He came into our world on July 19, 2001, as an eight week old puppy dog.
Once at home, Sammy took the place over in one bark. Training him was especially difficult as he is an extremely lively dog - if he was a human child, you'd say he was hyperactive. After a while, which seemed like an eternity, we somehow managed to teach him a few simple tricks, like "sit" and "lay down" and "stay" and "give paw". Also he, along with Sweetie, has to sit and wait in front of his bowl at dinnertime for the permission to eat. Sammy is a very intelligent dog and understands quickly what is expected of him, unlike Sweetie who, although otherwise smart, still hasn't got a clue what "give paw" means. She honestly doesn't understand it and probably never will. Sammy gets frustrated by that so much that he always wrestles in and offers his paw. He is also very jealous and can't stand it when people hug each other and leave him out. That alway results in loud barking.
Sammy was attacked in 2004 by a male Rottweiler. The dogs fought which was extremely scary. Thankfully, my husband managed to separate them without getting hurt. Both dogs were uninjured. The Rottweiler's owner just stood by, doing nothing. He then took his dog and walked off laughing. This experience was very traumatic for Sammy. Since that day, his behaviour towards other dogs has dramatically changed. He now attacks every large dog without hesitating. An animal psychologist couldn't help, however she did say the Rottweiler's attack on Sammy triggered his aggressions. According to the doctor, Sammy now "attacks the dogs before they can attack him". Obviously, this behaviour is unacceptable, so Sammy now has to wear a muzzle when he is off the lead in public. Every time we take Sammy to the park we have to be constantly on the lookout for other dogs so we can either avoid them or put Sammy on the lead. When he is on the short lead, we can now sometimes walk past a dog without him freaking out. He will growl sometimes but we are working hard to "untrain" his aggressive behaviour towards other dogs and change him back to the friendly way he was.
