“He was always such a clingy dog,” says Linda Herman, whose family feels they gave their dog Marty “clear signs” they were interested in pursuing other dogs.

“We tried everything else, at first. Pretending we didn’t see Marty when we ran into him around the house, ‘forgetting’ to tell him when we went to the park,” agrees J.B. Herman, Linda’s husband. “At a certain point, you have to fault their social skills when they’re not picking up on these things.”

Linda and J.B. moved with their two children over 700 miles to Cleveland from Atlanta two months ago. It was a Tuesday; Marty was at the groomer’s. “We packed everything when he was out. We felt bad that he’d have no idea we moved, but it would have been awkward if he saw us packing,” Linda explains. “It should have been the easiest way to finally part ways.”

Linda and J.B.’s daughter Leigh feels a little sad for Marty. “He really needs to focus on himself more. It’s like he’s all about us. If he were his own dog with his own interests, the relationship would feel less stale.”

Unfortunately, Marty was reunited with the Hermans yesterday morning. Like other, more celebrated, reunions, Marty somehow found his way north to the exact place his family moved. The display of devotion and instinctive, unconditional affection was “super obnoxious,” says Linda and J.B.’s son Craig Herman.

“He’s, like, in love with us or something,” Craig says. “Call me messed up, but you can’t really control if you return those feelings or not.”

Marty now lives with the Hermans and their new, more aloof Dachshund in Cleveland. They’re encouraging Marty to spend more time out of the house.  

If you want to see more Marty, you can here. Picture courtesy of David Van Etten.