Sampson was a great dog

It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of a great dog. Sampson (a.k.a. Samo, bear, D.O.G., batman) passed away on Sunday night. He has been showing his age the past few weeks, and we are not sure if his death was related to his recent anaplasmosis infection or if it was something else.
We played outside on Sunday and he was not quite himself. He wanted to run but spent much of the time outside walking stiffly and then sitting and watching. In the evening he was very unsettled and not interested in anything buy laying down. As the evening wore on his breathing became very labored and we watched him rapidly decline sitting by him and trying to make him as comfortable as possible. In the end think he suffered from a heart attack or possibly a stroke then a heart attack.

He found a good home with us nearly nine years ago. When we found each other he was a little over two years old and had lived at a shelter for almost nine months. John worked really hard the first few weeks teaching him how to play fetch. That led to playing Frisbee and chasing anything that moved.

He was a very willing dog and did not like arguments, loud noises, rain or bugs.
On canoe trips when the weather was less than pleasant he would turn around to glare at John to let him know how unpleased he was. In the years before Odin he especially loved camping because it meant he could sneak up to our pillows while we were asleep instead of staying near our feet. He was always up for any adventure in any season.

Once Odin came along he took to his new role of defender and buddy very quickly. He was wary for a few months, until Odin started learning how to feed himself. Samo was all about picking up cheerios or anything else that may fall on the floor. Odin was so entertained by such a captive and willing servant, that when Odin was eating, I asked Sampson to leave the kitchen.


The past few years Odin and Samo were great buddies. Odin teaching Samo to play hide and seek (it was amazing to see) and their own version of tag. Odin learned to throw the frisbee when he was three because he wanted to play too.

He was a great dog and no we never figured out what breeds he was.