'Marley's' Movie and More From John Grogan

Get your tissues ready. They're making a movie based on "Marley & Me."

It's one of my favorite books about dogs and relationships. Shoot, it's one of my favorite books. Period.

The movie, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, starts filming March 10. The plan is to get the story about the bad-behaving Lab and the people who loved him into theaters around Christmas.

In an interview with Delaware Pets, "Marley" author John Grogan said he thought he might have the grist for a book when he told his stories about "this totally over the top, bigger than life character" at cocktail parties and people thought they were hilarious. Grogan told writer Claire Bushey that what helped "Marley" sell more than 3 milion copies was something a little more complicated than funny stories about a bad-behaving dog.

"It's a love story about a couple and about their journey through life, growing up as a couple into responsible adults and parents."

And I loved Grogan's answer to the question about whether Marley really was the worst dog in the world.

"I always called him the worst dog with a little bit of a wink," he said. "The short answer is, I don't think Marley's anywhere near the worst dog. He may have been the most hyper dog in the world, but he had a good heart, and he gave us nothing but love and commitment through his whole life."

Napoleon Meets Obama

You absolutely never know where you might meet people with their pets.

I ran into Kristina Silvasy of Middletown, who brought along Napoleon, a 2-year-old Yorkie, at the Barack Obama rally in downtown Wilmington.

"Everybody needs support, even from little animals," she joked about why Napoleon tagged along.

Silvasy was there with her husband and 15-year-old son, who were away finding coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts.

"We were coming to see what [Obama] had to say," she said. Sbe brought Napoleon along on the sunny Sunday afternoon for socialization.

Where have you taken your dogs or other pets for socialization?

A Wilmington Video

This really doesn't have anything to do with pets, but I loved this video - and thought you would, too.

The sites start at about 1:15 in, so stay with it. Love that Todd - he's got potential.

Fluffy Is Back Home

Fluffy, the 7-year-old beautiful cat of a friend of mine, is back home. He literally had been holed up under their neighbor's shed, and she and her family tried everything to coax him out. Among their techniques first, to find, and, later, to recover their beloved Fluff:

* Called local shelters to see if they had a cat matching his description.
* Posted fliers around the neighborhood and took out an ad in The News Journal.
* Bought a Havahart humane trap, which was baited with a trail of sardines and catnip, and they used a pillowcase inside to lure him with the smell. They even had a glowstick loaded on the top so they could see if it had been activated.
* Put another cat, Frisk, in a harness and took him out to the shed to try to draw him out.
* Used their video camera, which has a night-vision feature, to see their back yard in the dark.

You get the idea that these people really love Fluff, don't you?

Finally, the humane trap worked, and Fluff was brought back inside their house, where he promptly hid under the bed. Since then, he has reacclimated and has been checked by a vet. A warm ear was nothing and blood work will check for any liver abnormalities because of dehydration. All of which pales in comparison to these thoughts from my friend:

"He spent the night on my pillow, waking me up all night for rubs and kisses which I was happy to dispense."

Fluff is lucky, indeed.