A Faithful Companion

January 10, 1999 to November 11, 2013

Stoic, intensely curious, smart and quirky, that's what Sam was.  Cool, hip, unconcerned with anyone except his pack, sort of the Maynard G. Krebs of the dogworld.  Loyal and sensitive.  We had almost fourteen years together.  Mr. Lucky and I have had a tough few weeks making this decision and yes, we are sad, sad sad today, but we know it was the right thing to do.  Not tragic, by any means, in light of so much human suffering in places like the Phillippines but we've been touched and moved by this unconventional dog. 
Sam came into our lives right after I stopped working in the corporate world.  I scarcely knew a thing about dogs and thought every dog just needed the right training to become Lassie.  Now I've learned so much more.  Each dog comes with his own personality, some of it breed related and some of it individual traits.  This picture sums up the difference

Sam, one cool guy, Snowy, my friend's dog,  always eager to please.

Sam made me find out what he needed to make the two of us happy......and that was exercise.  Our first time in a dogpark I saw that all he wanted to do when he was young was run and hunt, just what basenjis are bred to do in their native Africa.  Two visits a day in cooler weather resulted in tired dog, happy owner.  Because of his love for dogparks we have met the most wonderful friends over the last dozen plus years and visited dogparks in many states.  Sam didn't have any need for strangers fawning over him but we loved the social life that came from those visits.

Florida dogpark gang, two legged and four

Sam was highly attuned to me in particular and followed me room to room throughout the day, but often at a distance.  He also followed the sunshine in each room which explains why he loved spending winters in Florida for more than ten years.

On the Florida sewing room carpet

He was never a cuddler but liked having me rub his belly after a meal....and climbing into our bed at 6am to snuggle.

Our friends and family let us bring Sam into their homes for years and we are so grateful to all of them for that kindness.  
We were uncertain when we very suddenly brought home a new dog who had been left at the dogpark almost three years ago.  But Sam was remarkably adaptable and by day three Sam and Lucky were playing hard.  In the years that followed, Lucky was the instigator but Sam was the one who got injured and never retaliated or held a grudge.  Our one dog home suddenly became a two dog house.  Despite their personality differences, we've all been happy together over these years.

In April, 2013

But we've seen Sam decline quickly this past year.  For the first time, he was confused and upset when we returned to our Florida condo last November.  He was virtually deaf and getting cataracts.  When we returned to Maryland this spring we noticed him drinking huge quantities of water and having other problems.  Things had continued to deteriorate all summer and fall and so we had to have that difficult conversation with our vet about two weeks ago. 

Lake Roland and Robert E. Lee Park, home of Sam's favorite runs and hunts

Mr. Lucky was leaving for a trip to CA to see his father so I had six days home alone with the two guys.  We took walks in the woods each day, had plenty of treats for Sam and kept the heating pad in his dogbed turned up.  Hard thing to do but so relieved that we have such a wonderful vet and kind friends who understand because they've suffered this same loss.  Plenty of tears here, laughs at funny memories and happiness knowing that Sam had an absolutely wonderful life.