Samson Is Adopted!
Samson came to us at 8 years old when his family was moving out of the country, and did not want to take Samson with them. He had lived with his family since he was 8 weeks old. Such a sweet boy who lived with children and another dog in the home, and at one time was a cherished family member.
We were committed to finding Samson his “forever home”, and we had just the right person in mind.
Lauri is a previous adopter who loves senior dogs. She first adopted Missy at 14 years old, and built a beautiful bond until she passed away at 17. After Missy passed away, Lauri once again reached out to give a senior dog a forever home, and adopted 10 year old Tucker. Unfortunately, Tucker passed away, a short 8 months later.
When she was ready, Lauri submitted an application for another senior. While traveling to Montana, she came across a 6 year old female GSP that was at a local shelter and adopted her. Her name was Ellie. A short time later, we received an email from Lauri that said “I would like to amend my application to request an adult to senior male to become part of a two dog household”. We had just the perfect boy in mind. We introduced she and Ellie to Samson aka Sammy, and they became a family.
We are so grateful to Lauri for repeatedly reaching out to adopt a senior. Rather than focusing on the dogs age, she just wanted to give a senior dog a loving home to live out their years with her. We know what an impact Lauri made on Missy and Tucker’s lives. The love she bestowed upon them was immeasurable, and there was no doubt in our minds that Sammy would be equally loved and cherished.
See for yourself…
“On Sammy’s first day, he spent last evening pacing around the backyard and inside house. He had a few mishaps with peeing in house on the floor and a chair. He was praised for going outside. No mistakes today and he is now independently using the doggie door. At bedtime, I had to cover the bathroom mirror where he discovered a dog who looked just like him and that stared right back at him. Once lights were off, he was out and slept all night on his bed.
We got up early so he and Ellie could take turns getting walks. Sammy met some of the people I regularly run into on walks. He has a new fan club.
We have learned he and Ellie are a perfect combo for playing with water from the hose. He has been more settled today and has spent some time resting on his bed in the living room. He enjoys looking out the front window and in the back jumping to try and grab leaves.
I thought you would get a kick out of what Sammy did to celebrate Tucker’s gotcha day. I told him I would be a little late getting home to feed him! Would have been fun to watch him pulling the paper towels without the holder falling off the counter. First time getting into this much mischief. Mostly he has been doing minor counter surfing for food.
Sammy has figured out he is my boy. He makes more eye contact and he brings a toy or whatever he can find when I come home. He doesn’t give me the toy or stand still for pets. He is eager to go on his walk and is still a big puller - he guides to where he wants to walk - usually to a retention basin where there are lots of rabbits.
He and Ellie are great watch dogs. They have played together a few times - Sammy would like Ellie to chase him but she isn’t a big player that way. He continues to recognize Ellie’s messages. They are good housemates.
He did leap out the front door once a while back. He took off and I thought I would be reaching out to say I lost him. He made it back about 20 minutes later. He is wearing a GPS collar now, and hasn’t tried another escape.
In the last two months Sammy has shown an interest in sleeping on the bed with Ellie and me. He is a bed hog stretching out his whole length and sticking out is legs. He doesn’t regularly get on the bed.
On the challenges side, he still has what seems to be food and perhaps separation anxiety. He is constantly pointing at the refrigerator and canister with his treats and gets anxious and vocal as dinner time approaches. When I come home they get a little treat - he runs around with his toy and goes to point at the treats. He is a counter surfer and had an instance of getting into chocolate covered raisins followed by a trip to the emergency vet. He is in a phase right now of getting into mischief, and has been getting into and ripping up things he shouldn’t like quilt patterns and magazines. He had gotten out of this behavior so it’s kind of a relapse.
He does have scars on his throat that the vet said was probably from a bark collar. He doesn’t like to have collars put on except he will allow the Canny collar since it means a walk.
He is lovable, playful, and a mischief making imp at times. Sammy loves food, supervising people and dog food prep, treats, walks, rabbits, quail, and trimming trees with an eager expression. He is my buddy, and is a sweet man, and not at all an old man yet!
He and Ellie are a good team of protectors often splitting duty watching over me or the house. In the morning and early evening as people travel to and from work and walk their dogs, they are barking and dashing from the front window through the house out the doggie door into the back yard and back.
Can’t imagine not having this funny guy”!
Take care,
Lauri
