Sam the beautiful all-black German Shepherd Dog: The Rescue

Thursday, August 26, 2004

The Rescue

Whew, close call today. Things weren't looking good for me even though I am the best dog in the whole world and gorgeous looking too. The Humane Society of Silicon Valley decided I was too old (only 10 years!) and they weren't even going to put me up for adoption. Luckily Linda of the San Francisco Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue came to see me and immediately realized how special I am! And my new foster Mom, Cynthia, came to pick me up at 4:30 pm.

Just to prove how adorable I am, when Mom and I were in the HSSV store some kind women bought me a nylabone -- my first treat as a foster dog. They fawned all over me which once again proved that I'm the best.

Mom and the HSSV person took me out to the car and I jumped right in. Mom put me in a seat belt but frankly I didn't like it that much. I tried to get out of it the whole drive home and got myself all twisted around. Mom was kind of nervous since I'm her first foster dog but eventually she figured I could just stay as I was, with my front feet on the seat and my hind legs on the floor. I got a good view of where we had been and I couldn't cause any trouble.

My doggy seat belt.

When we got home Kelly, another rescue volunteer, was there to help Mom get me settled. Again I proved what a great dog I am as I got along immediately with Elsa, Mom's ancient GSD (age 13 1/2), Buffy, the adorable little Chihuahua-Beagle, and Pumpkin, the lively Beagle-Terrier mix. Frankly, we aren't all that interested in each other which perplexed Mom but made for an easy integration. I came right into the house even though my previous "family" said I was a yard dog and I made myself at home with the rest of the pack. I glanced at the cats, which are in an outdoor enclosed area, but they looked old and dull and boring.

I ran around the back yard checking out the perimeter...this place is OK and I will be quite happy here. There's an outdoor aviary with a bunch of parrots in it; nothing I'm personally interested in though.

Mom fed me and the others and then I slept in a crate in the family room. Elsa slept right outside the door to my crate to keep me company. Elsa used to sleep in Mom's bedroom along with the little doggies but Elsa doesn't like to walk on the hardwood floors anymore. I don't mind it but I do slip around at bit.

That Buffy might turn out to be a pest though...he kept going into my crate and making himself at home. Mom had to drag him out. He has his own crate but apparently he prefers mine. I don't really care and eventually I expect the two of us can hang out together in it.

I haven't barked yet. I did my duty on cue outside. I went into the crate with a little prodding and a treat. All in all, I'm doing a great job!

Mom wrote a little report to Kelly and Linda. I read all her stuff on the computer because I hang out with her all the time. For some reason her other dogs kind of ignore her which is sad. Luckily she has me to shadow her around. Anyway, here is what she told them:

He is following me around throughout the house now, he's like a shadow. My other dogs ignore me unless I have food, but Sam is totally obsessed with being with me. He came into my office and lay down at my feet as I used the computer...my other dogs long ago decided it was boring in here and they had better things to do. So far he is really a sweetie. He doesn't seem to have any history of abuse like Buffy and Elsa did (Pumpkin didn't though). He seems completely comfortable in the house. I wonder how accurate the information from the previous owner really is. My experience with Elsa who was a yard dog was very, very different. She was scared to death to come into the house and cringed at the doorway. It took her a year before all of her fears were gone. I just put him back in the crate (of course I had to haul Buffy out of it...like I said, within a few days I suspect Buffy will be sleeping in that crate with him). He did not want to go so I threw a couple treats into it...and zoom, in he went.

Oh, Mom has also changed my name from Ams to Sam. She asked the SFWoW group what they thought about this and got a wide range of opinions...but overall this seemed to be an OK thing to do. I can't really tell the difference they both sound the same to me so I'm cool with being Sam.