365: Toilet Paper Thief

Sam is obsessed with all things soft and papery. He raids the trash can all the time; he's even figured out how to use the step can in our bathroom. He drags bits and pieces around all day long and lovingly shreds them into millions of pieces. For the past two days he's been tearing up massive amounts of Kleenex and we couldn't figure out where it was all coming from. Ange finally discovered a box of tissues that had fallen off a side table that he had hidden between the couch and the table. He was mad when we busted him. Better luck next time buddy.

365: Handsome haircut boy

Sam got his hairs did today. The groomers said he was SO good and SO sweet. He likes haircuts! Takes after his Momma A!

Fat Boy Slim

Well there was some dog drama at home yesterday. Actually it started Tuesday night. Ange had just shut down the house for the night and had just switched off the lights when she heard a thud, shrieking, and growling/barking. She knew it was Sammy crying and Duke responding. She switched on the lights only to see Sam having a nervous breakdown. From what she can surmise, Sammy tried to jump on the bed, didn't make it and somehow bumped Duke in the process. Sammy was crying and crying and crying for like 5 minutes. She finally got him calmed down but he was still acting like he was in serious pain and was limping pretty bad. She called me to give me the run down and told me she thought he really had hurt his leg. We discussed it a bit and I told her I thought we should just let him sleep it off and we could re-evaluate in the morning.

Sammy is the most dramatic dog in the world so it's kind of hard to know when he's seriously hurt or just being dramatic. He cries when you pet him too hard, and I am soooo not joking. Ange also has a tendency to be a bit dramatic especially when it comes to Sam or health issues. So other than taking him to the emergency vet and shelling out a bazillion dollars for something that might not be a big deal what else was there to do then let him sleep it off? Daisy has hurt herself several times in the past year and usually it's just a little R & R and she's fine.

So this morning Ange woke up and Sam was shaking and panting and still limping and shrieking every 5 minutes. So she gave me a call to see what I thought. I said definitely if he's acting like she says he is (again, I'm faaaaaar away and trying to decide where drama stops and reality begins) then she should try and get a vet appointment today. Then I ask her the critical question of "Do you think I should come home?"

Sidebar: A few months ago Ange hurt her back at work. She called me from the ER to let me know. I was in Bloomington and had just walked into Chili's with my family for dinner. I asked her if she wanted me to come home. She said, "No, finish dinner with your family, drop Leslie off (she had rode to B-ton with me) and then come to the ER. I'll probably be waiting her forever anyway." So I did like she said, even trying to rush us all through dinner a bit so I could get to her. When I got to the hospital she was like "GOD, I can't believe you didn't come right away!" Uhhhh, you told me not to?!?! But apparently she just thought I would. So we learned a valuable lesson that day. Ange learned that I do not come from a very sympathetic family, so if you really want me to be there and hold your hand, which I do not mind doing, then you need to tell me. And I learned that I really, really need to make sure she's not speaking in code and give her the bottom line.

So she's says "Well if you want to come home you can." Sigh, apparently the lesson was not quite learned on her end yet. So I say "Well, unless you tell me to come home I'm not. I'm going to stay here. But I really don't mind coming home if you think I need to." She had to go to class because of a test and couldn't stay home, and she also had a doctor appointment right after to get some of her vaccines for Africa. So Sam would have been home from 7:30-ish am until about 1:30 pm. So she said she was going to jump in the shower and think about it. She called me back a little later and said she thought I should come home. So I did. Apparently we did both learn.

So I called the vet on the way home and explained the situation. They got us in for a 10:15 appointment. I got home to size up the situation and found out that it was actually a lot worse than I thought. I examined Sammy and surmised that it was actually not his leg that was hurt but rather his lower back. Now hurt legs can still be serious but usually, worst case scenario is some kind of surgery to repair what was damaged. Hurt backs could lead to paralysis. As much as I would like a special needs dog, I did not want to turn Sammy into one. He was shaking and crying really bad so I thought I would just scoop him up and put him in the car (after I cleaned it out and made a little puffy bed for him with blankies) and see if they'd see us early if we got there.

We got there and I apologized for getting there early (it was about 9:45) but that it was actually his back and not his leg that was hurt and that he was in worse shape than I thought. It helped that Sammy was crying non-stop. So they zoomed us into a room, weighed Sam (who's gained 3.5 lbs. since he was last there) and Dr. G was soon in to see him. He confirmed that is was his back and said that since he was in so much pain and such a drama queen he'd need to put him under anesthesia and do the x-rays. He told me to call around 3:30 for an update.

We were worried but glad he was under the care of the vet. We went about our day and at 3:30 called to see what was up. After being put on hold the receptionist told Ange that Dr. G had cleared a 4:30 spot to come in and talk with him. And that was all. Seriously??? So then we both had stomachaches and were worried for the next hour. I am proud to report that Ange did not cry once during this whole ordeal, even though I thought she might for a moment after she hung up the phone. What a brave girl.

So we got to the vet's office and the girl at the desk said "Do you want to pay the bill before you go in and talk to Dr. G?" I took that as a sign that Sam was being discharged but to confirm I said "Does that mean he's coming home?" and she said yep! She gave us the bill and Ange nearly fainted when we saw it was $411!!! But of course, he's worth it, it was just a ginormous amount. After that we looked at the two prescriptions she gave us plus the itemized bill to see if we could hypothesize what the situation was. Between the two of us we were pretty accurate. Sam has some kind of disc injury between his 5th and 6th vertebrae. He was given a shot of cortisone to help reduce the swelling of the disc, a prescription for some cortisone (and instructions to buy some Pepcid to protect his tummy from the steroids) and a muscle relaxer. He was also put on doggy bed rest, which means, as little excitement and movement as possible, no jumping, and no steps.

So we're all went back home to convalesce and Sam is doing much better. He's pretty much been sleeping since we got home. We'll keep an eye on him for the next few days and hopefully he will be all better soon!

Dog Dossier: Samuel L. Sampson

Aliases: Sam, Sammie, Sam-bo, Turkey, Lurkey, Blackie, Cat Dog, Little Bear, Chicken Butt, Lurka Durka, Sampson

Back Story: Sammie is Momma A's (Ange's) dog. She got him when he was just the tiniest little boy. Obviously he came into my life when she came in to my life. I was glad that Ange liked dogs because obviously if you are going to be involved with me, you have to like dogs! I don't think I've ever met a person who doesn't like Sam. How could you not? He's very sweet and lovable, incredibly low energy, and just wants to be snuggled or fed.

He and Ange are the ultimate sidekicks. He follows her everywhere and gets very worried if he gets left behind anywhere that isn't his home. The first time she and Sam came down to visit me at my mom's house we went out for dinner and left Sam with my mom and stepdad. When we got back they told us that he laid in front of the door we left through and cried the whole time we were there. When he heard the car door slam he went crazy. Luckily he's calmed down since then...probably because he realized that my stepdad is a big pushover for dogs and if he plays his cards right he'll get lots of treats and love from him while we're gone.

We were really nervous about introducing him to my brood. Sam is pretty good with other dogs...only has a touch of little dog complex on occasion. My dogs, however, are a tough group. Stone and Caramel are pretty much pushovers. They like anyone. Duke and Daisy are the pack leaders and are generally suspicious of anyone trying to bust in on our little family. When we brought Sam over for the first time I put all the dogs out back to start with. First we let in Caramel. She sniffed him over, he looked alarmed, but she was in love so it worked out. Then we let Stone in. After his sniff test confirmed there was nothing to worry about he went and laid down and Sam continued to look alarmed. He had this little pleading look on his face that said "MOM, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Then we let in Duke. Luckily Sam was so overwhelmed at this point Duke's Alpha dog status did not seem in jeopardy so he just sniffed him a few times and went and laid down far away from the action. Last we brought in Daisy. This was strategic because she's the biggest hater there is. She is kind of a jerk when it comes to other dogs and I didn't want her being mean to Sam. So she came streaking in and immediately got all puffy and growly. Poor Sam was just over it at this point. So I followed Daisy around saying "No, No!" every time she growled and swatting her nose every time I saw her lip curling up in to a snarl. This kept the peace but it also had the weird effect of connecting in her brain that Sam = Mad Momma L. So for the first month or so whenever Sam was around she was half growl, half wince because she knew I would be on her in an instant at the first sign of aggression. Luckily after that first meeting Sam acclimated well and just ignored her for the most part. It took him a while to get used to Caramel's nose punching him though. The first few times she tried to get him all riled up and ready to play he just cried and ran away. See, Sam is not the most playful dog. Probably because he's been raised on his own with no brothers and sisters. He also is the biggest baby in the entire world. He's been known to cry if you pat his head to hard for his liking. So having Caramel nose punch him and chase him was just a little more than he could take. Luckily, he's come around and even will chase her on occasion. Not to say he's suddenly super playful, but at least he doesn't cry anymore.

Just the other morning I was letting the dogs out and sitting on the deck as I often do in the morning just letting them go about their business while I try and wake up. I was watching all of the dogs run around the backyard and I realized that Sam had his own little part of the yard that he frequented. He was doing his thing and then was looking around at the other dogs. Caramel was near-by and as they looked at each other it looked like they sent each other some dog brain waves because they both took off running around in circles for a few minutes together. Then they both looked at each other and took off running towards me. I think they were saying "If we both run together maybe Momma L will realize it is time for treats for dogs!" The funniest part was watching Caramel greatly outrace Sam, but watching Sam run as hard and as fast as he could with his little black leggies clomping along in unison looking exactly like a little black bear. The whole scene just made me laugh and realize that Sam was fully integrated into our little dog family.

Likes: Eating, food, treats, sleeping, barking, riding in the car, begging for mommy food

Dislikes: Playing with other dogs in general, listening to his mommies, following any rules

**Note...we did not actually let Sam drink beer. He's just a nosy ned and was trying to figure out if the bottle was something he could eat!