Sammy Part 1:

Favorite Animals

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I drove with my mom to go pick up Sammy from the pound. I was still buzzing with excitement.

We had the yard prepared. Her dog house was in the back back yard. Her “pooping area” was hopefully back there as well. It was actually a substantial sized yard for a dog.

But I don’t know what I was expecting, when I finally got her. But as she waddled out of the pound she looked groggy. That was due to the shots and procedure. But the moment she recognized me she was waddling a little faster and licked my hand once beside me.

She remembered me. She was mine!

Instead of putting her in a crate I decided to have her in my lap. I thought crating her would be to traumatic for her. I sat down and then called for her to get in the car too. She was confused to say the least. So instead the backseat it was; which was a bench. Sammy didn’t fight me when I picked her up and placed her on the bench. I sat beside her; she crawled over enough to place her head on my lap. I scratched her ears the whole way home.

“Make sure you vacuum the car out afterwards,” mom said as we drove home.

“Of course, mom.”

Home. We were home. “Sammy, we are home.” Instead of having her walk I picked her up and carried her into the fence of the backyard. I placed her down and walked her around the yard. Letting her smell all the new smells. She wasn’t really interested in anything.

“Mom. I think she just needs a day. Or maybe a couple days to let the drugs wear off in her system. I’ll take her to her dog house, instead. I again scooped her up and carried her into the back back yard. I placed her in front of the dog house. It was a very spiffy dog house. I had gotten her a comfy pillow. It had been a little large but I made her a cocoon. She didn’t move. She just stood there frozen. So like any good owner I crawled into her dog house, circled a few times, and then laid down getting comfy. It was quite comfy. Getting back out was different story. How did my butt fit through the door in the first place. Haha! But I managed to get back out; and Sammy instantly copied what I had done. She laid down and then she was out. ‘Good girl.’

I had given her food around dinner time but she was still asleep. So I left it there and went to bed myself. But when I woke up I rushed outside to check on her. She was no where! She wasn’t in her dog house! Her food had not been touched! Oh no! I thought the worst. I thought she ran away.

“SAMMY!” I called!

And suddenly there were little pitter-pat feet coming towards me. Where had she been? But Sammy walked over to me and licked my fingers as a good morning. And she was smiling! Definitely smiling. It melted me heart.

“Let’s go eat some food, Sammy! Do you want to do that,” I walked back to her dog house. She followed and I showed her the bowl of food. She saw the food, and then it was gone! (I discovered I like the sound of dogs eating food; it was quite relaxing.) But again she was a smiling dog. She knew her spot. And it was to sit in front of me with her back pressed into my legs; waiting for her morning scratch. I gave it to her.

But then suddenly she perked up and she dashed off into the front back yard. ‘What?’ And I followed her. Someone was walking by the fence. And Sammy jumped up on the fence to say hello. She wasn’t barking, but instead she was smiling, waiting for scratches. ‘I picked a social dog.’ The woman walking was startled, but then saw me. She waved me over.

“Did you get a new dog?”

I didn’t know this woman. But, “Yes. I got her yesterday.”

She looked at Sammy who was still waiting for some love. “Can I?” Do you know?”

I didn’t know for sure, but I assumed. “I’m guessing she just wants some love, but I’m not completely sure. I assume she would be barking at you if she didn’t want you here, not here smiling at you.”

The woman decided to give Sammy some scratches behind the ear. Sammy leaned into her had and soaked up all the love she was getting. I think Sammy would have stayed in that position if the dog across the street didn’t start barking incessantly at the woman petting Sammy.

Sammy hopped down from the fence and just stood looking at the other dog. Not barking just looking.

“You picked a wonderful dog,” the woman said as she started to walk off.

“Thank you!” I beamed. I knew I had picked the right one. But for a stranger to say it, it just reaffirmed it for me. Sammy was the right one.

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I learned several things as time went on. Sammy did not want to be in the back back yard. She wanted to be closer to the fence, where people walked. Because anyone who walked by got big smiles from Sammy. She never barked at anyone. I take that back. She did not like skateboarders. Not matter where she was in the yard, she would sprint to the fence and bark until the skateboard was gone. Haha!

But other than that she was perfect. I gave her a bath the second day of having her. She did not like or appreciate the water. It was a battle to bathe her. But as time went on she didn’t fight me as much. I also brushed her. So that she wouldn’t look mangy. She was a beautiful dog. But to me she was a lab, husky, smidge chow mix.

Learned more things. Like you have to put pavers under the dog house. Because when it rains, if it’s on the ground, the water washes in and soaks the dog pillow. Blah! Another. Sammy hated lightning and fireworks. I lived in the back room of the house, so on those types of nights I had Sammy sleeping next to my bed. And she was the perfect dog. She just laid down. She didn’t wander. She didn’t mess with anything. Also she knew how to tell me she needed to go out. I would be dead asleep, and she would come lick my hand. I would wake up staring into Sammy’s eyes and she would walk over to the door, which led outside. She would stand there until I let her out. She would go do her business, come back to the door, and wait for me to say come back in. She would scurry back inside and find her spot again. I didn’t teach her that. Her previous owners must have.

She protected me from bees. I’m allergic to bees and when being outside I would suddenly gasp or scream because a bee was diving for me. (I don’t know what it is but bees chase me.) But Sammy would eat them for me! She was my protector as well.

She was the perfect dog.

Through the years we moved houses and lived in various cities. But Sammy always came. And the new yards became her domains. But she had less and less social time with people walking. The houses we moved into had privacy fences.

But then my nephews came along, we discovered that Sammy loved being a mama. She allowed my nephews to do everything to her. And she never retaliated . They would pull ears, try to ride her, pull her tail, and she would just sit there allowing it.

We also got kittens at one point. My brother’s cats got pregnant and we had 9 kittens. The mom cats died when the kittens were on hard food. But Sammy took the role. She would lay down and snuggle the kittens, she would lick the kittens clean, she would sleep with them. My dog as a perfect mama.

I continued to learn through the years. She was gentle. She was mischievous. She was delightful. She was my best friend. But she wasn’t just my dog. She was my family’s dog. My mom loved Sammy. My sisters who were not big dog people loved her. I ruined my family for having the perfect dog, because she couldn’t be replaced.

But then I got married, and we were going to move away. I wanted to take Sammy. Desperately! But it would have been a huge change for her. Her life would have changed so much that I didn’t want to make her depressed. So left her with my mom.

It broke my heart. But I didn’t want to ruin her. We had, had her already 11 years. She was old. She had slowed down. But she had also become everyone’s dog. So she wouldn’t have been too depressed me leaving.

Thankfully I got to travel down and see her before her final year. She got to meet my daughter. She licked her fingers. Just like she had done to me.

Every trip down I spent time with Sammy. But she was getting older and older. She had lost her hearing. She had trouble walking. But she was still smiling.

Then I got the call. The call that Sammy was in so much pain that she needed help to be done. I FaceTimed with her for a short visit. She smiled at me. But then she was gone.

We had her for 16 years. She was 17 when she passed. She had the best life. She was loved by so many, and she loved everyone back.

I had the perfect dog. I’m so happy I stuck to guns and was stubborn to get her. Because she was the best. ❤️

She was still a beautiful sweetheart on her last day. I’m just bummed that my kiddos didn’t get to play with her. But I’m lucky to have had her growing up. I was the lucky one.