My canine friends

My dog Ben and myself (left)

Following on from yesterday's blogged review of Marley and Me, it really did make me pause (the end of any doggy puns I promise) for thought about my own canine friend.

Journalist John Grogan in the film wanted to be a reporter, but ended up becoming a successful columnist by writing many stories (not tales) about his dog. Not the most realistic portrayal of a journalist today, but nonetheless, it has inspired me to write something about my own dog.

If you stopped any dog owner in the street, they will probably be able to tell you a memory about something their dog has done, and more often or not, it will be something quite funny.

My first dog was called Ben, surely one of the most popular male dog names. I was looking for a website to corroborate this, but I don't believe either of the sites I found. How many people call their poodle 'Zeus'? Or their great dane 'Spaghetti'? Even 'Capone' is on their for the dog's 'gangster-like qualities', which are? Well I know at least one other person who has a dog called Ben anyway.

Does your dog show 'gangster qualities'?

Ben (pictured, left above) was my first dog, a cross between a labrador and probably a sheep dog, so when he finally had to be put down from being in too much pain, it was a sad time. I was just about to go to work to find out my shifts when I knew it was the last time I'd see him. He was a remarkably placid creature and would never chase any sticks or do any dog-like things like that. Whether it was that he didn't realise he was a dog or that he was just too clever, I will never know.

The funny thing about Ben was that he just wasn't very clever. Often he'd go down like a sheepdog and wait in the garden until all the birds arrived before rushing down with his heckles up trying to catch one, but by the time he got there the birds had always flown away and he just looked daft and confused. An excellent dog for myself and my sister growing up though because of his peaceful nature.

The dog I have now is called Bruno (left), another popular dog name alleged by myself. The difference with chocolate labrador and springer spaniel Bruno is that I have seen him grow from a small puppy and already he has produced some really warm memories from when he was so small that he could go up the stairs but was too scared to come back down again to now, where he has grown to the size where there isn't always a choice of whether to play with him or not.

My most recent funny memory of him is when he came into the living room at Christmas time and jumped onto my lap and his breath stank to high heaven of turkey. I knew he had been up to no good because it had been quiet for 10 minutes.

When I go home from university at Easter I will have to take him a bone to distract him from my own fleshy limbs.

Marley and Me

Spoiler alert: If you are yet to see Marley and Me, you may not wish to read on.

Marley and Me was a surprisingly poignant when I saw it tonight.

The film, directed by David Frankel (director of The Devil Wears Prada), is a heart-tugging and emotionally appealing tale of a pair of journalists John (Owen Wilson) and Jennifer Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) who buy a dog called Marley.

Marley is a welcome gift from John to wife Jennifer to take her mind off of starting a family while he concentrates on becoming a successful columnist for a newspaper. But once the couple do want to start a family, Marley starts to become an increasingly disruptive hazard as Jennifer tries to bring up three children.

I was given the impression beforehand by a flat-mate of mine who studies films that it was far from an Oscar candidate, but, with that in mind, I thought it achieved its purpose with great success.

Its purpose was clearly to really pull at the heart-strings and it did that very well, perhaps so much so that it does not quite have that much replayable value, so I probably will not be buying the DVD.

But it was far from all doom and gloom. There were plenty of bits to laugh at and lots of cute comical moments which only animals can achieve.

Dog lovers will love this film for the personal connection they can have with it, but others may find it too sentimental and too draped in doggy love. But at least it focuses on the dog more than the children. It's a difficult task for film-makers to avoid making children quite annoying and the children who feature in this are a little and there is one particular scene with a baby crying which almost made my ears bleed. Again, though, it achieved the purpose of showing the tough time which Jennifer was having at the time.

Marley and Me also came with some originality and featured some quirky diary-telling scenes which added to the comedy.

As a journalist and a dog owner, I was into this film and found it quite sentimental, but people who do not have those in common with it could find little which appeals to them beyond the trailor. It has at least one fan though.