Mak's Story

He came into our lives January 1996. We had just put our name on a waiting list for our first Sammy puppy when I saw the ad in the classifieds "8 year old Samoyed, neutered male. Obedience trained, good with children. Free to good home. Phone XXX-XXXX" With us getting a puppy soon, I thought, we couldn't take him (two dogs in the house when I had never even owned one before???) but I said to Paul "Let's phone to see what the situation is. I don't want to see him going to the shelter." So we phoned and made an appointment to meet with the owners, Debbie and Murray. We walked into the kitchen and Debbie called "Mako, there's somebody here to see you." He came trotting around the corner, his eyes that are too round sparkling and that tail that is too short wagging like crazy. He was the most beautiful Sammy on the face of the earth!!! He promptly turned around, sat on my feet and looked at me, saying "Pet me!" Any misgivings I may have had about not taking this dog home with me just flew out the window. Both Paul and I fell in love with him right on the spot.

Apparently, the situation was that the owners had come into a new job situation where they were out of town four to six weeks at a time and always farmed Mak out to the in-laws. They felt that it wasn't fair to either Mak or the in-laws and had made the very difficult decision to give him up. The mother-in-law had wanted to take him but they felt that he should go to a home where he would get more exercise. They had already received a number of calls about taking him but the people were either too old or on welfare (meaning that if anything should ever happen to Mak, they would probably not be able to afford the vet bills.)

It ended up that Debbie and Murray interviewed us for over an hour. They said that they would let us know their decision in a couple of days. I tell you, those were two very very long days. We finally got the phone call saying that they would be bringing Mak over that evening. They brought with him his collar and leash, bowls, Mr. Broccoli (his squeaky toy), and his papers...whereupon we found out that we were actually getting a 9 year old boy instead of 8 years old. There were lots of tears when they left but I hope that they realize that Mak was going to a very loving home. He was not allowed on the carpet at his original owners' house so that meant he was only allowed in the kitchen. Well, we have no carpet in our house and (God forbid!) he is allowed on the furniture and the bed.

Adopting an older dog was the best thing that could have happened to novice dog owners. He's taught us patience... Heaven knows that we needed it when 11 months later, we cam home with 8 week old Yuki. In Mak's eyes, Yuki was the veritable spawn of Satan and he kept asking us when she was going to leave. It took him about two months to warm up to her and now they are the very best of friends. When Yuki had her puppies earlier this year, she let Mak go into the whelping box and nuzzle her to make sure she was okay. But he made sure that he gave those darned puppies a wide berth!!! He shares with us the extraordinary loving, gentle temperament of a Sammy. He's so laid back and has a wonderful sense of humour. Mak has a way of worming his way into people's hearts. You have to know that Grandpa is the guy who was not particularly fond of dogs until Mak came along. Now, Mak can often be found lying on the couch, hanging out with Grandpa. He will have his head on Grandpa's lap, the two of them snoring loudly while the television is blasting away. Mak is starting to talk a lot more now, too. When he aroos at Grandpa, Grandpa is now trained to give him treats. He has started to show his age a bit more in the last year. He's going deaf and blind (or is that just selective??!) so we've withdrawn him from the pet visitation therapy program. Mak's a little arthritic and is on Rimadyl. In spite of these little setbacks, he still can catch his treats and bounces around like a bunny!

Thank you, Debbie and Murray, for blessing us with this wonderful boy. Because of him, we are totally addicted to Sams and are now the proud owners of four of these beautiful creatures.

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