Marshal-Mitchell-Randall is settling in

Well it's been two months since our beloved little Marshal man re-joined our household.

I've definitely had my moments of, shall we say, less-than-complete buy-in to being the adult responsible for three special-needs dogs. 




Marshal is an anxious man, in many ways ideologically aligned with his buddy Fozzie. 

They are both eager to stick their heads out the car windows, and they are both anxious on walks, noise sensitive, leash reactive, and quick to redirect their anxiety and reactivity. 





In short, a handful. But in the house,  Marshal is a little sweetie. He loves affection and, like Fozzie, he seems really comforted by it--like he needs the reassurance of physical contact.  He's started sleeping with us every night, and there is something so wonderful about having 2 or even 3 canine bodies draped around us, with several choices of creatures to cuddle with should the mood strike either one of us. 

He and Fozzie don't interact a lot but Marshal often goes over to Fozzie just to nuzzle him and wag a bit, like a shy but admiring fan. Marshal and Dahlia, on the other hand, seem to really love each other. 

When they're not playing, they're cuddling up next to each other. 

Their play is sometimes terrifying with Marshal's dinosaur noises, but fortunately Dahlia doesn't know about those. With all their roughhousing, they have never gotten into a fight or even a little scrap. 

Marshal's name strikes me as adorable, but also somewhat ridiculous. It's also hard not to call him other things that are reminiscent of Marshal, like Mitchell (when he's being adorable) or Randall (when he's in trouble).

Poor little dog, no wonder he's anxious. But somehow I think he's going to turn out OK.

How do YOU like to confuse your dogs?