Yea...for those that don’t know, we have a doggy! All my life I’ve been the type to let in strays and randomly adopt more than my fill of animals; from dogs to rats (yes, rats). I’ve had a variety of dogs and cats. Some have passed, or have been passed on to other good owners. But, I’m literally hopeless when it comes to animals. They’re all so cute in their own ways, and I was never one to turn them away! This is where Sampson came in.
Sampson Simpson was originally our room mate’s puppy. His job was pretty demanding and he didn’t always have time for Samp. My husband was completely in love with Sampson so he didn’t mind looking after him when our roommate was gone. Every once in a while we’d let him sleep with us in our room, and he just LOVED to cuddle. My husband trained him, played with him, took him out on walks, and eventually, the neighborhood kids would come to ask if we could bring Sampson out to play. He’d go on runs or walks with me. We took him on outings every now and then. He was becoming our baby, and we were falling in love with him!
Then it came time for us to move, and my husband was heartbroken. So, I told him to ask our roommate if we could take him. I even told him to offer up some money if we needed to. The worst he could do was tell us no. So, my husband approached him with the idea, and he told us to give him a day or two to think about it. He truly loved Sampson just as much as we did, and he'd had him since he was a puppy. After a few days, he finally came to my husband and told him that Samp was ours. I know it broke his heart a bit, but I think deep down he knew that his life was about to get even more hectic and he might not be able to give Samp the attention he needed. So a few days later we were all packed, heading to Texas, and Sampson was in tow (he sat in the back seat).
Now I love dogs, and I firmly believe that they will act the way they are brought up. Sampson was always around kids, and not once did I ever see him even snap at a child. But, I do understand that no matter what breed, they are still animals. So, we’ve always had him in his halter or we’ve made sure there were no kids around when letting him run loose for a bit. He has never ever snapped. Still, our little town is not big on bully breeds and it was hard finding a place that would take us. We eventually did but it had no yard, so Samp became a full-time indoor dog. Not that he minded one bit. I’ve never seen a dog hate going outside as much as he did. We’d open the door, he’d look outside, then back at us, and finally just go back and lay in his bed. We’d literally have to pick him up and put him outside. He was a total diva. LOL! He did love car rides, and playing tug-a-war with ropes though. He loved to just cuddle and lay on the couch too. Such a laid back dog. Eventually, he gained the title of “Our First Born”.
Then, I got pregnant. Which was probably Sampson’s worst nightmare. He was still an indoor dog, but I had talked about starting to transition him into an outside dog at least a month before Emery would arrive. We were due to move out about 3 weeks before Emery was born and I didn’t want him to be howling and crying all night once we moved next to my parents. Plus, I was already obsessed with bringing a baby into a healthy, clean, sanitized, non-dog smelling home. Out he went. Those first few nights were brutal. He cried and cried. But eventually, he realized he wasn’t coming back in.
Once we had moved, we quickly realized that he couldn’t be let loose to run around. I few other dogs had been shot for just roaming in others yards, and he started trying to go after our neighbor's chickens. Then one day, he killed my dad’s cat. So, we built him a fenced in pen. And that's where he stays for the majority of the day (while we're at work). I feel bad sometimes because Beau and I don’t always get to give him the attention he deserves. Emery’s just a handful already, and she demands our full attention. So unless we all go out for walks (one of us leading Samp, the other walking with our tot) it’s hard to always let him out to play around. Still, we try our best to at least bring him out once a day. He’s even been allowed to sleep in our room when it got really cold, and a few days that it got really hot.
Now even though things have changed, and he’s kind of lost the title of “Our First Born”, he is still that lovable goofy puppy. He gets so excited when we get ready to let him out or when Emery goes to pet him. He is always in the mood to play, or cuddle. He has been such a great companion, and from this point on I’m going to try and make more of an effort to spend time with him. Especially now that Emery’s a bit older and I don’t have to carry her everywhere. It’ll be good for all of us to get to spend that time together. He deserves for us to be good owners and show him we still love him.
p.s Happy Friday everyone!!
Hope you have an awesome weekend!
Wish me luck!
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