and then there were 3 - Samson 4/9/2005 - present

As previously mentioned the plan was to space the dogs 5 years apart, but just like human children, sometimes the planned ones come earlier than expected.  It was a year before the 5 year mark, and I was once again looking at ads in the newspaper (this will become my downfall) for a rottweiler/border collie mix.  I found an add for a rottweiler mix and the puppies looked a lot like Raja, down to the white on their chest with pepper spots.  I called and found that they were mixed with Australian Shepherd.  Border Collie/Australian Shepherd...same thing right?  The answer to that question as we were going to find out was NO.

Oh things started out OK when we brought the "little" guy home and he brought lots of laughs.  He earned the name "Monkey  Dog" because he would walk along the edges of the couch and jump to the next piece.  Once when I left him in the laundry room, I received a call from my husband asking to verify that that was indeed where I put him.  Apparently Samson was on the other side of the baby gate in the kitchen when he got home.  Later that evening, we watch Samson jump so that his paws were on the top of the baby gate and then using his back legs, would climb the gate and over he went.

Raja accepted Samson much quicker than when we brought Mopar home and well Mopar never met a dog he didn't like.  Samson played with his new brothers but he was always a bit indifferent and would often go off on his own.  Up until around the age of 2 he was a normal dog.  At the age of 2, I can pinpoint the exact incident that changed him.  We were having a get together with members of my office team, and there were small children, some he knew, some he didn't.  The ones that he didn't know were not used to being around dogs so they were a bit timid around them.  Two of the children he knew were playing with the hose which he didn't like so he went on the deck where a 2 year old let out a scream.  After that he was ready to just go into the master bedroom and hang out there.

We went through different stages of fear.  One minute he's afraid of small children, then tall people and since Mom is a jeans girl, mom in a dress.  We cannot take him to doggie events because he will hyperventilate and when we take him to the vet, he only trusts a couple of the technicians and his regular vet.  We tried doggie downers when we have people over, but they make him paranoid and the fear lasts for days afterwards.  In my "research after the fact",  I found that both Australian Shepherd's and Rottweilers can be skittish.

With smaller groups, say 1 or 2 strangers, once they are sitting down, he will come over and eventually trust them. When we have large groups, we just put him in the master bedroom and I check in on him occasionally and give him love.  As soon as everyone leaves, he does a cautious check in all the areas of the house to ensure that everyone has left.

A valuable lesson learned is that socializing the dog continually throughout their lives is as important as during the puppy stage. 

Tomorrow meet the best inheritance ever....Buddy Dog!