Our Sammie, Resting in Peace

In 2006 Kyle and I started our life together, bought our house and once we got grass we brought home our first baby.

Samwise, our Sammie was a Bernese Mountain Dog, which met both of our requirements; a big dog and good with children. And Sammie gave us both for almost 10 years. Yesterday, our Sammie left us very suddenly and very peacefully. He went out into the backyard and never came back, and we found him lying in his favorite spot.

Sammie was a gentle giant. He didn't actually realize that he was a big dog. He thought he was a lap dog and would climb up wherever you are.

 Sammie loves sitting on your feet. When anyone came to the door he would jump up at the door until they came in. Then he would swing his bum around (taking you out in the knees) so he could sit at your feet and look up at you.

He also had excited pees. And he was always excited to see you when you got home. So as soon as you got home you couldn't touch him (or he'd get excited and pee) you had to put him straight out. And once he came in you could give him all the love!

He did get into a fair amount of trouble. Including eating our wall. Not just once or twice. I think I patched it up 3 or 4 times before I just left it half eaten until he grew out of that stage.

Sammie also was used to the comforts of life. Not only did he get up on the couch, but he also required pillows. When he was starting to get arthritis and had difficulty getting up from the floor, we got him his own dog bed, but he didn't like it and never used it.

Once Katheryn came home Sammie fell in love and became her big furry protector.

And Katheryn loved him. She wanted to be everywhere he was.

Her favorite thing was the climb all over him

And when Nick came along, he just added one more to his fold.

And Nick loved his dog

When Rory first joined our family, Sam wasn't too sure about her.

But Rory brought a new bounce to his step and she tried to be as close as Sam would let her be. She is missing her buddy.

The kids are upset, Katheryn as the oldest is understanding death more. And they understand they won't see Sammie again, but we can talk about him and remember him.

We found one of the kids old stuffed toys of Sammie and put his collar on him. We got a name tag printed as well and Katheryn hasn't let the stuffed Sammie go. She has brought it to school and carries it around with her, and even sleeps with him.

Sammie gave us almost 10 years as a loving and loyal dog. He loved his other family dogs. He was a beautiful dog and we have a huge hole in our hearts.

 

Our new addition

We have a new member of our family!

Her name is Aurora, but we are going to call her Rory for short (and it's easier for her to learn). She is a Bernese Mountain Dog (just like Sammie) and she is 8 weeks old.

We got her from a breeder up at the cottage, Mount Magic and have been getting updates every week for over a month, and counting down the days until we can  get her.
We decided to introduce Sammie to his new sister at a neutral location, a local park.

He wasn't all that impressed with her.

That's ok, She made up for it by looking really cute.

This was the closest she could come

When we got Sammie we didn't have any children, but we remember the nipping and the tearing up the toys. And Sam actually ate our wall.... 4 times. So we were ready with lots of toys, and practicing with the kids that she will be nippy and she doesn't mean to hurt you, but she is playing and is only a baby

It was fun to go shopping for her, and buy all kinds of pink-girly toys collar, bowl and leash. Yes, we went all girly!

Nick has been really enjoying her and walking with her. She likes to go underneath his walker as he is walking, and tries to eat his wheels.

Once we got home the kids really like cuddling with her

I think someone is in love

She is really good. An excited puppy, but also loving and playing and still cuddly.

 Even Sammie is starting to come around

A Little Boy and his Dog

Nickolas is FINALLY on the mend again.
We found out at the beginning of the week that Nickolas had an ear infection. And we got some antibiotics. I had really hoped that Nickolas would bounce back right away like Katheryn did the week before. But no such luck.
He continued to feel really lousy for the rest of the week.
Except today. Today he didn't want to cuddle all day. Today he was good moving around and sitting by himself and having some independence.

Today he was back to playing with the dog and eating and NOT dropping all of his food accidentally.
But Sammie can always try...

And instead of giving his food himself, Nick decided to wave it around before eating! Much to the disappointment of Sammie!

Now that Nick is starting to feel better, we have a whole bunch of new therapies lined up!

We do weekly speech therapy workshops for the next 6 weeks, and physiotherapy has started up again for our next block (8 or 12 weeks - I'm not sure). So there is lots of work to do in the coming weeks.

But today, Nick was just a little boy with is dog!