Pupper West Side: Marlon and the Three-Hour Walks
By A. Campbell
Name: Marlon
Age: 16 months
Breed: Australian Shepherd
Profile/history: My Dad’s grandparents owned an Australian Shepherd, and he and my Mom both wanted one, so they came and found me in upstate New York. I’m very loving and I tend to be especially affectionate in the mornings and evenings when I’m sleepy.
Daily routine: Mom usually takes me out for a short walk in the morning before heading to work. Then my dog walker comes by a little bit later and takes me for a very long walk. We’re usually gone for about three hours. We walk all the way down to Midtown to meet up with another Australian Shepherd pup friend and then we come back. It’s great exercise for me. My parents come home from work in the afternoon and we’ll all go out for a group walk before settling in for dinner and a relaxing evening.
Loves: Tugging on rope toys – my favorite! I also love my stuffed tiger named Benji. Around the neighborhood, I enjoy going to the dog run in Theodore Roosevelt Park next to the American Museum of Natural History. I always whine when we walk by so that my parents understand that I’d like to stop inside and play with the other dogs.
Does not love: I don’t like it when people push around those Fresh Direct delivery carts because they’re so noisy and intimidating. Also, my parents can’t figure out why, but I get very nervous when I see babies being carried on their parents’ chest in those baby björns.
Favorite store/business on the UWS: My favorite business is the Pet Health Store on Amsterdam Avenue and West 83rd Street.
Favorite park spot: Hmm, maybe I should keep it a secret…I don’t want it to get overcrowded with other dogs. But I will say, I like the entrance to Central Park at West 85th and Central Park West. When you walk in, there’s a hilly part on the north side where I like to run around.
Favorite treat: Mom subscribes to a service called Real Dog Box and they send us a variety of fresh chews and treats. It may sound strange, but their selection of air-dried organ meats – chicken heart, pig kidney, tripe – is mouthwatering! Yes, it’s pretty stinky. And yes, many humans have described eating tripe as being akin to ingesting a forkful of sewage, but I still find it to be delicious.
What are your thoughts on neighborhood scaffolding? I don’t like it because I have such a hard time being able to locate all of the neighborhood pet stores when scaffolding is covering up their signs and storefronts. Scaffolding is often up for months, even years, at a time and I think that should be curtailed. Also, I tend to get very scared when I walk underneath scaffolding and construction workers are banging around on the top of it. It seems like the whole thing could collapse at any moment! Yikes!
Read all our Pupper West Side interviews here!
If West Side Rag readers are interested in becoming pet owners, we encourage you to consider adopting or volunteering to be a foster parent with one of the many shelters and nonprofits based in and around New York City. These include but aren’t limited to: Muddy Paws Rescue; Animal Lighthouse Rescue; NYC ASPCA; Humane Society of New York; Bideawee; Social Tees; and Animal Haven.
a very cute posting, and a gorgeous dog… with quite a vocabulary for a pup (“curtailed”). And that’s one dedicated dog walker!
Can Marlon’s parents share their dog walker’s info? As new dog parents of an energetic one year old, this sounds like a lifesaver!
These dog posts are fun, but wouldn’t it be great to post about shelter dogs who need adopting?
You’re lucky you’re not walked by one of the numerous pack walkers I see in the neighbourhood whose job seems to consist entirely of typing up dogs to scaffolding while they call their next client. The dogs are barely walked. It blows my mind that people pay for this.
Or the walker from Biscuits and Bath I saw in the park last week who had five dogs tied to his belt, with the leash of one dog so short the dog was virtually choking. Disgraceful!
I love these dog interviews and photos!! That’s all…