Ol' Fuzzy Face.

There's an old Peanuts strip where Charlie nicknames Snoopy "Ol' Fuzzy Face." Snoopy is naturally insulted and spends several panels fretting about it.

Since we've had Marcus for over two weeks now, I guess he's here to stay. So it's about time that I told his story.

Over a month ago, a lost dog had wondered into our yard. He was a young fella, full of energy and puppy attitude. As soon as we started walking down our street to find his home, his owner drove up to claim him. So for about ten minutes, we had a second dog. And that's about all it took to get us thinking about it.

We started to casually look around at local shelters. I still hadn't completely bought into the idea, because I had it in my mind that Daisy should enjoy the rest of her days as an only dog.

Then, I had a dream. I dreamt of Daisy sleeping happily with another dog. The dog had curly, sandy colored fur and a face of terrier. I had no idea what breed it was or if that kind of dog even existed, but that dream spurred on a more serious search.



Fast forward to two weeks ago from last Friday. Mark had been looking on Craigslist and spotted a listing from a woman looking for a home for her dog. As he showed me the photo in the listing, I could not believe my eyes - it was the dog from my dream! It was a sign! Before I knew it, Mark had made arrangements to pick up the 9 month old male Airedale Terrier (Who would have known what effect all those years of watching the Westminster Dog Show would have on my psyche? Here I always thought I was partial to the Pembroke Welsh Corgi!).

Since the dog was located in Ohio around an hour or so away from us, Mark made the trip by himself while Lauren and I stayed home and anxiously waited. As soon as he had the dog in the car, he called me to tell me that everything went as planned, except that he was a little bigger than we expected. Actually, a lot bigger than we expected.



Next thing I knew, Lauren and I were standing in the driveway as Mark drove up with our new family member in the back seat. We immediately took him into the back yard so that we could get acquainted. It was then that I asked the big question.

"Does he have a name?"

Mark chuckled a bit and replied,"Believe it or not his name is Marcus."

Well that wouldn't do. After all, I had my heart set on Chauncy. And actually, he looked more like a Farley.

As he stood there in the yard, the big guy looked so uncertain and lost, as was to be expected. It was then that I looked at him and said, "Hey, Marcus!"

He immediately looked up at me and gave me the happiest look a dog could give. How could I deny him his name after that? I decided that his full name would be Marcus Aurelius, after one of the greatest emperors of Rome. I wanted to give him something high to aim for.

All in all, we were very lucky. Marcus is pretty well behaved and only wants to please. He is fully potty trained and hasn't destoyed any property yet (Although he does have preference for socks). He also catches on quick and has already learned sit, down and shake commands. His size and puppiness do make him difficult to control, so we're going to have to work hard to teach him manners.

And then there's Daisy. Marcus likes Daisy very much. He tries so hard to get her to play with him, but so far, she is quite put off by his advances. They'll walk together and be in close vicinity with each other but as soon as he tries to engage her (which is basically anytime he's near her), it's all teeth and snarls. So right now, we have to keep them separated. We're hoping that after Marcus has his boy parts removed it may encourage peaceful relations. Needless to say, they won't be cuddling together anytime soon.



But that's okay. He has lots of human friends to give him cuddles in the meantime.