Names: Belle (?) & Marc (5 y/o)
Family Members: Terri & Alison, Carly (beagle/12-ish), Piper (German Shepard/6), Cats: Ben & Pippa both 13)
How long have Belle and Marc been in the family? Belle - 6 years & Marc - 4 1/2 years
Professions: Terri - Public School Teacher Alison - Bookkeeper
Location: Tucker, GA.
Nicknames: Belle - Smelly Belly, Belly Belly & Hunkachunk
Marc - Markie, MarkieMark, & (said affectionately) the world's dumbest dog
Belle
Marc
5 of the best words/phrases that describe Belle & Marc?
Belle:
- Sweet
- Loving
- Cuddler
- Couch Potato
- Very Prey-driven
Marc:
- Sweet
- Brainless
- Follower not a leader
- Loving
- Strong
What makes Belle & Marc unique? Belle would kiss/lick people 24/7/365 if we let her. Marc is truly the world's least smart dog. He will forget visitors within 2 minutes of meeting them if they are out of sight. Even if the person has been visiting for two WEEKS, he forgets them if they are out of sight for more then a couple minutes. It's embarrassing really.....
Belle in her role as resident couch potato!
Marc, the handsome boy!
Rescue Story: Belle we found running down Lawrenceville Hwy (5 lanes of fast moving traffic) in the middle lane on a Sunday afternoon in October. We herded her with the car and managed to get her to go up a side street; she was with a male pit bull. We dragged, begged and bribed them into the car and took them home. We didn't like their interaction (he bullied her out of food and attention) so we found him a good home. We decided to keep her. Got her spayed; she was pregnant and the vet said she was the only dog ever that woke up not pregnant and seemed happy about it! She has been a family member ever since. We think she might have been involved in dog fighting ; she loves a good squabble and loves any kind of adrenaline rush. Even just joining the others in barking at a passing bicyclist gets her far more excited and for longer then the others. The truth is, we don't have any idea about her past ...or her age. Vets have estimated anywhere between 2 and 5 when we found her so we have no clear idea of her age.
My daughter fell in love with her and we let her go with my daughter to Augusta, GA. It lasted a year (Belle had heartworm treatment and knee surgery during that year) until Belle couldn't take the little dog constantly yapping next door any more; she dug under the fence and nearly killed the little guy. Animal Control told my daughter to have her euthanized but I told my daughter to bring her back to me. Animal Control simply didn't want to have to deal with it and if AC caught on that she was still alive, we'd deal with it then. They never noticed and she has been with us ever since. Many families would have had her put down long ago ....after she killed my cat right in front of me, for one reason. She is in somewhat poor condition from hip displaysia and is on five medications for pain...but as long as she has a good quality of life, she will be here. She is a loving family member who loves us and that is good enough.
Marc was at Barrow Animal Control in Winder, GA. We were doing transports of dogs a lot back then and we were to pick him up on a Thursday, keep him until Saturday morning then take him to meet a transport to go to a foster family in Tennessee. His other mom went to get him and he was a 4 month old terrified mess. Being a pit, the shelter staff had put him in with the adult dogs instead of the puppies and he was literally scared for his life. He got in the floorboard of the truck , as far away from her as possible, and rode home. Once he got home, he went exploring and found that we had a year old shepherd mix who instantly became his playmate. He relaxed and settled in well. He followed her around and did what she did ---she showed him the ropes and they played a lot. That Saturday the transport fell through so we agreed to keep him another week. The next Saturday, he was to go on a transport to a foster who had 17 or 18 dogs already and we didn't feel he would get enough human attention to grow up socialized well with people, so we asked to keep him another week. By the end of that week, the shepherd and Marc were a bonded pair and he was ours. He and the shepherd, Piper, are inseparable and are known as the "youngies", as opposed to Belle and her buddy, a senior beagle names Carly, who are called predictably .....the "oldies". Carly and Piper have sisterly squabbles so when we leave the house for the day, we divide the youngies and the oldies on separate floors of the house.
The day Belle was found.
Puppy Marc on his first day with his new family.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Belle loves to snuggle with people! Marc enjoys playing with his German Shepherd pack mate, Piper. They love to argue over a rawhide bones and sometimes play chase in the yard.
What is life like since you rescued Belle & Marc? Belle's life changed from being a stray to having the love of people. ...which she loves. She is very much a people dog but evidently was treated as a "dog" in her past life, so this is a luxury for her; having a bed to lie on, plenty of food, and not having to be pregnant any more. We love her loving nature but are somewhat scared to take her out of the house since she is a liability to the smaller animals in the neighborhood. She is content to be a homebody. She has a big backyard to play in with her puppy siblings.
Marc was about to be euthanized so his life has changed in that he is alive. He has 3 dog and 2 cat siblings and loves life! He is a goofy boy that we love having here. He tries to communicate sometimes and it's such a funny failure but we usually figure it out. He sits and whines for something that he wants which is well within reach, a bone on the bedside table for instance, but we just laugh about it and hand it to him. He and Piper enjoy their partnership in sometimes getting in trouble together. He good-naturedly takes getting fussed at for stuff they got into together.
Our lives have changed dramatically because we have gotten involved in the Pit Rescue world. Back a few years, nobody would transport a pit so we did. Belle caused us to realize that the breed is nothing like the horror stories on TV! Marc probably wouldn't have stayed if we hadn't already been familiar with the breed. They are part of the great pack that we love, that drive us crazy sometimes, and that threaten to send us to the poorhouse sometimes but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Photographers Notes: When I arrived to Terri & Alison's house I was met at the door by the entire pack, all wagging and happy to have a visitor except for one, Marc wasn't so sure about me. When you first see Marc, he is definitely intimidating as he is a very strong 100lbs. (hard to believe from his tiny puppy picture above) Then I learned he was pretty much a chicken and needed to have a warm up period. So while the rest of dog siblings gave me attention and kisses, he watched me. He would occasionally come over for a sniff with a leery look in his eye. After I was there for a bit taking pictures of he and Belle, he seemed to warm up. Then I was getting some real affection and I knew I was in!!
Taking the family photo was so much fun and with willing participants (well the humans were willing, dogs not so much), it was just a blast. My largest family photo to date and I think it came out pretty well, considering getting 4 dogs and 2 humans to all look at the camera with eyes open is not an easy feat!