I decided to write about Freddie and Marvin after a particularly interesting evening with both of them. Since they travel with us and stay in the motels, I am in close proximity to them on a daily basis. They are both characters and can be a constant source of amusement or consternation depending on their mood for the day. I can’t imagine my life right now without them though.
So here is a little history and back story on the boys. Pictures used are of their stunt doubles as we don’t have any current photos cause Mom can’t seem to use the camera correctly. 
Freddie is a reddish brown Dachshund (Doxie) that we rescued about 2 years ago. Freddie was about 3 yrs old at the time and his owners were going to just let him loose out in the countryside if someone didn’t take him. A woman I worked with at the time, took him and then came and talked to me about him. I was known around work as the “soft touch” and was known to rescue animals. She told me about Freddie’s plight and basically talked me into taking him.
What I got was a round sausage with 4 legs sticking out of it. Poor Freddie. He is classified as a miniature Doxie but he was anything but that. He weighed 30lbs! He had been stuck for about 20hrs a day in a small animal crate that was big enough for him to either go in face first or bottom first and then just lay down. He couldn’t turn around in it and from being in it so long every day, he had worn off all the hair on his belly and chest areas.
They obviously fed him but that was about it. I got a dog that had no clue what toys were or how to play. He is a very sweet dog and is very well mannered. He has never destroyed anything in the house except plush toys. He can’t get the idea that they are to play with. Neither can he really get the concept of fetch. The only thing he got on a routine basis was rawhide chews so everything to him is to be chewed. We have taught him to play “chase” or “tag” with us but he still prefers chew toys to anything else.
They just didn’t want to bother with him and when they discovered that he has major allergies, that was it. I am happy to say, it was their loss. Freddie is a sweetie. He is one of the most loving dogs I have ever had.
He now weighs about 21 lbs and he will probably never get below that but he is a very muscular Doxie as apposed to the usual skinny framed ones. We deal with his allergies and he is doing fine now. The biggest problem we have with Freddie is we can’t get out of his sight without him having separation anxiety. This is why he travels with us. If we go on vacation then Fred goes over to our son’s house and stays with him, so in the 2 years we have had Fred, he has been with us almost 24/7.
This is Marvin's coloring
Marvin, as regular readers (I do have a few!) know is a kitty that we rescued at a motel we were staying at about 2-3 months ago. Well let me tell you, he is a hand full now! This is the most curious kitten I have ever had. You cannot do ANYTHING without Marvin being right there in the middle of it to see what is going on. I told Hubby that he is our supervisor in charge since he is always there making sure we are doing whatever we are doing correctly.
Marvin is also extremely loving. He loves to lay on me while we travel and he just purrs and purrs. Marvin also loves Freddie to distraction. He has got to be next to Freddie as much as he can. He loves to curl up on him or next to him to sleep. Marvin does that typical cat move of going back and forth, rubbing up against you motions, typically done against your legs thing…well, Marvin does that to Freddie’s face to get him to pay attention to him.
Freddie' usual expression
Freddie isn’t quite fond of this show of affection. In fact, if he is on the floor when Marvin does this, then the battle is on. That is his clue to start chasing Marvin around the room which is why I think Marvin did it in the first place! If Freddie is on the bed and Marvin does it, Freddie will immediately get under his blanket. This does not deter Marvin any more. He is now big enough that he can muscle his way underneath the blanket and go after Freddie. This is not good news for Freddie…or me. If I am on the bed as well, then Freddie buries his face against me so Marvin can’t get to him. This usually sends Marvin out from the covers and onto me. It’s like having 2 small children again!
They do really love each other though because if either of them squeaks then the other one is right there to ensure that they are okay. They do sleep next to each other for at least half of the night and they don’t fight at all or over anything including food. I do get a kick out of them though as they go through this journey with us. They love us, we love them and they definitely love each other.
They are BFF’s until the end.
Pretty Picture for the Day
Posted by tricia on November 20, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Cute post D. I remember Marvin–he was supposed to help get rid of my “bird” problem. Ah, those were the days. Hope you are having decent weather.
Posted by delaney55 on November 20, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Tricia:
The weather went from almost 80 degrees two days ago to barely 35 degrees today. I just love how in Colorado and Kansas you can blink and the temperature will change by 30 – 40 degrees. We just pack for every contingency.
Posted by Rob on November 20, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Thanks for posting, I’m a pretty new reader of you blog, and it was nice learning a bit about you, Fredie, and Marvin!
Posted by Carla on November 20, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I love animal stories! That’s cute how Freddie & Marvin love each other. I’m convinced my dogs love each other, but they sleep on separate sides of the room. However, they do miss each other when not together, just don’t try to get them to snuggle! Won’t work. It’s a true love-hate relationship. Zoe thinks Fritz is a moron, and can certainly handle his antics, but has shown that she has some antics of her own. Fritz is a sweetie, but he’s the little brother that won’t stop bugging her. Hence, Zoe seeks occasional refuge under the bed. Anyway, I always think it’s interesting how cats & dogs get along, though. I think if a cat came to my house, both my dogs would have heart attacks from the excitement (and I’m afraid the cat would leave pretty quickly!). Anyway, when you figure out the camera, post some pictures of them!
Posted by Noemi on November 21, 2008 at 4:26 am
Lucky you to have those animals – and lucky them too.
Posted by delaney55 on November 21, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Noemi:
Yes we are all lucky to have each other. I can’t imagine how boring it would be without them.
Rob:
I mention them a lot so I figured I should tell their story since they are my buddies.
Carla:
Zoe and Fritz are cuties. Sounds more like sibling relationship, sounds like when my son and daughter were young. They loved each other but could drive each other to mayhem and me to distraction but heaven help anyone that tried to mess with one of them since the other one would be right in the middle, protecting their sibling.
I have to either figure that dad-gum camera out or get a new one and get some pics of them on.
Posted by croneandbearit on November 21, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hey D – I’m lovin’ hearing about the pet antics – reminds me of when I had both a dog and a cat and the relationships between the two were always close. This stuff about cats and dogs not getting along is nonsense. Now I just have EmmaLou and I’m not sure she’ll share me and Devoted Spouse with another pet. I miss my cat terribly and one of these days I’ll probably add another mouth to the crew and we’ll just see how it works. Hugs, Linda
Posted by delaney55 on November 21, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Linda:
I have never had a cat and dog that didn’t get along but this is the first time that I have had them be such good buddies. I think that Marvin has more of an infatuation with Freddie than the other way around but Freddie loves Marvin a lot. We just got Marvin “fixed” and Freddie took care of him when we brought him back to the room. He watched over him and bathed him. I agree with you and think that people teach their dogs to not like cats because I haven’t seen it and we even had Chow-Chows at one point and they loved our cats.
Posted by TheJoeReview on November 22, 2008 at 7:25 pm
These two sound like great friends!
We rescued a Fred too, about two years ago. He too was over weight, he has lost a lot of weight but still a bit on the heavy side. He was left in his crate most of the day too, he didn’t know how to play much either. Our son has bought the puppy out of him, he now runs & brings you his monkey when he wants to play.
This was a really great post. Freddie & Marvin sound like a couple of characters.
http://thejoereview.com/
Posted by delaney55 on November 22, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Joe:
Maybe the Freds are long lost cousins or something, either that or it goes with the name. At least your Fred plays with “Monkey” which I assume is a stuffed toy. Our Fred still can’t help himself, he chews them up.