Nothing In Particular

Sitting here looking over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon I realize………
Oh crap, daydreaming again. Sorry about that. Not traveling yet so I don’t really have too much to write about. How about a background story on Sam?

Sam aka "The House Horse"

Sam is our chocolate lab. He will be 7 years old in a couple of weeks. We got him in November of 2005. We had to put down a dog we had had for 13 years and both of us agreed “No more dogs”. Two days later Jackie called us and said she knew of a lab that needed a good home. His family had a new baby and a new house with white carpets. They kept him in the garage because he kept escaping from the yard. We weren’t too crazy about the idea but after a little discussion we agreed to go meet him.

It was dark the night we went to see him and they had just let “Sampson” out of the garage to get some exercise. He was racing up and down the street and all over the neighborhood. The more his mistress called him the more he raced around. I remember thinking “This dog doesn’t listen at all, we don’t need an animal we can’t control”. After about an hour he tired himself out and came home. We petted and talked to him. He was real friendly. We told the owner we would take him and see how it worked out. Everyone agreed we could bring him back if things went badly.

I opened the back door to Connie’s SUV and Sam hopped in without any coaxing. All the way home he just sat there looking out the window as if he had rode with us a hundred times before. We got home and he jumped out of the car and raced towards the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Connie start up the stairs. I had to help him up the steps. I guess he had never climbed stairs before. Once he was inside he just lay down and went to sleep. It was very strange because he acted like he was home and I guess we knew he was.

Sam loves to eat. If I put a 50 lb. bag of dog food in front of him I think he would bury his face in it and eat until he exploded or the bag was empty. He gets 1 cup of food in the morning and 2 cups at night when we get home. His other downfall is peanut butter flavored dog biscuits. Those are his treats and he gets one after each meal and maybe 2 or 3 during the rest of the day.

When we brought him home he weighed about 103 pounds. By the following March he had gained a little and was up to 112 pounds. The vet told us he would be healthier and live longer if we could get him down to about 90 pounds. I switched him from regular Purina to Purina Fit & Trim. I also started playing ball with him everyday. Six months later he was down to 93 pounds. The vet was happy. I wish I could make my doctor happy like that. We have been trying to keep Sam in that range but he seems to be gaining a little at a time and is now about 100 pounds. I also have been gaining so he and I are going to add a little walking into our ball playing routine.

Sam is a pretty smart dog. He has his “lab moments” but overall I think he is the smartest dog I’ve ever had. He has a good vocabulary. It seems like he is trying to understand when I talk to him. He knows the words treat, eat, food, ball, ride, mommy’s truck, blue truck, downstairs, upstairs, nighty-night and a few other words I can’t think of right now. Sometimes I hide something he wants just to see if he can find it and get it out of where ever I’ve put it. Most of the time he’s successful.

One trick I wish he never figured out is opening the door. When we remodeled last year we put in a new entrance door. It has a lever type handle. The old one was a doorknob type. Sam has figured out how to put one paw against the doorframe and use his other paw to pull the handle down, unlatching the door. This would be pretty smart in itself but he also has to pull the door in to get it to open. The first time he did it we had gone fishing at 8:00 in the morning. When we got home that evening Sam was standing on the dock waiting for us. The front door was wide open and the AC was running full blast. After he made a few escapes we started locking the door. That keeps him in most of the time. On occasion he has turned the deadbolt with his mouth then opened the door. He only does this if we have left him for a full workday then come home for a little while and leave again.

The first thing I do each day is go downstairs and get my newspaper in the driveway. Sam always accompanies me. I am trying to teach him to pick up the paper and carry it upstairs. So far he acts like he doesn’t know what I’m asking. I think he knows what the word “paper” means but for some reason thinks I’m supposed to pick it up and take it in the house. If any one has a suggestion on this I would appreciate it.

Sam loves to go for rides. I even have to let him in the truck if I’m just rearranging the vehicles in the driveway. This will sure help when we finally become full timers. Cleaning dog puke off the seat is not something I want to add to the set-up checklist.

I hope I haven’t bored you too much with my story about Sam. This blog will get better in the days ahead, I promise.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.