Sammy

My sister originally had Sammy but Sammy is a barker and she lives in an apartment house in Port Townsend where barking is a big no-no.  She asked Jenni and Wayne to take him. Well, she asked Jenni. Wayne found out about it when he came home from work one day. He wasn't pleased.  Mainly because they had a jack terrier at the time called Maisy.  She was the cutest dang puppy EVER!

As she grew, however, Maisy caused a LOT of problems.  I would take her during the day when Jen and Wayne were at work but eventually, she became too much for me.

We all loved her but she became more and more destructive and difficult to care for.  After cable went out and the repairman came to see what was wrong, it was discovered that Maisy had chewed up the wires.  She pretty much chewed up everything inside and out. She even dug up pipes outside and chewed on them. Also patio furniture.  And she'd run off. Cost $40 to get her out of the pound.  The stories along that line continued until the family was beside themselves with what to do.  When Wayne came home and found a second dog had been brought into the house, he wasn't overjoyed.

Eventually, the decision was made to return Maisy to the pound.  The entire family was torn. They loved the little shit but she was slowly destroying the home.  Jen checked on her later and she had quickly been adopted. That helped ease the guilt.  Meanwhile, it didn't take long for Sammy to endear himself to everyone.  They would fight over who got to take him to their bed at night. He preferred Hunter but was also partial to Jenni & Wayne's room.  They found themselves dealing with a jealous dog whining and scratching at the door if they were "loving each other" and not allowing him in. And he's still that way.

One of the most entertaining times watching Sammy is when Jenni or Wayne have left the house on errands (sometimes less than 15 minutes) and how Sammy reacts to their return.  He'll zoom run from one end of the house to the other at breakneck speed, hopping up and down, circling, going onto the couch and chairs and down again, back and forth, back and forth, grinning and making happy noises. It's a sight to behold.  He'll stop to visit them and make these squeaky whiny noises (grinning the whole time) happy they've come home.  This can go on for some time.  His way of showing love, I guess.

Wayne started putting dog biscuits in his cargo pants that have pockets on the legs and Sammy now goes to a chair and sits there waiting for Wayne to stand nearby so he can stick his nose in to grab a cookie.

Sometimes Sammy acts like a cat.  He can sleep for hours and it's fascinating to see him climb onto the couch or his bed, take the dog blanket that is sitting there and maneuver it with his mouth and body to get himself completely covered up with that blanket.  He'll disappear under it and you'd never know a dog was there.

If you go into the kitchen to prepare food in any form, he's there to watch you and sit beside you begging until you're done.  If you're at the dining room table, he'll sit quietly and STARE at you without blinking....waiting for you to throw him even one little bite. But what he really wants is for you to put that plate or bowl on the floor and let him lick up whatever tiny morsel is left.  This goes for ice cream too!

I'm a sucker for this. Especially when he sits up on two legs and stays up indefinitely.  And if I make a real effort to ignore him, he'll yip at me to remind me he's there.  Sigh.....  Here's some of my favorite shots of him focused on food.

 This is my very favorite. Wayne was outside cooking hotdogs and Sammy watched him closely.