet diagnosed him with something called barrier aversion. He hates being separated from those he loves.
After a long day of bursting through doors, being a good best friend to everyone, and guarding his loved ones against the dangers of delivery trucks, Marley begins a score of rhythmic snoring, symphonic in proportions. Then he wakes up with every intention of starting his busy schedule all over again.
But there is one thing about Marley that gets him in big trouble. Yes, the perfect dog has an imperfection, a weakness I should say. Like kryptonite is to Superman, Marley’s obedient strength is diminished by poultry. You heard me correctly. A piece of chicken left too close or some turkey left unattended is as good as gone do you hear me? This same sweet, loveable dog turns into a sneaky criminal who waits for just the right moment to creep in and indulge himself.
Recently, this good brother sniffed out some smoked turkey that I’d ordered from a local restaurant. I’d planned to really bless my taste buds with it for Thanksgiving.
Not thinking that my prized turkey was in danger, I walked away to get a workout in before dinner. I put my headset in and got to work #goals. In the middle of my workout, Amazon showed up and my super sleuth investigative detective dog Marley rushed to the door and alerted the delivery person that he was inside. He barked until the package was dropped off and then he returned to me for a sign of approval that he had done a good job protecting me. Crisis averted. Good job Marley! Both me and the package were safe.
Well, I got super involved in my workout and forgot about Marley. I didn’t notice that he’d disappeared at all. As a matter of fact, Marley came and parked his hips near me and went to sleep. Little did I know that he was probably in a tryptophan, serotonin induced food coma!
Anyways, my calm work-out euphoria was interrupted by shrieks from the kitchen. It seems that the turkey bandit had eaten my delectable smoked treat. I approached Marley to discuss his actions and before I knew it, he was off to his crate. That’s right! You heard me. The dog with barrier aversion put himself in his crate to avoid consequences!
When I sat down to think through what had happened and what I’d need to do to replace the turkey, a moment of inspiration hit me. I pondered what things in my life cause me to… never mind...I started identifying my kryptonite. What’s my turkey? What makes me disobey every rule and indulge down to the last tasty drop with no regard for the consequences? What do I struggle to resist? What makes me wear myself out and then willingly run to bondages that I have an aversion to? How many times have I caged myself to avoid … never mind.
Let me get up from this rocking chair and turn on the tea kettle. Whew! Would you like some? While I’m getting our tea started, I’d be curios to know, “what’s your turkey?”
