Sam's taking her morning nap in her crate as I type this. She's such a
darlin'. We had our play period outside from 6 to 8AM. Sam spent her first night's sleep in the crate last night, with me on the nearby couch. I was serenaded with about 25 minutes of assorted yips, yaps, yelps, and howls, that were a tribute to her wolf ancestry. But eventually she fell asleep. I took her out a couple of times during the night and she was fine. She still prefers to take her naps laying beside one of the gated doorways, but I want her to get her really comfortable with the crate. She tried her darndest to jump on the couch last night. I've always invited my dogs on the couch, but I don't want to spoil her to soon. I won't leave her alone in the big outside kennel just yet, although she seems to like going in there. I noticed some sharp edges to the chain-link fence at the bottom, which I turned down and away as best I could with pliers, but I don't want her digging around there where she might get hurt.

Sam's doing extremely well. We already had a visitor this morning. One of the police officers on my shift stopped by and Sam put on a little show, doing some backyard retrieving culminated by a jump into her pool! She just loves visitors! Sam's pretty much at home in the crate now. Only about one minute of whining last night. In fact, after I let her out at 2AM, I went upstairs and slept in my bed (instead of the crate-side downstairs couch), and Sam was fine. She was waiting for me at 5:45AM with tail wagging. We go out, then come in and Sam and the cats have breakfast, and then go out again for an hour or 1 1/2 hours of play, then she takes her morning nap. I replaced the cushy dog cushion I had in the crate with a big terry-cloth towel. I think the cushion had to much insulation and was too warm. In this hot weather, I keep the overhead fan on at night until it cools off a bit.

Sam went to the porch door yesterday and told me she had to go out. She's so intelligent, Darlene. Yesterday, I was watching a show on Animal Planet about dogs, and Sam keyed right in on the sounds and images. In fact, she sat down and looked a little apprehensive when they showed a pack of dogs running and barking. So I toggled back to the Red Sox game. Sam has no interest in watching baseball.

How are the other dogs doing (besides Bella) doing? I know I'm not an expert, but you've done a remarkable job producing these fine dogs. I feel very privileged owning one.

It's still a standoff with the cats. They're fine with Sam as long as she behaves in what the cats think is an appropriate manner. Which is no sudden moves; no mouthing; no butt sniffing. Otherwise they'll give her a little swat. So I have to stand vigil. I can usually tell if the cats will stand their ground or run up a tree or jump up on a table.

She's really bonded well to me already. A terrific dog. She really likes the squeaky toys. I'm gonna have to take another run up to Petsmart for some more toys, but I hate to leave her alone (in the crate), even if its for only an hour. I'm just like a "Mother Hen" with that little pup. She also likes cardboard boxes, about the size of a wine carton. She takes a run and jumps on it, and tumbles over. She's already able to walk up the 4 steps (with some coaxing) to my back door. She got a little too close to Fing-Ding this morning, and the Fingster gave her a little warning tap on the cheek. It didn't faze Sam a bit. She ran a circle around Fing-Diang and went in again. I had to step in before things got out of hand.

What a sweetheart she is. Very intelligent as well. No adjustment problems. She slept beside the couch (where I slept) last night. I'll get her into the crate gradually. She doesn't seem to like it, though. She'll go in, even took a nap in it, but came out midway thru her nap and continued it on the outside of the crate!

She kept jumping into her swimming pool with no water in it, so I filled it with about 6 inches of water. Did she love it! And the hose with the water coming out of it! She loved that too!

She doesn't know quite how to handle the cats. My cat "Little Gray" goes right up to her and cuddles; Sam just stands there, not quite knowing how to handle this creature. My other cat Fing-Ding climbs a tree or jumps up on a table in the house if Sam gets within six feet of him. She'll be chasing them around before long.

We had a blast playing around the yard this morning. Now she's out like
a light, laying beside her cage. My home handy-man is using a pressure washer in the back yard now. I thought that might wake Sam up or startle her. She just poked her head up, looked around, and went back to sleep. She had some good noise conditioning with that parrot!

Sam went on her first campout Monday into Tuesday. My brother, two nephews, and 3-year old great-nephew set up tents at a small and quiet boy-scout campground in northwestern Rhode Island. Samantha was swell. Exuberent but well-behaved. She really liked my little 3-yr old great-nephew, and he liked her. I brought Sam's big Orvis dog bed, and she felt right at home. Sam did great in the tent, choosing to sleep right on the tent floor instead of on the dog bed. When it got cooler, later in the night, she snuggled up with me. She started licking my face and getting "chewy" at midnight and agin at 4AM, signaling me she hadto go out. She did her business promptly. What an impressive pup!

Sam did get her toes pinched again, when she got under my brother's feet. My brother, not being a "dog man", is not used to doing the "puppy hop" around a pup that gets under his feet. But it was quickly forgotten.

Sam's super-enthusiatic about water. More than any of my dogs. I brought her to the beach, and she plunged right in beyond shoulder-depth, which means she was swimming for a few seconds. I quickly redirected her to shore, but she kept wanting to swim. Imagine -- 9 1/2 weeks old!

Sam now climbs the 4 steps to the back door without hesitation. She goes right to the door when she's got to go out. She's getting really "fresh" with the cats. The cats are so sweet and non-confrontational, but I keep Sam on the leash when they're together, 'cause Sam wants to jump on them or something. I don't want her to get scratched. Eventually, they'll come to terms.

Are the other pups in this litter as fantastic as Samantha. What a wonderful puppy. smart, intelligent, beautiful, and loves the water. She impresses everybody I show her off to. But really, you, Daisy and Hilton really produced a marvelous dog in Samantha. I hope the other "adopters" are just as pleased and impressed.

We're going thru the hottest summer in memory. Yesterday it got up to 99 with a dew point of 74 -- sauna conditions. I give Sam plenty of
frige-chilled water plus ice-cubes, and a cold towel and frozen dish rag in her pen. Every morning she gets to go swimming.