Sam 07-690-0 [1]

Sponsored by: Tina Peplowski

Sam arrived on the Saturday before Christmas in snow and ice. Thankfully, Santa lent his sleigh and reindeer to RAGOM volunteers to get him into foster care before Christmas. Sam was rescued by his own special Christmas Angel in Northern Minnesota. She took him to a vet then called RAGOM to continue his lessons in love and care. Sam is a 2 -3 year old intact male Golden Retriever mix. What remains of his coat looks pure Golden and is soft and silky. His face and size (40.6 pounds) indicate a mix. Whatever Sam is mixed with, he received the best of the breed. He is a beautiful little boy. Sam was apparently the lowest dog in the hierarchy of a dog pack. They gave him a thorough thrashing. Sam arrived with in excess of 100 puncture wounds in him. He has a mangled foot – that is healing nicely thanks to some excellent veterinary care in Duluth. He has a severely damaged tail, that we worried might need a partial amputation. He gets to keep his tail thanks to the vet in Duluth. Eventually, that tail will again look like the tail of a beautiful dog, rather than like a bedraggled, stapled together, rat tail. The sores on the back of his head and side of his neck, on both sides of his rump and his legs are healing nicely. The vet in Duluth took care of worming him and put him on antibiotics. Since he arrived at my house, I have added love, vitamin C, fish oil and probiotics to the mix. Sammy is a very scared little boy. He will always need to be with another dog – one who will not pick on him. He also needs a fence.

Sammy has had a very busy Christmas night and day after. Last night at about 9:30 PM, Sammy managed to squirt out the kitchen door into the garage, which had the door open into the fenced yard. Once Sam was in the yard, he was looking for a way to get out of the fence – I am exceedingly grateful that he is not a fence climber so the 5-foot chain link fence did contain him. I had hoped that Sammy would be willing to follow my Golden Herd back into the garage and then into the house. He did not. Red the Wonder Dog stayed outside with me to help catch him. About 2:00 AM, I finally managed to corner Sammy where two fences form a “V” in the back corner of the yard. Then, because Sammy does not know or understand the concept yet of leashes, it took Red and I about a half hour to get him from that corner into the house. Each time Sammy tried to escape backwards, Red would get close behind him and stop the backwards movement. It was simply too cold for a half shaved dog (or any dog, in my book) to spend the night outside. Besides, I wasn’t going in without him. (Stubborn is a good characteristic for foster moms to have.) Red’s moves were deliberate and a huge help to me. Red understands Sammy’s fears, since Red was like Sammy (without the holes), two and a half years ago. Red is the living proof of how far Sammy can progress. Sam is not house trained - leash acceptance will be his first step.

Today, Sammy had to go to the vet. I was hoping to get his micro chip inserted today, but one of the most important reasons for the visit was to check the healing of the holes in poor Sammy’s hide and to make a determination on whether or not he will need to have a portion of his tail amputated. Sam keeps the tail! That was very good news to me. We also wanted to make sure that he is in good enough shape for his scheduled upcoming neuter.

Sammy is scheduled to be neutered on 12/31/07. At that time he will be receive his micro chip, and have the remaining staples removed.

Sammy is not a bite risk - but he very definitely is a flight risk. He is not like the majority of puppy mill dogs we have accepted into RAGOM this year. He is terrified, unsure, un-socialized, and confused. He is also smart, sweet, and miniaturized. Sammy does have a long way to go, but with patience, love, understanding, and time, he WILL get there.

Sammy enjoying his new bed made by the kids in a school where one of our volunteers works. 
Sammy says "Thank You". 
He likes his new bed.

40 lb. Sam with 70 lb. Sky.  Sky is having a bad hair day.