sammy - love at first sightI have pictured myself living with a Basset Hound for most of my life. Unfortunately, I found myself "bassetless" after having dogs for 20 some years of my life. After losing two dear Tervuren friends back to back (they were brother and sister, ages 13 & 14 years) I decided it was time to share my home with a Basset. Hitting a dead end in my area, I called my good friend, Randie Meyer, in New Hampshire. I told her I was interested in a red/white female basset puppy. She informed me that she knew of a few very good tracking bassets and she'd talk to their owners and get back to me. I never imagined where that conversation would take me and my family!
Well, I spoke with my husband and my two children, ages two and three years, and we decided to give this little rapscallion a chance. The minute I met Sammy, it was love at first sight, for both of us, I think, but I'll never forget our first meeting. We met half way, in Connecticut ... I walked in the door, Sammy came charging down the stairs and I made my first mistake...I squatted down. BAM!!!! I was on my back with a 43 lb. basset kissing me, table thrown behind me, lamp on the floor....how embarrassing! But Sammy didn't care, he kept kissing and wagging! He never left my side as I filled out the paperwork to adopt him. His big brown eyes seemed to plead to give him a permanent home and that's exactly what I expected to do.
Sammy has shared our home now for a little more than a year and I can't imagine life without him. He's a wonderful friend, always there with a hug or a kiss or a silly upside-down head hang off the couch when you need to smile. He's cuddly and sensitive. He now loves to play and wrestle - which he didn't know how to do when we first got him - and runs full speed thru the house, up on the furniture, out the dog door, thru the yard and back in the house, to do it all over again! I think I can safely say that Sammy is very, very happy and we love every moment that we have with him. He's now doing obedience and tracking - and loves both! We hope to see all our friends at the 2003 Nationals and get to show off our stuff! Sammy is a wonderful little guy that just needed one more chance for the right people to love him - and we do!!! Mindy,
Dan, Hanna, Jonathon, Sammy & Rogue Connors BROOD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia. |
A
few weeks later, Randie called to say she found a basset for me ... if I
was interested. Of course I was interested - I thought! Then she told me
about this little one-year-old rescue basset. She pulled no punches...he
had some "issues". She put me in contact with the people of
BROOD and I found out that this poor little guy had had three homes in
his short little life, he was male and he was a tri....not exactly what
I was looking for! But, something pulled at my heart. No dog should have
to go thru three homes in a lifetime, let alone one year! He also had
endearing qualities that I just had to see for myself, he was a snuggler
and from what I was told quiet a sneaky little clown! This guy could
open cabinet doors and get on tables...WHAT was I in for??!!
The
two-hour drive home was uneventful. Sammy laid in his crate without a
problem. The minute we got home, he jumped out, wagging, like he had
been here all his life. My daughter, Hanna, then three, came running.
She threw her arms around him and said, "Oh, mommy, he's perfect!
