Shorty, the senior pug, and his owner, Marc, are a dynamic duo. Everytime Marc needed to travel as part of his job, Shorty got extremely anxious. Now he cuddles up with Farc (Fake-Marc), the mannequin. Via: People Pets
"When he was younger, Shorty would travel with Marc everywhere, but it's not possible now with his age. Marc calls Shorty his 'angel' dog. Shorty really taught Marc how to love and care for another living thing," Marc's wife, Kristen, tells PEOPLE.
"He won't even calm down if I am holding him. In the past, I tried putting one of Marc's shirts on a pillow, but it didn't really work. I felt so helpless trying to calm him down when Marc was away," Kristen shares about Shorty, who is now too old to travel with his dad.
"She was over one day and saw how upset Shorty was. That day she went home and ordered a life-size mannequin from a Halloween store. When she told me about it, I thought she was nuts! But, it was worth a shot," Kristen told People. Kristen dubbed the mannequin Farc, short for "Fake-Marc," and dressed the dummy in Marc's already-worn shirts and hat, "so it would have his scent." She also added fake tattoo sleeves to the mannequin, since Real-Marc has real tattoos on his arms. After getting Farc styled, Kristen sat the mannequin on the couched and waited to see what Shorty would do.
"He had been crying and barking all day. I put him on Farc's lap and wrapped the arms around him. He snuggled into the shirt and he was asleep within a half hour. He slept like that through the night. I was amazed. I really could not believe that it worked!" she told people of the miracle-working mannequin.
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