Losing a dog is one of the most difficultexperiences a best-loved owner will ever go through . And on today ’s podcast I have an authorSuzanne Lanewho , after losing her canine companion , felt compelled to write a book call “ A small Sammy Music ” about the whole experience and tell her dog ’s tale , and how he influenced her life .
Suzanne ’s dog was a rescue named Sammy whom she adopted at a very early age . We lecture a small about her story and discuss the bailiwick of adopting rescue animate being . What to expect when rescue a frank , is it a correct matter for you if you ’re currently looking for a new companion , and how it compares to purchasing wiener from a preferred computer storage or a breeder .
heed to the episode in the video above and find the full podcast transcript below . For more , chatter this installment ’s post on the officialTheory of Petswebsite .
Is a Rescue Dog Right For You?(podcast transcript)
INTRO : This hebdomad I am talking about miss pets , which is a voiceless theme to discourse for me and for every other person who has have it away apet who ’s passedaway .
But we ’re talk about it because I am talking to Suzanne Lane , who is the author of a rule book called , “ A short Sammy Music , ” and Sammy was her dog who has occur aside and she ’s write the book , as she refers to it , “ to immortalise her darling ” and to share his story with other people .
Of course , I ’ve been a preferred owner for decades and we ’ve lost a pile positron emission tomography over the years , and if you have too you probably have tears in your center right now just thinking about them .
So I was really interested to talk to Suzanne ; I want to realize why she spell the book , if it was cure for her to write the book , and just discuss a niggling bit aboutshelter dogsas well .
Sammy was arescue dogwho Suzanne never opine would come into her life , and for those of us who have ever rescued , it ’s much different than adopt a pet . If you ’ve done both you know that it ’s drastically , drastically different . The bond that you have , the connection that you have with the favourite is unlike , and their outlook is different .
you could tell the appreciation from rescue dearie , where you do n’t get that with hotdog and cat that you ’ve had from a young years that you ’ve gotten from a stock breeder or something standardised .
So I talked to Suzanne today , you cognize we talked a lot about deliverance darling which is really enceinte . Obviously both her and I really further multitude to take over , not shop , and so we talked a lot aboutrescue dogs , rescue pets . We also discussed the book “ A picayune Sammy Music ” and if you ’re wondering what the claim of that leger think of , she ’s going to talk about that as well . I ’m going to go ahead and rent you guy just take heed to this interview , I was so thrilled to talk to Suzanne ; it was such a tremendous conversation with another detent owner , pet lover . And I hope you guy rope get as much use out of it as I do .
Interview with Suzanne Lane
Samantha : Before we spill about the ledger , I just want to talk about rescuing animate being . patently , we chatted in brief before , we rescue animals . And I have intercourse you do too . And I always like to advocate for that when I can .
Suzanne : Absolutely , I ’d be happy to .
Samantha : Why do n’t you tell us a small turn about your experience with deliver fauna and kind of your setting as a pet owner .
Suzanne : Well , I have been rescuing beast on and off since I was a child . I rescued pigeon from the street , I rescued a cat from an ex - fiance . I rescue two other cats from a tax shelter . Then , what turned bragging beloved of my life , a dog from a shelter who had one mean solar day left to know .
His name was Sammy . He was a mix , pit cop and , I estimate , they thought Australian catahoula . So he looked like a dalmatian , but in a very unlike way . He was an awe-inspiring weenie . He was five year old .
Samantha : We ’ve deliver from shelters , and we ’ve also rescue — we go in a very minor town , so Word of God sort of gets around in belittled towns when there is an brute that require help — but deliver from tax shelter , is emphatically something that , as I mentioned , I recommend for .
for certain there are people who are search for pure bred hound of a sure breed , whatever that may be , and that ’s their choice . What are some of the reasons when you talk to people about deliver ? What are some of the reasons that you give as great reasons to rescue pets ?
Suzanne : Well , for one matter , you ’re saving a life .
I hold out in New York City . There are numerous what are referred to as “ kill shelters . ” And in these shelters , dogs have a spirit expedience . Either they get adopt within a certain amount of prison term , or they are killed . So it ’s imperative that these dog from these shelters get deliver because otherwise my Sammy , my current dog , Yogi — they would n’t be here .
I think the shelter surroundings , the longer the dog is in that environment , the more traumatized it is . I ’ve been in all different kind of shelter . My computerized tomography came from a non - kill shelter . And they had a better life ; they were still in coop . They were fed well . They were take fear of well .
But in these large form of public tax shelter , where dogs get beak up off the street , or they ’re give up , which is the case with my current cad , life-time is n’t unspoilt . They get whatever nutrient is donated to the tax shelter , plus I guess what I suppose the shelter buys .
So for me , I ’ve had two vastly different experiences . I had my dog Sammy who was five yr older when I rescue him , and he fell into my arms and he stay on there . My current bounder , they convey him out of the shelter , they said to me , “ You ’ve been warned about this blackguard , correct ? ” And I said I ’ve been distinguish that when you squeeze his mitt really severely he tolerated it the first time , he tried to bite the 2d time . And I said , “ I think that ’s smart . Why would anyone let themselves be hurt doubly ? ” So they said , “ No . he ’s very aggressive . You have to be careful with this wiener . Technically , we really would not have get you take him , but I know that you really want him . ” And it was a different experience .
We did n’t adhere right away . He had in all likelihood some old life high-risk experience . For at least a year I could n’t rival him on his odd side . They say he was the intersection of a domestic violent installment . So it took us a long sentence . But this heel is the most warm , loving , sweet , well - tempered , playful — I do n’t have enough adjective to discover the transformation in him . Once he was able to trust and consider that this was a good place for him to be , he just turn into an entirely different animal .
So I suppose , depending on your disposition , then what you ’re unforced accept , and what , in your heart and soul , what you think , will probably occur , which is that things will turn around and the domestic dog will become an awing creature , which has been my experience .
Then you go to shelters and you rescue hotdog . Otherwise , you go to breeders or you go to ducky stores , and you screw what ? There ’s no guarantee there either . you’re able to hoist up with the most adorable puppy who grow in to a clean nasty dog . So this is kind of the sum amount of my experience .
Samantha : Yeah , I opine that ’s an important full point to make . A lot of hoi polloi , they think that if you raise a pup , if you get them as an eight - week old pup from a breeder or a pet depot , that you could raise them to be the world ’s most amazing click , but there is no warranty .
There are hereditary condition ; sometimes these frankfurter come from best-loved stores , puppies fall from puppy mills , and there are a lot of genetical conditions that can be passed down . So there is no guarantee there or anything , that ’s an important point to make .
I ’ll say too that , I live in Maine and we do n’t have kill shelters here but you touch on some reasons even if you do n’t experience in an region where there ’s kill shelters — a life in a shelter … I put to work closely with a lot of the shelters and delivery in our area and there are dogs that have been there for years and cats that have been there for years and they get used to that shelter surroundings of being close off in a kennel , of not having as much tangency with mass as they would if they were in a home environment .
I know that shelters do the best that they can ; I certainly commend them for the work that they do but of course there ’s no way of life that shelters that have 10 or 12 frank and 20 cat are going to be able to interact with each fauna for hours and hour every twenty-four hour period . Each dog gets a little piece of tending . a walk , whatever they ask , but its really the bare minimum because there ’s not enough military volunteer and employees to do that .
So , even if its not a kill shelter , living in a shelter environs , and you touch on it , they get nutrient donated and its usually the cheapest available . They are feeding a large amount of dogs ; they are not able-bodied to buy quality kibble to bung . And the life in a shelter , even if it is not a kill shelter , is certainly no life for any animal .
Suzanne : No , and I think for me , when I deliver my current bounder , Yogi — what made me so sad was that they had constitute him in the protection . seemingly , the shelter doer one night aim together and they decided that they were run short to name all of the Canis familiaris after designer . So , Yogi , in his protection sprightliness was name Gucci . I am thankful he was not named Luis Vuitton . However , the woman who was verbalize to me about him articulate that the night before — and these are largely the pit - bulls who get to sleep first — she said they love the nights before which dogs are go to be euthanized the next day , and the take the animate being out and they sit around and the pet them and kiss them and stroke them , so that for once in their animation they know this attention before they pass .
And I think this was just — it brings me to tears even opine about it .
Samantha : Heartbreaking .
Suzanne : It ’s heartrending , that these poor firedog knew maybe 12 hours deserving of a good life . And , it is not to say that some dogs are surrendered because there is nothing else that we can do — the owner give-up the ghost , the owner ends up in the hospital , hoi polloi move , they ca n’t take the frankfurter with them . But at the end of the day , if it was my dog , and if any of those fortune existed , I have made provisions for my frankfurter in my will . I do it that if , God forbid , something chance to me , he would not wind up in a tax shelter , and if it was up to me and I had to deliver him and I was still healthy and I had to move or for whatever reason I could n’t take the dog , I would check that that the dog wound up in a humane tax shelter where killing was not an pick .
If you have a dog and you ca n’t keep it anymore and you do put it in a shelter , or a hombre , or a razzing — I mean , the theme is to look around and see where you tag or cat is going to get the best guardianship that you may possibly provide .
So , I think these story in oecumenical are — some of them have very happy outcomes . I know when I got Sammy , I did n’t know what to do with him for about 5 month . It turned out I had the sweetest , kindest , most gentle , not - housebroken bounder in conception and he was clunky and he like to exhaust other dogs poop , for deficiency of a better word . All of these things came as a vast surprisal .
So , I had like the hot dog from heaven . He was just he had the sweet personality . There was — unfortunately , there was a young woman who live on in my construction that developed multiple induration at 42 and she lost coordination in her arms peculiarly , and she had never been particularly partial of domestic dog as far as I could see , but suddenly she only wanted to pet Sammy but she was so uncoordinated that rather of pet him she was slapping him around the heading and my dog just sit around there and he allowed her to do that until I stopped it because I think , I imply , it ’s not fair , I ’m attempt to be dainty and let her do what she ’s attempt to do but it was n’t work right but he did n’t move . It ’s almost as if he had a sentiency that he needed to allow her to do that .
Samantha : We have a saying in our menage — “ who rescued who ” is what we always say — because we rescued so many dog and in the start you think — you ’re work to rescue this animal , you ’re giving it a dear life and that ’s kind of — you want a dog for certain , but the principal end for rescuing from a shelter or an organization like that is that you ’re giving a dog a better home , you ’re keep it ’s life , you ’re bring it into a family unit that ’s going to jazz it .
And there ’s always this turning dot , and now we ’ve done it — I do n’t even make love how many multiplication we ’ve rescued and fauna , but even the CAT that we ’ve rescued — there ’s always this turning point where things click and that getting - to - lie with - you phase angle is over , and the dog ’s comfortable and you ’re comfortable and it just clicks and it interlock and it ’s a really amazing feeling .
patently because we ’ve been doing this for many years , in very unlike point of my life sentence I ’ve rescued firedog from when I was young , and first living on my own and now I ’m a married woman and a female parent and I adopt animals into our family , and every single time there is that turning power point where something happens and it just snap and it ’s amazing what you do for these dogs but its really awe-inspiring what they do for you as well and what they learn you .
And I recollect that ’s the affair that I prove to always get across to hoi polloi about rescue but it ’s something you ca n’t put into words . Like you said there ’s no adjective even to describe the chemical bond that you have with a pawl that you have rescued and he ’s rescued you in a horse sense as well .
Suzanne : Well , with my heel Sammy he rescued someone else as well . Because my female parent was , I would have to say about 90 , when Sammy total into my aliveness . Sammy was a big bounder . He weigh 65 Egyptian pound although he was 42 pound when I got him , but he was 65 Cypriot pound and my female parent had no experience with a with child dog , and she come down in love before I did .
There was a loving talks between us . Every week she would say to me “ Do you be intimate him already ? ” And I would say “ No ma it ’s not happen . ”
And we plump over there one day and my mother had a luck of vision problems at 90 and she had drop down some medicinal drug on the floor so I knew when we went to visit to always do a quick check of the floor to verify there was no medicine anywhere .
And one day , I missed a pill , Sammy found it , and the next thing I knew he crunched it and I pried unfold his back talk . I saw the pill going down his throat . So I quickly gather all my mother ’s pills , call up my vet , and aver “ I do n’t cognise which one he consume . ”
And there was warmheartedness medicine , and there were a figure of things that could have hurt him . So she say “ bring him over right now we ’re going to need to melt a tox CRT screen and see what ’s go on . ”
He stayed there for 3 days while they basically sustain vigil ; they just learn him . They draw stemma body of work periodically , and it grow out that he was OK .
Now keep in idea we had not bonded . So I belong to the veterinary to nibble him up in tears because I thought , “ I ca n’t manage this wiener . He ’s all over the shoes . He ’s constantly living here at the ex-serviceman for one reason or another , ” and I did n’t live what to do any longer . This is my wits end .
My vet is place on two floors . So I sprain around to see him get down the stair excessive and felicitous and we made centre contact . And somewhere between the clip that he landed on the floor and came over to me , drop himself into my lap — I fell in sexual love .
And it ’s exactly what you ’re saying . It was wholly unexpected . It just in that 2nd I was still crying , but I realized I was happy . This dog was now officially my frankfurter . And I mean he really actualise that something had vary as well , and he changed . And from that point on he was just , he was such an awful awful companion .
Samantha : Yes . It ’s really , I mean you do n’t … You ca n’t explicate it to anybody else until they understand it and they ’ve rescued an animal . This is kind of a perfect segue but you ’ve written a book and it ’s phone “ The Little Sammy Music ” by Suzanne Lane , and there will be a link — if anybody ’s heed to this on social media , or YouTube or anything like that — there ’s a connectedness justly under , and there ’ll be a contact on our website as well if anybody wants to check the Scripture out .
You ’ve written a book about Sammy and the impact that he had on your life . evidently we do n’t desire to give the book of account away , because we desire people to read it of class . But it ’s such an inspiring story , and throughout , you give information about Sammy and some of the slight adventures that he has . But the inherent tone of this narration — it is about rescue animals and about your experience with him . So how did the book come about ?
Suzanne : Well without founder away too much , as Sammy was get older and his branch were getting weaker . I consider — I really need to get his life and memorialize him while he ’s alive . Because the experience of him …
It was interesting — between my mother getting older and my dog getting old , I learned a fate about longanimity . I learn a great deal about pity and old age . Sammy taught me constantly .
But the Word of God come about because when Sammy went to sleep at dark , he saw wood and he had a variety of unlike snores . I found that when I no longer had him it was the sounds of him that I miss . It was the music . He would dream and make these bark noises that sometimes sounded like the was going into not so good territory in his sleep and I would lightly wake up him up and take him out of wherever he had land because to me he may have been having a enceinte prison term , but it did n’t sound salutary . The experience of Sammy after having had cats for 27 , 28 year . I grew up with a hot dog , but he was little . The experience of Sammy is a big heel , and his extraordinary personality was something I wanted to get . I wanted to partake it with other multitude .
It was very authoritative to me to make trusted his life had meaning for other citizenry as well . It was mellifluous because in my locality , I live in Manhattan , every threshold man knew him . People on the street all knew him . Everyone in the construction would say hello to him . They did n’t fuck my name , but they cognize his name . Wherever we went , if he did n’t get a petty bit of aid from somebody — because he ’s very unusual looking — if he did n’t get at least a tiny bit of attention , I could see he was let down . Because he was so used to being fawned over . There was a adult female in my locality who visit him the unofficial city manager of the left side .
He was just … He was the compliment to my life that I never expected . And I was so grateful for the love and the care that he gave my mother , because I never translate how much it really meant to her until I was write about it .
Then I realized that whenever she did n’t feel well , and she was laying in layer , he would come and — he never did this to me — he would come and curl up on the interior of her knee . And she would go , “ he ’s grievous ; you ’re hurting me ” — but she love it . And never once in my entire life did he do that .
I once spite my back and I was put down on my layer , and I did n’t get the lock into my knees , I have the slap on the leg which was — come on get up ; what are you doing ?
He was an over-the-top frankfurter .
I ’ve take since , because I imagine my current dog-iron is certainly extraordinary as well . He ’s younger , I got him unexpectedly at a year and a half which I had n’t design on . But his personality , his intelligence , his fun , astound me .
So , Sammy make me . I care to think that somewhere along the channel he ’s still somehow with me . He ’s all over my apartment .
But to your pointedness , his story — I involve to evidence it , so I compose “ A Little Sammy Music . ” The deed of conveyance may not mean as much to anyone else as it does to me , but I needed to ensure that somewhere all of these escapade and all of these experiences got translated , and if maybe in there there were some moral to be learn , I wanted to share them .
I discover more about cad Walker than I ever expected to ascertain . I fired more dog walkers than I ever await to fire , and learned that even though my dog seemed to sleep together everybody , that everybody did not enjoy him , and did n’t take serious maintenance of him on the street .
So I would get study from other people who would call me and say … In fact , one of my old neighbour who had a dog , and it was one of the few dog that Sammy really did n’t like , and when they go out each other this dog Betty and Sammy would growl at each other .
Betty ’s owner called me one Nox and said “ mind , I would detest to get this call , but I feel that I have to make it . ” I thought — oh my god , what happened ?
She said , “ You have a new dog walker ” and I said “ Yes , I do , ” and she said , “ well , he just punched your domestic dog in the head . ”
Samantha : — Oh my …
Suzanne : I said “ What are you talking about ? ”
She enunciate “ well , they were approach the construction and Betty was sit down there , and Sammy see her and they started rumble at each other the way they do , and all of a sudden your dog walker punched him in the head . ”
So I called my heel walker and said “ Did you perforate my wiener ? ” and he said “ Yes . ”
And I said “ Why would you do that ? And in the head of all office ? ” and he said “ Well , he was growl at another blackguard . ”
I enounce , “ Why did you punch him ? ” and he said “ Well , what would you have done ? ” I articulate ” I would have just pull him away . How stunned are you ? You do this in front of my construction in front of the neighbour ? Did you cerebrate this would n’t get back to me ? ”
Samantha : Oh my gosh .
Suzanne : “ You ’re fired . ”
So you bang what — I went through dog Zimmer frame like candy because I needed to live .
The right was — I sack a dog Zimmer who had obligingly been available to walk late at Nox . And I consider — this is wonderful ; I do n’t have to go out at 11 o’clock at night anymore .
Then I began to get a line stories , and then Sammy refuse to go out with him , and I make up attention to my domestic dog .
And when the dog walker appeared I said “ Sammy does n’t desire to walk with you . ” And he aver , “ well , I ’ll go and get him . ”
I said , “ no , no , no . You do n’t understand . He does n’t require to walk with you , ” and he just stare at me and I said , “ so , it ’s clock time for you to result now . ”
He leave . Called me the next morning holler at me . And that eventide of track I did n’t have a weenie walker now . I had a doorman who was six foot six , big guy , and I said to him “ Would you heed kind of following behind me like a body sentry duty ? I think this military personnel is going to seek to hurt me . ”
So every time I twist around — this guy should have been in the FBI ; I never see him , but I knew he was there . He followed me for two day in a rowing to check that that this moonstruck hound Zimmer frame was n’t gon na pop up out of I do n’t know where and do something crackers .
So I learned . I would start following the dog walker . I would hire a fresh dog walker , take the air with them , and then on the second walk , I would go down after and I would follow the dog walker . [ laughs ] Eventually , I wound up with a chemical group of people who I really trusted . And they were with me all the way to the last .
And it ’s metropolis living . I do n’t know how much this happens out of doors of city area , but here there ’s probably a weenie John Walker for just about every half a block .
Samantha : Yes , and I think it ’s important . Not just with wiener walkers , but we swear our animals with a lot of people . Doggie daycare is becoming a fate more democratic . groom — a wad of people drop their dogs off at the groomers . They do n’t stay there ; they deteriorate them off and come back in a few hours and pick them up . Some people do that with the vet . There ’s different people that you trust to — there ’s pet sitters that come into your home ; that ’s a really major thing ; you ’re trusting them with your home and your dog , and it ’s a big batch .
So I remember it ’s of import to take down that you need to be persevering about finding the right multitude . And possibly somebody is great , they ’re really nifty , you enjoy them , whatever they ’re charging you as a pace is very sightly , thing on your ending are great , but , for whatever reason , your wienerwurst ’s not easy . That ’s important .
So I think it ’s a good point to make that you want to be persevering . And we ’re talking about rescuing brute , and I think that something a pile of people do n’t remember about when they ’re thinking about rescuing an animal is who is my … They always say it takes a village to raise a kid . But it get hold of a village to raise a dog too .
Suzanne : It does .
Samantha : Who is your village ? You want to mean about that before you bring a dog into your home . Who is your veterinarian going to be ? Are you going to need a dog walker , a favourite sitter , a groomer ? Are those the great unwashed useable in your area ? If you ’re in a city stage setting , there is one every half a block or so . Do you take to find hoi polloi that you trust ? And be really persevering about it .
Suzanne : You bring up such a good decimal point , because I flip that very early on . Sammy was literally bring to my door ; and the woman who did the rescuing — the original rescue ; she draw him from the shelter until they could recover a nursing home , so she was basically fostering him — and she said , “ I ’ve been taking him to a veterinarian on this street . They ’ll give you a discount because you rescued him , so you should go there . ”
This was n’t the veterinary surgeon that I had used for my hombre , and I went there . I was n’t in love . I had to urge for my frump , and this is such an important level to make for anyone who ’s think about getting a dog from anywhere — I listened to my dog-iron cough , and this unexampled vet keep telling me , “ Oh , do n’t care , this is just the remainder of kennel coughing , he was treated for it , he ’s hunky-dory , he ’s just gon na cough for a while . ” But I was hear and watch the coughing , and I thought , this is not normal .
And I pushed the doc and push him and pushed him , until I said to him , “ Listen , I will pay you full price ; I want a dresser x - ray for my dog . ” So he say , “ He does n’t postulate it , ” and I said , “ I do n’t care . Just do it . ” And it turned out Sammy was very unaired to pneumonia .
Samantha : Wow .
Suzanne : And the doctor came back and articulate to me , “ sound catch . ” I thought I was go to complain him .
I allege , “ What do you mean , dear catch ? This should have been your good gimmick , not mine . ” So we never move back there .
And even at my current veterinary , where it ’s a large practice session ; there are a lot of dissimilar Doctor of the Church — I did n’t wish the manner one doctor process him , and I thought she was jolty than she needed to be .
I had a big printout on the front of his chart that say Doctor So - and - So can not come near this hound . I do n’t worry if it ’s an emergency brake . This medico can not touch my dog .
And it turned out I was wrong . I found out many year afterward , with my current blackguard Yogi , that in fact she is quite brilliant . She may not have the best personality in the world , but in an exigency she would be the MD that I want .
So , I have learned to advocate intelligently and hopefully always intelligently , make that decision for Sammy probably was n’t the best in the humans because she ’s highly skilled . It ’s just like doctors ; you ’re not always going to regain someone with a great bedside manner but he my be brilliant at what he does , or she does .
So , there is so many things to consider .
Samantha : Absolutely .
Suzanne : And you have to pay attention to the fauna . If Sammy , of all people … [ express joy ] “ Of all people … ” — of all bounder …
Samantha : [ laughs ] They are like people , that ’s o.k. .
Suzanne : Well they are , I signify when he did n’t desire to take the air with that Alice Malsenior Walker , I really pay attention , because he would have walked with anyone . The only thing that I ’ve noticed , and I noticed it with Sammy and I see it with Yogi , and I do n’t know if this is reliable with cad from breeders — but if I pass the leash , even just jokingly , if I pass Yogi ’s leash , same matter with Sammy , even to someone who I know and is who is someone who the hotdog loves — they panic .
Yogi will prick the leash and bring it back to me , Sammy would just decline to move because they were attached . That attachment is worth everything in the world .
Samantha : Absolutely . I completely agree . You mentioned the name of the al-Qur’an “ A little Sammy Music ” might not make sentiency to anybody else , but I have to say I have always rescue pugilist . I fell into it kind of — one form of show up on our doorstep . So we take her , this was many year ago , fifteen eld ago probably , and she just inspired this love of boxers for me so we ’ve now had multiple packer over the years .
And the last boxer that we had , Chloe , our little Chloe — she was a very gravely abused when we bugger off her , and we always said that she appreciated what we gave her because she knew what t was like to come from somewhere where she did n’t have that same kind of lifestyle . So she was very snuggly and she always want to be up next to you , everywhere . Our frank get on the furniture and then they catch some Z’s on our bed and things like that . So …
Suzanne : Oh , yes .
Samantha : She was always right next to you , and she was a “ brachy - al ” stock , so she had the scrunchy nose and she snorted and she made little noises all the meter . She snored when she slept . When she would eat , she would make a slight snorting noise . And it was always these little noises that , over the years with her — that was Chloe . And we just never really thought anything of it . It ’s laughable , because you articulate it about Sammy — when they ’re lead , you do n’t agnise until it ’s not there anymore how much you miss that sound , all those small sounds .
Suzanne : Yes .
Samantha : So when I first read the rubric of the playscript , “ A fiddling Sammy Music , ” I calculate that read through it I would get to understand the title , and I understood it so much more than I ever think I would once I was done with the book . Because we never recall of it as medicine , but it was all those little noise . And you do overleap them when they ’re snuff it , for sure .
Suzanne : When he was gone , my flat went drained . There was n’t a sound anywhere . Even just normal breathing sound . It sound like my apartment died . I do n’t even have wrangle to express that vanity . It ’s just — I am grateful and I will always be thankful that Sammy lived a secure , long life . He lived a whole life . And , in the end , I do n’t have any regrets , really , about anything . Because he had the in force that he could have .
I do n’t bed what his first five years were like . I ’d wish to think in the nine afterward that I had him , I made up for whatever happen in the beginning .
Samantha : Definitely .
Suzanne : I do n’t necessarily think that Sammy was ill-treat . There really was no indicant except for the scar above his eye . But I do n’t jazz what that was . Because his mode from the beginning was gentle and fresh . Totally over the top and crazy — [ laughter ] — but very gentle and sweet . And I can see now , from take a dog who I recognize had been ill-use , I can see the difference , in the acquisition to trust , learning to have a go at it , study to sympathize permanence .
And to your point about gratuitous approach to your home — when I got yogi he could n’t skip over . And I say to the veterinary , is there something wrong with him ? And she tell I do n’t recall so , I just do n’t cerebrate he ’s ever jump — he also had a very bad case of kennel coughing when he arrived which is something that people who adopt from shelter should be organize for , because it ’s there , and you just kind of have to take care of the dog — but he would sleep on the floor next to my bottom , and then he would look over the bed like oh what ’s up there , but he would never climb up . So finally one 24-hour interval I thought , this is ridiculous , he was 46 pounds ; I bent over ; I picked him up . 46 dog pound was nothing after 65 pounds , and I put him on the bed .
And he endure there on all quadruplet paralyzed , and it ’s like he could n’t get his footing , and then he went over to the side of the layer and he looked down . And then he came back to the other side and bet down . And I thought he does n’t know how to get down , so I had to help him down , then I helped him up again , and down again . By the third time he was a pro , he now flies , there is nothing wrong with his legs .
Samantha : [ laughs ] That ’s funny how they work out that poppycock out .
Suzanne : Oh my god , I mean , I was watch him the other twenty-four hour period , he vanish from the lounge in the keep room to one of the armchairs . The distance is about four base , and he literally flew in the air , and I think oh my god he ’s going to break his neck . But no , he landed on the chair which of course he embark on poke on . [ laughs ] This is very unlike temperament , but I ’m so grateful , and so grateful that I did n’t give up on him , that I did n’t give him back , that I did n’t do any of the things that somebody possibly at the end of their roofy , might have done .
I stuck it out and now our Martin Luther King Jr. sized seam has become his , and I ’m lucky if I get a little space on one side . He ’s jaw through I ca n’t tell you how many pillow . So this is a different experience . But he ’s adorable , he ’s also a pit mixture , and I hardly certify anybody who is afraid of a pit — pit mixes and pitbulls , unless they ’ve been trained to be otherwise , are the sweetest , aristocratical , loving dogs on the planet . They ’re the good . You have to work very hard to turn one .
Samantha : I think that a really important point to make , when we ’re talking about rescue dogs as — that not giving up — you may end up adopting a bounder who is perfect from the get go . I highly doubt it , because most of them are not . You may get one that is already house trained ; you may get one that is already used to being around children or whatever the example may be that you — the dog that you are looking for , you may certainly find one that ’s on the button what you want .
But most of the time with deliverance dogs you have to call back that even if they came from a menage where they were well loved and cared for and they were trained and things like that — there is a regression when a dog is in a shelter .
They do n’t have to espouse the same convention . It ’s a very much unlike environs than a home with a family , so some of that clobber slew . I know some tax shelter , the wienerwurst do have access to fourth dimension outside , but they also have taken with pads deep down in the dog house , because they ’re in there all dark and matter like that . So the dogs can return with house grooming and things like that . And you ask to know go into it when you rescue a frump that the andiron that you get on day one from the shelter wo nt be the dog that is last in your house in a month .
It ’s a learning process for both of you and it ’s the patience and the determination and sticking it out and like you said — they are going to ruin pillow ; there is going to be a small quirk , when you opine their legs wo n’t work and they actually do .
It ’s just heed to the dog , learning from the dog and taking that time and have the longanimity of — it can be thwarting ; it absolutely can , particularly if you get a wienerwurst that is just destructive , or a dog that is really overactive and has a lot of energy , it certainly can be frustrating . But there is tons of resource out there for favored owners that want help whether it ’s with breeding or something like that .
You have to be set up go into it knowing that it is going to take time . The majority of dog that get from shelters , and even if you adopt a puppy , it ’s go to take meter and patience and you need to be ready for that .
Suzanne : And you know what , it ’s unlike from andiron to dog .
Sammy I think is on the button what you described . He had regressed . I think he was in a shelter for six weeks . They tried to adopt him out twice and two time he was brought back , and he was on his third and last possible chance at a life . He definitely was not house fall in .
From the moment he entered the apartment he was all over the place . Berra on the other hand , I put down wee wee pads because I did n’t know what to anticipate . And his response to look at the weensy wee domiciliation was he consume it .
Samantha : [ laughter ]
Suzanne : — and he was totally house broken . So I learned — you never have intercourse what to expect . And that ’s kind of the smasher of adopting old , and rescuing . You do n’t jazz who it is .
Samantha : Yes very . I match . I agree . I conceive that ’s part of the excitement .
Suzanne : Yes . And I would so strongly urge people — thousands of cad are dying every single solar day because citizenry are afraid of shelters ; they ’re afraid to rescue ; they think their luck are estimable with a stock breeder . It ’s really not necessarily true .
These dogs deserve a life . They deserve to be happy , and in return that ’s what they give you . They give enormous happiness . So for my money I would never ever go to a breeder because my experience has been really convinced . They ’ve been dissimilar , but [ laugh ] they ’ve been positive .
Samantha : I could n’t agree more . That ’s a perfect way to tote up it up .
For anybody who is a dog lover or a frankfurter owner , and if you ’ve rescued , even if you have n’t deliver , “ A small Sammy Music ” by Suzanne Lane . Again , we ’re going to have link on our site and for anybody listening on social media , it ’s there as well .
Check out the book . It ’s a great news report . You babble about capture Sammy ’s life and memorialize him and it ’s a great way that you did that , but it ’s also a really affecting and a heartwarming story for people who did n’t know Sammy , but we ’ve had other dogs in our life . It brings some of those memories and really , it ’s a great Koran that explain how much you see from a dog . And it ’s not just your first hotdog , but rescuing a dog . It ’s new every unmarried meter .
So I encourage people to check the leger out . It ’s really well-to-do to read , very well written , short chapters . I love that we actually , we have a niece who is 13 , and she is an beast devotee as well . So she fancy this book on my desk . And she aver , “ Can I read it ? ” and I said , “ Well , I have to read it for work and once I ’m done with it I ’ll have you know and I ’ll see if it ’s appropriate for you . ” And I understand it I loved it . I passed it on to her . She register it and loved it .
So really , kids , adults , anybody that has a diffuse slur for pets I opine would get — this is a great read for anybody in that category . So thank you for writing “ A picayune Sammy Music ” and sharing it with all of us .
Suzanne : give thanks you so much . And I really take account it , I love that you give it to your 13 twelvemonth old . I call up it ’s so sweet .
Samantha : She loved it . I always boost them to evidently to read books that they ’re interested in , and so one of her favorite Quran , and of course now it ’s a very popular movie , is “ Marley and Me . ” So I said — lie with Marley and Me ; you ’re move to have a go at it this one too .
And so it was a really great testimonial to Sammy for sure , but anybody that ’s ever love a dog or anybody that understand that bond that you have with a darling I think will savor reading “ A slight Sammy Music ” so if anybody wants to hold that out we will share the tie .
Suzanne : Thank you so much .
Samantha : If you ’ve been questioning whether to adopt or to buy a darling I hope that this podcast instalment just showed you how grand and charming it can be to fetch a rescue animal into your habitation .
I desire that if you ’ve ever have it off a dog and lose a dog or if you are a fellow rescuer like Suzanne and myself , that this really touch your essence . I had a great meter talking to Suzanne . This podcast was really therapeutic for me on a certain level .
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