My name is Marlee!

Marlee was surrendered by her owner when he was unable to care for her but it is obvious that he loved her and gave her a lot of attention and training. She is a quiet, gentle girl with a puppyish side to her. She loves attention, loves to be with her people and would enjoy a backyard to play in. Marlee is a good age for a Boxer as she is past all the silly stage and is just a lovely companion. She is 6 years old and in good health.

Here is what her foster family had to say:

Marlee is an incredibly sweet, friendly dog. She is always smiling, always happy to cuddle up next to you on the couch. She is very gentle, doesn't bite or claw, she's just happy to have someone to play with. She is very fond of cuddling, in fact if you sit next to her, she will often inch her way over to you till her bum is scooted up against your hip, then she'll just lean on you a bit till you pet her. Marlee has a way of just coming over to you, staring at you with her big, sweet eyes, and making your day a little better. She is lovely, completely endearing, and a definite snuggler of a dog.

Marlee takes a number of naps throughout the day, but I think that's mostly her method of dealing with her current situation with a quiet family in an apartment. She gets very excited whenever she gets to go out, and I think she would benefit from more outdoor/play time. At present, however, she is fairly low energy.

Marlee has been very friendly to everyone she encounters. Whenever she meets strangers on a walk, she will happily sniff at them and let them pet her. She is definitely a people dog. That being said, she is a strong dog, so not the best for young children to handle. She has honestly never acted aggressively toward any people. At worst, she has stopped walking mid-walk, as though trying to wait for the people coming up behind us, so that she can meet them. She is just very friendly.

We don't have any other pets at home, however on walks, she is veeery aware of other dogs. She wants to play with dogs her size or bigger.

The first time the entire family went out, leaving her home alone, we could hear her whine and bark a few times from inside our apartment as we were waiting for the elevator. When we returned home she was all over us wanting to lick our face and get cuddles. Since then as she learned that we will come back she has been much calmer.

Marlee loves going outside. We take her for about five walks a day, and I think she would be very happy to have a backyard to play in. She also loves her Kong toy, playing with it. We try to play fetch with her, but, obviously, it can be tricky inside an apartment. She is happy to play, though. She really likes snuggling up to people, jumping up on the couch to sit with the family. There have been a couple of times where I've grabbed her and just pulled her over into my lap, and she is very happy to sit there and be petted.

Marlee is a quiet girl, she will bark to try to raise the alarm if she thinks someone is at the door, and she barked a couple times the first time she was left alone in the apartment, but aside from that, she is very calm and quiet.

Marlee is pretty good as far as manners go. If everyone is sitting and eating, she won't beg, but she will sit nearby and watch you very closely, just in case some food drops. She is a couch dog, which might be viewed as a negative thing, but she appears to have been raised that way. She usually waits to be invited up though and if you tell her to get down, she will. She knows come, sit, stay, lay down, roll over, go to your bed, down, and jump up. If you say one paw, other paw, or both paws, she will offer up her paws, which is handy if you are trying to clean them off. We're working on heel at the moment, and she's getting better every day. If she's getting too excited and you say “Enough” in a loud, commanding tone, she'll usually calm down pretty quickly. Her previous owner seems to have trained her pretty well. Marlee is house trained. We have not had any accidents at all. We do not use a crate for Marlee. We had one for the first few days, but she got nervous around it, and any time someone would bump into it and make it rattle, she would spook and run to the opposite side of the room. She seems to be quite afraid of them. We got rid of ours pretty quickly. She is mostly leash trained. She is a puller and will get anxious around other dogs, but she will follow commands and slow down if you tell her to.

Marlee is a snuggle dog. She sometimes likes to jump up on the bed with you, and she likes to sit on the couch. I think an affectionate family would suit her best. And she is a boxer, so she has a naturally playful demeanour. She has jowls, so she can be a bit slobbery. And you need to be careful about her wrinkles, make sure sleep doesn't build up in her eyes. She is also used to getting treats after walks, and to getting table scraps after the family is done eating. But she is a very good dog, and I think she would be happy with any family, as long as they had room for her, and were affectionate with her.

Marlee needs to live somewhere with enough space for her. She can handle living in an apartment, but I think she needs to live in a house with a yard, where she can go to do her business and get some fresh air. She would do best with an active, cuddle-friendly family who has some yard space and likes to take long walks. If a family has other pets, she would need time to get used to the other pets, though I don't think she would do well with small dogs or cats.

If you think Marlee might be a good fit for your family, please submit an application for consideration.