Friday, March 21, 2008 | by nathan

Sam Fridays: Wherein Sam Gets A Visitor

Why is Sam so happy? For one, it’s Good Friday, and this poor dog has a whole lot to be thankful for. But also, he’s got to spend the week with his favorite dog in the whole wide world, his "girlfriend" Hera, who has been staying with us this week as her owners, Jaye and Laurie, are spending the week in Austin in celebration of Laurie’s birthday. [I’ve been told to say that she’s turning 19 this year.]

See what a pretty girl Hera is? Also, she’s bursting with life and energy, and the same cannot be said for any other member of this household. Living with Hera is a bit like living with a big, red-haired tornado. She’s about 3 years old, and her turn-ons include GETTING EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING. You want to get up from your seat and go get a glass of water? Expect Hera to get stoked about it and start running in circles. Want to eat a little cup of yogurt out of the fridge? Expect Hera to spend the ENTIRE TIME standing on her back legs, her front paws in the air, wanting to get in on some of that. She rubs off on Sam, too, who I think is just trying to keep up to impress her.

The best part about having Hera around is that Sam does things he’d NEVER normally do, like, say, go in a crate. He’d never do this for us, and believe me, we’ve given up trying, but behold!

He just wants his lady to know that there’s nothing he’s afraid of. Of course, she never heard him whine and cry when he had to go in his crate all by himself. Seriously, people get on to me about it, but giving up crate training with Sam was the healthiest and best thing we could’ve done for ourselves and for him. And yet - here he is. They’re quite the pair, these two, and though Hera is a hurricane of dog whirling at you day and night, we enjoy having her because of how much Sam loves getting to chill with another dog. See how much he likes her?