Goodbye to Sammie

Sad news first :( I guess this is as good a place to start as any.

We recently made the decision to turn Sammie over to a Golden Retriever rescue organization here in Austin. I've never felt such heartbreak, or such relief.

For anyone who might not know, Sammie was our first baby. We got her shortly after we moved into our first house (Rocklin), and she just turned 8! Anyone who had the (slightly unfortunate) opportunity to know her would know she's always been a handful, to say the very least. But we've done our best over the years to take care of her and manage her multiple health issues as well as her major attitude problem.

I really don't want to go into the lengthy details of how we came to this decision, but long story short - she tore her ACL while playing in the park, and the necessary surgery and recovery was going to be in the thousands. Adding this to her already staggering other health issues, I guess this was just the last straw. We already have one very sick doggie who requires twice-daily medication and very regular lab work at the vet. The major difference is we love Bear much more. Yes, we do have favorite children.

The rescue organization has a really wonderful foster care and adoption program, and was willing and able to cover the cost of all her treatments through donations, etc. So ultimately it was really the best thing for Sammie. But it was surprisingly very painful for us to let her go. I can't even post a picture of her because she's just too cute, it's disarming. It shows nothing of her true colors ;)

In any case, just thought I'd let you know in case you noticed we have become a one dog family.