Once in a Lifetime Dog - Page 2

Wow JoAnn your boy was handsome as can be. I knew I wouldn't get threw this thread without tears, no matter how hard I tried. Those damn movies get me everytime!

I had a once in a lifetime dog, but she wasn't a GSD and I have gone on about her a couple times on the board already. I don't wanna bore anyone.

His name was simply "SAM".

We was a sable GSD that belonged to the man who lived next door, who later became my step father.

While still the nextdoor dog, we was chained to a very heavy chain as "Bill", my soon to be stepfather lived (like us) next to the railroad tracks and boys thought is was exceedingly funny to tease Sam by throwing rocks at him. 

Fastfoward a few years and Bill and my mother marry.  We move to the country (thank GOD) and it is time to be introduced to Sam whom, up to this point, we were never allowed to approach because he hated kids (no wonder).

Well, my brother seemed to be Sam's arch enemy as young boys can be quite mean to dogs sometimes.  And, since Sam did not like my brother, it seemed as though none of us were allowed to befriend him.  He was chained (again) but this time to the corncrib next to the cornfield (away from the house and human companionship).  This saddened me and being the young animal lover I was, I would constantly approach at a distance, quietly and as friendly as possible trying to befriend this dog that nobody seemed to understand.  You could see he wanted the companionship, wanted to reach out to someone but, had been mistreated by the smaller humans and even the larger by not being allowed to part of the family.  I would sit a few feet away and read to him (dumb I know, but he seemed to enjoy my voice and just having someone else there).  However, under no circumstances did I ever cross that invisible line to get close enough to touch him...something held me back ... Sam was just very leary at this point.

Well, one day something happened to change the way our family looked at Sam and his situation of being chained for the rest of his doggie days.

There were 6 of us kids.  The youngest, my baby sister had just begun to toddle along.  Mom had been cleaning a camper we had in the back yard about 40 feet from the corncrib where Sam was chained.  My babysister was in the camper with her.  Well, at some point, my sister had gotten out of mom's view and within minutes, my mother was crazy screaming for her.  She could find her nowhere.  Everyone one of us was put to looking for her.  Well, when Mom found her, she could not believe her eyes.  My mother has never been as scared since.  My baby sister was found to be sitting right next to Sam, in her diapar, in the dirt with Sam's water dish turned upside down, hitting the water dish and him (on the head) with the stick!!!  Of course my mother (who wasn't too crazy about dogs anyway) didn't know what to do and did not want to make the move to pull my sister away which might have enraged Sam (in her view) and cause him to bite my sister.  As I watched, I realized, he was not the crazy dog my stepdad had thought him to be with kids, just unsure.  He seemed to realize my sister would do him no harm (albeit the stick to his head!) and accepted her.  I looked at him and started talking to him in the soft voice I would read to him in...I approached and he wagged his tail, lowered his head as if to say, sorry, but she came over here.  He  allowed me to walk over and pick up my sister and hand her off to mom.  After that day, we were somehow accepted by him (all of us, including my crazy brother!). 

This dog turned out to be the best friend I've ever known, 4 legged or otherwise.  He protected us kids from my stepfather's abusive beatings, loose dogs coming into the yard, snakes, and lightening.  And, he would comfort me while going thru the normal growing pains of a child and teenager. 

I left for the army in 1983 saying a very said goodbye to Sam.  When returning on leave a year later, it was the saddest thing I've ever done, as the 15 year old Sam had to be euthanized.  I've never lived thru anything harder t

I've never lived thru anything harder than that.  I miss my buddy.  May God Bless him.  I'll miss him until the day I meet him again.  

Thus far, no dog has ever been able to reach that one special spot though many have tried.  Sam will always be there.

One day we shall be reunited and that day will be a very good day indeed.

PS - oh, forgot to add....Sam was allowed off leash (we were way back in the country far from any other houses).  He stayed on the porch or under the porch most of the time (my mother did not allow dogs inside).  Was only tied up when visitors came as Sam still remained extremely protective of "his" people.  When we rode bicycles, he stayed right with us. 

He was just such an awesome dog and even better friend.

Yup, there are some tears going on her. 

my once in a lifetime dog was not a purebred gsd, in fact she was a $25 humane society puppy i got at a petco adoption day. she was a lab/gsd/husky mix and i named her bandit, after my penpal's gsd who had just died. she had the big lab head and floppy ears with shepherd markings and a curly husky tail that curled over her back when she was happy. she was really cute and everybody loved her. she came into my life at a time when i was very depressed and feeling hopeless and lost. she gave my life focus and meaning. i always told myself i had to keep going no matter what because of her. for 8 years she was my best friend. those 8 years saw several human partners come and go. when my daughter was born, bandit took it all in stride. she always liked kids, and doggy kisses landed on my baby girl's face quite often. i had trained bandit to pull a bike and then a wagon when she was about a year old and i was homeless as a result of leaving a bad relationship. i put her wagon-pulling abilities to use with my daughter and we were a local hit. tourists loved snapping pix of my dog pulling with my daughter in the wagon. she had a few good tricks i used to have her do down by the lighthouse and we impressed alot of tourists. she was my show-off dog. the smartest dog ever. i love the dogs i have now, but honestly, they don't have half the brains she did. the lab gave her love of water and retrieving-i could play ball with her anytime, anywhere until my arm felt like falling off. the gsd gave her some watchdog ability, not nearly as good as spunky, but good enough for then. the husky i felt was good cause to train her for pulling.spunky as a purebred gsd is a better watchdog but won't play ball much, just inside the house. outside, she would rather run around smelling everything and quickly loses interest in the ball. she won't jump in the lake to retrieve, either. she does pull good though.i lost bandit to cancer at 8 years old, far too soon for me. maybe someday i can bond better to my dogs, lately they don't seem to last long enough. i only had nenz for a year and a half, and it devestated me to lose him to bloat on valentine's day, so i don't want to really love my dogs too much anymore because it hurts so much to say goodbye.sorry my once in a lifetime dog wasn't a pure gsd, i had her for 8 years thru thick and thin, she was always there. i did want a purebred but could not afford one at that time in my life.

"sorry my once in a lifetime dog wasn't a pure gsd"

I'm sure that doesn't matter to you and your story is as sweet as it gets.  So many of these dogs have sustained us through the darker moments of our lives, and your story is no less because she was not a purebred.