In the summer of 2011, I had just gone thru a horrible time of which I lost two loves of my life. Butterscotch and Oreo were my baby girl dogs that were like sisters to each other. Butterscotch was a Golden Retriever Mix and Oreo was a Bird Dog/Beagle Mix. Butterscotch, I believe was poisoned and Oreo died two weeks later of a broken heart. I was done with having dogs. I was going to live out the rest of my days with out a dog. It had pained me too much and I had no intention of having that pain again.
One afternoon my wife had been talking about getting a cat. Ugh! We had a cat and he died of old age, but for her sake we went to Petsmart and let her look. I heard barking in the back of the store and just wondered what was going on, so I meandered my way back to the sound of the barking. I saw three cages. In the first cage was a slobbering hound and every time he woofed, slobber would expel out of his mouth and shoot about three feet in front of him! Yuck!
There was a quiet dog in the middle and on the other side a Labrador Retriever barking his head off! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!
My attention went back to the silent dog in the middle. He was a brindle. He was big. He was miserable. He looked at me and the look he gave me was so sad. It was as if he said, "Look Mister, I don't know you and you don't know me but do me a favor? If you don't take me, just shoot me and get me out of my misery! Please!"
I put the back of my hand up to his cage and he licked me.
I heard a voice behind me say, "He likes you." My wife chimed in and said, "Can he take him for a walk?" The Lady quickly answered, "Sure!"
Before I knew it we were out of the store and he was walking by my side. I wanted to know if he knew any thing. I stopped and said, "Sit!" He sat right down. I was amazed! He was intelligent. I brought him back inside after letting him relieve himself and my wife had already signed his paperwork and purchased the items to take care of him. I was a bit humored that she had taken the initiative to do so.
I asked, "What is his name?" The lady with SAAP said, "We call him Big Haus." I told Sonia, my wife, that doesn't fit him. What about Thor?" She shook her head and said, "No, that sounds too much like, Whore! What about Sampson?" I thought about it and said, "Yes, We will call him, Sampson!"
So, Sampson it is!
As you can see, Sampson is a brindle. A lot of folks are afraid of that but that is just the way God made him. I'm a Bengals fan and as you can see he has his stripes too!
They tell me that he is a Bull Mastador, which is half Bull Mastiff and half Labrador Retriever.
We took him home and I took him to the fenced back yard. I opened up the gate and released him. He loved the back yard because it was so big. He ran and sniffed and come back to me and licked my hand as if to say, "Thanks!"
I took him inside and showed him around. I let him know in no uncertain terms that he was not to pee or poop in this house. He looked at me as if to say, "I get it. This is not my first rodeo." To this day he has not had any accidents in this house!
His vocabulary is phenomenal! He certainly knows the words potty, treat, go, sit, stay, down, Doggy Day Care, and Dog Park!
He loves going to Doggy Day Care and the Dog Park! He loves to play with other dogs! He is more like the peace maker! If there is a fight between two dogs he will usually wind up in the middle of it to break them up! I have only seen him growl at one dog.
This dog was a little Schnauzer and it was a yapper. It was on the other side of the fence but what ever that dog said, Sampson didn't like! So we moved on. There was a Rottwieller that tried to attack me. Sampson bowled him over like a foot ball player.
Another problem was that when we took him to the Dog Park he would climb the fence. The Dog Park was divided up between Large Dogs, Medium sized dogs and small dogs. Well, Sampson would get bored of the big dogs and he would jump over in the small dogs to play with them. Of course there were owners there that were horrified and thought that he was going to eat them when he would just lay down and let the small dogs play with them. My concern was that he would hop the fence and go toward the road to be hit by a car. Finally, I took him home. I was a bit peeved about his action and was telling him so. I remember unleashing him in the kitchen and he sit down and watched me as I gave him the tongue lashing that I thought he deserved. Then he nodded at me as if to say, "I understand, Thank you for bringing this to my attention." I stopped and said to myself, "Oh my God, I'm talking to a dog and he understand me!"
His eyes are so beautiful but in this light he looks more like demon dog! How would you like being a burglar and upon entering a home to see this staring at you? A little unnerving, huh?
He is an inquisitive dog but his coat is the perfect blend to make him almost invisible in the woods.
Sampson, thinks that he is a lap dog. He loves to share the couch with us.
Because he is half Labrador he loves to swim!
One night, I let him out in the back yard and to my surprise, Up and over the fence he went! Again, it was dark! I couldn't see him. I called for him and he didn't come. I ran into the house and called for Sonia. We got into the van and for an hour and a half searched for him diligently calling his name! "Sampson! Sampson!
We came home and I was so dismayed that I was about to cry! I know, a grown man crying over a dog!
The windows were open in the house as I sat in front of my Mac putting out an all points bulletin to my Facebook Friends about Sampson's escape. The wind blew through the windows and cooled my neck. As I was typing I heard the faintest of tinkelings coming from the window. I thought to myself, "That sure sounds like the dog tags on Sampson's collar." Could it be? I ran down the steps and threw open the front door and there was Sampson setting on the porch waiting for me to open the door! He walked past me as though nothing had happened. He nodded at me as he passed me as though he said,
"Hey, what's up?"
He loves to play in the water! He can do this for hours!
He loves to retrieve as well!
Sampson, is the most unique, incredible dogs that I have ever had the pleasure of being with. Yes, He sleeps with me and wakes me when he needs to go out. He truly is my friend. I hope that you have a dog that gives you this much joy. If you do, share some photos with me as I have with you. Tell me about your awesome friend!
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