Marley and me - Everyone meet Marley!🐾

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

I have the most exciting news to share with you all.. I HAVE A PUPPY!

For those of you who know me, you'll know I LOVE animals. I've had a few pets growing up. A hamster and a Rabbit but I've always wanted a dog.

My family always wanted a dog but we could never afford it growing up. We moved in with my dad at the age of 12 and he became a single parent. Money was tight, we didn't think it was fair to get a dog and not be able to give them the life they deserve.

We wanted to rescue a few years ago but we just never found a dog that was suitable for our whole family. We always said we wanted a Labrador, dad had a Labrador puppy when he was younger and thought they would be the best breed for our crazy family.

I recently passed my driving test in April and after the challenge of learning to drive I felt I needed to focus on something new, Marley has definitely helped with that one!

The name Marley came from the film 'Marley and me'. My little sister chose it and Marley is definitely growing his own mischievous personality to match his name perfectly!

As I can drive now it's perfect for going out to the forest or town and get some nice walks in. He loves everyone and we have found it really good for socialisation for him.

We brought Marley home on 30th June 2023, at 12 weeks. He is now roughly 21 weeks which is almost 5 months.

Marley has grown so much over the past couple of months and he is growing to be his own little character. He has really completed our lives. Marley is so Intelligent and is a super quick learner (as long as you have a treat of course).

I decided to make the decision to create Marley his own Instagram account where we can share his adventures, he has lots of friends on there. Everyone loves him, online and in real life too!

Marley is a labradoodle, he has a lot of Labrador features but as he is growing we can see his coat getting more curly. It's safe to say Marley has the appetite of a Labrador! He is always on the hunt for food!

So far he has been really good with food he will sit and wait, he takes treats gently etc. Marley is currently on Pedagree food, I have read a lot of mixed opinions regarding Pedagree but when we first got Marley he had a lot of tummy issues and Pedagree seemed to be a good fit to get him gaining weight and stable his belly. He loves it and he also enjoys the Pedagree treats.

My family made the decision not to crate train Marley, all of the pups my dad has had in the past haven't been and we don't believe it's right. My sister is unable to work at the moment and my dad is self employed so there's no need for Marley to be left at home on his own. We do have times when we leave him in the living room when we eat etc as I do believe it's SO important for them to be left alone at times.

Marley's toy box is full of lots of different toys, from squeaky toys to tennis balls (well plastic balls because he likes to eat the fabric on real tennis balls). We haven't had many issues with Marley eating/chewing things he shouldn't. We did have a few times when he would chew the sofa or the table leg but he learnt quickly that his toys are for that! His teeth have come though really quickly and luckily he has not been in much pain with them.

For me Marley has really saved me. A few months ago my mental health wasn't good, I wanted to start going to the gym and boxing again properly and I just kept getting setback after setback. Marley has helped me get out and about and mingle with other dog owners (something I would never normally do). He has pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me with my diet by going on lots of walks (I have lost just over a stone so far).

I am really looking forward to taking Marley on lots more adventures and taking him places to explore, one place I am dying to take him is doggy swimming class!

Keep an eye on his instagram for lots more adventures!

@adventuresofmarleyandme