Sammy (2000 - 2014)

Sammy Enjoying an Afternoon Tailgate in Morgantown before the WVU Game.

Last week the Lamb’s said goodbye to Sammy.  Sammy was our family dog since 2000.  She was more than a pet though; she was as important as anyone else who lived in our house.  When we went home we were as excited to see her as we were for mom’s cooking.  She is the reason I have my dogs now and I’m sure she is the reason my brother and sister got dogs after school.  She loved us all unconditionally, maybe more when we let her eat our pizza crust.

I remember the night we went to my mom’s coworker’s house to pick out a dog.  Their beagle and basset hound had just had puppies.  We narrowed it down to two a black and white male and a black, white, and brown female.  The female won.  I can still see my brother sitting there holding her and saying she was the one.  I remember the ride home while we discussed possible names for her in the van.  We threw out some wild names, things we knew nobody would like, but just wanted to see if anyone would say yes.  Eventually I said, “Let’s call her Sammy!”  Everyone agreed.  My mom asked me where I came up with the name.  I told her it was for Sammy Sosa.  I’ve always wanted to name my dogs after baseball players.  I said Sammy works for a boy or a girl so that was it. 

I will add that nobody outside my immediate family has ever spelled her name correctly.  They always spell it Sammie.  The vet even has her name wrong in the records.  We always smile when we put up the Christmas ornaments our grandmother got for her that are spelled Sammie too.  I guess it’s better than Fairfax County thinking Tabby’s name is Tobby.  

Only a few weeks after we got Sammie I left for college.  I remember coming home for winter break or the following summer and not being used to a puppy in the house.  I walked in my room and found my Oakley’s chewed to hell.  I was so pissed.  Sammy was in a stage where she chewed on everything.  I was reminded of the chewing stage a few years later with Bouncer.  My friend Spencer may argue his homework in college that Bouncer ate for dinner one night was more important than my Oakley’s.  He’s probably right because I quickly replaced them.

The best thing about coming home was seeing Sammy.  She would meet us at the top of the stairs with her tail wagging just waiting.  Once you got up there she would roll on her back and expect you to rub her belly.  If you were daring enough to get down there she would climb on you and lick your face.  She loved it when girls came home, they were never prepared to be tackled and kissed.  I would just stand there and laugh and usually they did too.  She really did love everyone that came through that door.

She loved to chase tennis balls and play tug of war.  She never met a stuffed toy she couldn’t defeat.  She would tear through them to get the squeaker in a matter of minutes it seemed.  We could throw a ball from the living room and down the hall all day with her and she would never stop.  I remember after I got Bouncer that we were tossing the ball for the two of them.  Bouncer was very clumsy as a puppy.  What am I saying, he still is clumsy.  But Sammy ruled my parent’s house like a Queen when the rest of the dogs came to visit.  Sammy also knew where the ball was going when it left our hands so she would beat Bouncer every time to the ball.  Then one day Bouncer realizes he was twice her size and leapt over her got the ball and slid into the wall at the end of the hall.  After that, mom had to move the table out of the hallway for a few years.  Playing tug of war you would practically pull your arm out of socket with her.  She would shake and pull until you let go.  You could lift her off the ground and she wouldn’t let go.  After I got Rollins that was their game to play, Sammy would grab one end and Rollins the other.  They would pull each other around the house.  At least until Rollins got tired and gave up.  

She starved for attention and even when she was old and couldn’t run as well.  She might grab your shoe and get you to chase her.  Whenever she wanted to play she always grabbed a pair of shoes.  Mom would laugh as we chased her around the dining room table and through the living room.  It usually took all three of us to get it back.  She knew we couldn’t get her through chairs at the table.  

There were days when you would get home and be stressed or mad about something at school or work.  You would sit on the couch to watch TV to get your mind of it.  She would come find you and lay her head on your lap.  She knew you just need someone to comfort you.

At night she was great in the winter at keeping your feet warm.  It did have the opposite effect in the summer when you didn’t need the extra warmth.  But we would let her stay there because you felt safer with her there.  As she got older thunderstorms drove her nuts.  She would sit and shake until they ended.  It’s something Bouncer learned from her and I deal with in my house too.  But whenever Bouncer does it I think of her and how mom and dad left the deck door open one day and didn’t know she was out there.  When they left for the night they closed the sliding glass door with her on the porch.  Dad and Mom felt terrible about it.  But they also were reminded of it just like me whenever it stormed.

When I close my eyes I still see her run up the stairs for a treat after going out or running to my parents room at night when its bed time.  I see her running and playing with Bouncer.  I see her wrestling with Rollins.  I see her colors in Zena (Julie’s dog).  I see her unwillingness to listen at times in Franny (Brian’s Dog).  I get her kisses from Tabby.  She’s the reason we have them in our lives and she will be remembered because part of her exists in each one of them.  That’s part of the reason I mentioned them in these stories.

When I got home from the vet last week I was sad that I wouldn’t see her again.  That she wouldn’t come sit with me or give me kisses.  She wouldn’t be there to welcome me when I walked through the door.   As I walked in the house, my three dogs came running each jumping to say hi and make sure I was alright.  When I sat down to watch TV they each came to sit with me.  In each of them I saw a reminder of Sammy.  It was then that I knew she was not gone from our lives.  Her memory lives on in each of our heads and the dogs that we own.  

P.S. – Sorry if some of the thoughts run on, this was a hard one to write and I don’t think I can reread it to make sure it all makes sense.