I think in a way he is romanticizing the story a bit....making excuses for this mentally deficient dog. Always on his side, chalking it up to "that's just Marley". I would like to think that he knows the difference, but again, he might be trying to avoid the topic so as not to get into a big debate with his readers.
I had the same experiences with my dogs growing up. Like I said, I think because we are older, we block out all of the "bad dog" things. We always want to remember a good childhood. I always have fond memories of my dogs growing up. Maybe that's what pushes us to make our dogs that we have now special too.....maybe we are trying to relive some of our childhood!
