Unlike most rescues we place, Sammie stayed close by and we were always in touch. He was adopted by Martha, the secretary for our dentist, so at a minimum, we chatted on our semi-annual checkups. Plus, early on, there were the phone calls, the hand holding and advice giving. Martha was a nice person but she was not what I would call the ideal terrier owner, she was more of a terrier slave.
Had Sammie been of normal size, there could have been a different outcome but at 8#, even a timid Martha could exert some physical control. Sammie remained a true terrier in the “I’m in control” sense. Martha would try to work with him but Sammie generally got his way. She was always amazed when her boy friend would show up and Sammie just rolled over for him, an obvious pack leader. These are smart little guys and they read body language like we read a paper. When she would tell us a story about some encounter or incident, I would roll my eyes, give Martha a baleful look, and start the conversation with “Martha!, we’ve talked about this, you know…” and she would say, eyes cast down and with a semi-embarrassed smile, “I know but…” Martha simply did not have it in her to be the alpha in the pack. She would agree to be the co-leader of a two member pack but not much more.
Since Martha lived in town and knew we had a good connection with Sammie, and he had a good connection with our pack, we were frequent Sammie Sitters. He wasn’t a problem for us, although he was allowed the privilege of having his crate inside the house. (Our guys are crated in the garage at night.) His visits were always good for him, the larger dogs sometimes took a toll on him physically and then he would need a respite or refuge inside but he still loved showing up.
Sammie Sitting on the Millenium
After a visit, Martha would usually take home an admonition about why she should be or not be doing something after these visits. She loved Sammie but he was about at the limit of what kind of behavior she could handle. Always much larger in his little mind than he was physically, a 8# Cairn with the mindset of a 50# pitbull, Martha would seldom took him out on a leash because of his attitude towards other dogs he would meet and probably challenge.
Sammie’s health was always problematic, he was never completely healthy. He had a penchant for chewing his toes so they were frequenlty bare of any hair. His coat would go in cycles from glorious to meager. His diet would occasionally need fine tuning. Regular visits to the vet were part of his lifestyle. The various meds he had to take surely took a toll on his life expectancy.
Finally, in 2007, after knowing him for over 7 years, the end of the road came for the little guy. It was hard on Martha, they always had a testy relationship but they both knew where they stood and agreed on the rules, usually Sammie’s rules, but they loved the arrangement.
Then, about a month later, we had a call about another rescue. This was a 7 year old female, Ruby, owned by a mature, single woman who had to make a move that no longer would allow her to keep the dog. We got Ruby and checked her out, Ruby was a perfectly trained dog, sociable and, also, a very nice looking Cairn, a real Cairn. She had come from a household run by a woman and would thrive in a household run by a woman.
It would be aa easy fit, Ruby was great and she certainly did not show the attitude that bedeviled the Sammie-Martha relationship. She was just looking for a nice lady to take her home. And Martha, she was amazed that a Cairn existed that was so well mannered, a real Cairn, that looked like a Cairn. It took about 12 seconds for this adoption and 11 of those were spent trying to find the words.
On occasion, we see Martha and Ruby, although not as frequently as we saw Sammie because Martha has changed jobs and moved. When we talk, the subject always gets back to”Sammitude”, the strong, innate Cairn mentality of Sammie, the 8# mini Cairn.