Prime Living: Aiken resident prizes pooch pals
May 18—She's familiar, as a retired second-grade teacher, with the idea of looking to maintain order in a large group, and Marilyn Baker's daily rounds are now a little easier, with only a foursome of fuzzy friends looking to her for guidance.
Baker, who grew up in central Illinois, can be spotted in the Kalmia Hills area in motion with her pooches — Sophie, Reba, Beaux and Marley — as she continues her tradition of having several canines in her household. Beaux, she noted, is her 21st.
"I don't give them away. I usually adopt an adult dog, and I keep them until it's time for them to move on, and then I replace them. I like having a pack, but I'm getting to the age where two might be my max, after these go. I like to have one dog kind of teach another dog the ropes ... I've had as many as five dogs, but I think I'm at my max now."
Her first dog, a cocker spaniel, lived to be 18 years old. Baker was 21 at that point. "think there was a time, right after I got married, we didn't have a dog, and then we wound up getting my ex-husband's father's dog, and then it just kind of went from there. When you live out in the country, people drop dogs off, so I would get a stray occasionally."
More recently, she said, she has taken to adopting dogs from rescue organizations. Marley, a female, is a French bulldog from a rescue operation in Chicago. At age 13, she has hip problems and now rolls — rather than walks — when the Baker bunch goes out for air and exercise. A baby-style stroller is part of the package.
Sophie, at 120 pounds, is the biggest of the bunch, with a heritage of Great Danes and Labrador retrievers ("I re-homed her from a family"), and Reba, a mix of Boston terrier and French bulldog, came Baker's way because the previous owner could not potty-train her (a mission that was quickly accomplished in Baker's home). "That's one thing about having more than one dog. They teach each other things."
Completing the foursome is Beaux, a French bulldog re-homed from Florence. "He's the only Southern dog. The rest of them came from up north ... and they get along well with each other and ... with the neighbor dogs, and we have play dates in my backyard occasionally, when we have about seven dogs back there."
Baker's years as a teacher were spent in Bartonville, Illinois (a suburb of Peoria), and her school years included coaching girls in basketball, volleyball and track. Music was also a focal point, as she played alto saxophone in Peoria's municipal band.
A prominent magazine played a tremendous role in leading Baker to Aiken, she recalled. "I got here about three and a half years ago. I've been retired for over 20 years ... I wanted to move south, where it was warmer, and get out of the bad winters, and then I saw the Southern Living article and was here for just two days and bought a house."
"It was that picture on the cover that got me," she said, recalling a view of South Boundary's long rows of live oaks.
Another factor was an infomercial featuring former NFL great Terry Bradshaw — a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, and largely known for his Pittsburgh-based football career — speaking on Aiken's behalf, Baker said.
"I have friends in Columbia that used to be my neighbors in Bartonville, and so it worked out nicely that I could go stay with them and ... kind of look around, but .... it was just a two-day trip, and I bought a house."
She also commented on the presence of pooches in that house. "They're a big part of my life. They're good company. I think they keep you young. They force me to get out and walk and to do things, and it's a good way to meet people."
