Our dog, Sam.

Many, many years ago my family was living in Rogers, Arkansas. One day a Golden Retriever wondered into the back yard and he wouldn't leave. After a week or so mom said we could keep him. We named him Sam. He was the coolest dog ever. We didn't have to teach him any tricks cause he knew them already! Fetch, play dead, sit, stay...all that stuff. Years later when we were living in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Sam disappeared. He was about 12 in human years at this point. We all guessed that he knew he was going to die and he left. We were all so upset. We have grown to really love him. Not long after we moved to Gentry Arkansas in 2003, a friend gave us a dog who's name was Cloe and she was pregnant. She had 9 puppies. We got rid of all of them but one. He had golden hair. We named him Sam. I guess we wanted him to be just like the other Sam. But it was no use. We trained him and trained him. He didn't care about learning any of that stuff. But there were things about him that we quickly grew to love. He LOVED cats. And he even let them be the boss every now and then. He would let them curl up on him to keep warm in the winter. He loved to sit right next to you with his paws on your lap. He loved to play. He didn't fetch though. He never jumped up on you or licked your face. He didn't bother little kids or grab your food from your hand. Yes, we loved him. He became part of the family. About 2 months ago he was bit by a Brown Recluse spider. We gave him shots, meds but nothing seemed to work. He was dying from the inside out. Late one night we came home and his sore popped opened and he started bleeding to death. There was nothing we could do. We had to put him out of his suffering. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. "It's just a dog". True. But, he was OUR dog. We had him for 7, almost 8, years. He was such a great friend to all of us. The whole family has shed a tear or two. We loved him and he will really be missed.