Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Samma-Lamma-Ding-Dong . . . Ode to Peanut Head's Best Friend


This is our dog, Sammie. A couple weeks ago, right before we left on our vacation to Bear Lake, we had to have this sweet, sweet girl put to sleep. She was 13 and her plumbing was on the fritz.


We found Sammie at the Berkeley Humane Society almost ten years ago. She was three then, and she had been at the no-kill shelter for six months already. She had anger management issues.

She liked to eat little Fifi dogs and start fights with female dogs.


Actually, she loved other dogs, as long as they were male and at least the same size as her, although preferably larger. And there were . . . ahem . . . other requirements.

But Sammie was a good girl where people were concerned.


This is a picture of Sammie on the day we got her, right after we gave her a welcome home bath. And introduced her to the cats.

Actually, the cats didn't give us time to introduce her. As soon as she walked in the door one of them jumped on her back and the other one pummeled her on the head.

Ever since that day, she's had a very healthy respect for the cats in our household. One of them would be standing in her way and Sammie would give them her no-eye-contact look and give them a wide berth. "See, I'm not looking at you. You da man. Peace."


And as if the cats weren't enough, we brought kids into the mix. Sammie took that in stride too. The babies would pull on her ears and tail, grab her in all sorts of uncomfortable places, and still she was happy to be part of our family.

And we were happy to have her in our family.


Sammie brought a lot of joy into our house. What dog doesn't? She was always happy to see us when we got home. She liked to be around her people more than anything else.


Sammie started out as a California dog, but when we moved to Idaho she learned to love the snow. She would toss it in the air and catch it in her mouth. She loved that.


But Sammie started slowing down over the past several years. She was getting old and her body started to fail her. She used to be lightening fast, but towards the end every step was a chore.

She never complained though. She was a stoic dog. Every night she would make the trek to the basement because she wanted to be around her people. Going down wasn't so bad, but going up was a chore. She had arthritis so she had to take the stairs at a cant and one slooooooow step at a time. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. It was like listening to someone drag a corpse up the stairs every night. If I could have carried her, I would have, but like me, Girlfriend had some junk in her trunk.

Poor Sammie.


But the person who's feeling the loss of our sweet girl the most is Peanut Head. He was her man and she was his dog.

Sammie, wherever you are right now, we love you and we miss you.

Love,
Your People

31 comments:

  1. Awww, I'm so sorry for the loss of your furbaby. :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. We know just what you are going through. We had to let Jeff's dog go when it was time. He said it was the single worst best decision he ever made. We still talk about her all the time, she was a great dog and we too still miss her.

    Thoughts are with you guys, especially PH.

    Kiy

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so sorry. Losing a beloved pet is losing a part of the family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a huge loss. We lost our dog Toby of 14 years last easter and I still sort of look for him at certain times.

    ~tammy

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so sorry to hear about Sammie. She was always so sweet and precious to my kids. She will definatly be missed!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aww...how sweet! Seriously, I have tears in my eyes... I'm thinking about my dog, Bogey, who's a little over 16 years old now and he is very frail...nothing like how he use to be. It breaks my heart to think he won't be around much longer.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awww, poor Peanut Head to lose his dog....so sorry for ya'll's loss.

    Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, Jill, that was a beautiful tribute to Sammie. You know I feel your pain. Big hugs to all of you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ok, that made me teary thinking about my Zach-dog. And yes, we sorta named our baby after the dog. Sad, but true.

    Zach-dog was one of a kind. Very special and he seemed to have the same end as your Sammie. But he brought much joy to our lives.

    i'm sure you'll always remember her. Thanks, as always, for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That was such a sweet tribute to your Sammie! I'm sorry for your loss. Sammie was such a great dog and you will always have your memories of her. Hugs to you and your awesome fam!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Aw, Sammie! I remember when your people brought you home to the bungalow in Oakland. You will be missed. Even by the kittehs.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We had to put my sweet puppy (she will always be my "puppy" even though she was 17) to sleep when it was her time. It broke my heart. They are family members & there is a void without them by you everyday. I am so sorry for your loss. Your family will be in our thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am so sorry for your loss. A beautiful tribute for a beautiful member of your family.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a great tribute to Man's Best Friend. Anyone who has a family pet understands what your family is going through right now. We love our furry beast as much as we love our human beasties. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh that is so sad! I hate when you get attached to a pet and then they are gone! Our Border Collie ran away a few years ago. Everytime we see one the kids ask if it's Bandit.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a wonderful tribute to Sammie.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am so sorry for your loss. :(

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Jill, so sorry to hear about Sammie.... just a couple of months ago we had to take our little terrier for his last trip to the vet, too... (actually Larry had to do it... I couldn't handle it). He had a stroke and had seizures and could no longer walk.
    Feeling for you...
    Ulrike

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am so sorry for your loss.

    I spit out soda on my monitor when I read how the cats greeted her. I think that if that had been our dog, we would have had two less cats.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It's such a hard time to go through and you and your family are in my thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Those darn dogs bring you so much joy and then they have to get old and die and it just kills you! We are going through the same thing with my parents dog right now. It is so hard to watch her getting old and having such a hard time getting around!
    I am so sorry! She just looks like such a nice old dog:(
    Melissa -nannygoat

    ReplyDelete
  22. That is so sweet! You can feel the love for Sammie in this post! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  23. pets are family AND friends. I know.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am sure that Sammie lived a wonderful life and felt LOVED!!

    Thanks so much for stopping by on my SITS day~{{sorry it has taken me Sooo long to get to you-ugh! I'm a trying, lol!}}

    ReplyDelete
  25. poor sammy, i cant believe she was 13 already.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Losing a dog you love is hard. Sweet post.

    ReplyDelete
  27. So sorry for your loss. I've cried many tears over the death of previous pets. You KNOW there is the perfect pup sitting at a shelter just waiting for HER/HIS new family to love. Go find her/him and bring her/him home soon. Best wishes!

    Love and Prayers for your loss,
    Betty in Oklahoma

    ReplyDelete
  28. Sorry that she had to go...looks like she was a great companion for all of you! Do you have another dog now or just the cats?

    ReplyDelete
  29. I am so sorry! We had to do the same thing 3 years ago with our 13 year old retriever. It was the hardest decision I'd ever made. So not fair.

    ReplyDelete