Sammy was the first dog that my husband and I really had that was ours. We got him before we were even engaged. Sammy was only about three years old when we got him in 2002. He went from being cooped up in a pen in town to having an entire farm to himself. You could tell he was happy. When we first got Sammy I wasn't too fond of him, I had hung my grandmother's quilt on the line and he tore it to shreds one day. But it didnt take long before I began to love that slobber machine. He was such a good dog even the cats loved him, and he would even be protective of them when a stray came around. Most days you could find him laying under the lilac bushes where he had dug nice sized wholes in the dirt. Most of all Sammy loved to eat, it came to the point where we had to restrict his food. He also enjoyed his two brothers Max and Duster our shih tzu's. One morning my husband noticed that he didn't look very well. So I went out and checked on him and took him some ham steak which he turned down. I immediately called the vet as it was a Sunday and we ran him there right away. The vet ran some test and discovered his liver was failing, and ran an I.V. in him hoping that it would flush any toxins out and his liver would recoop. We left him there so the vet could look after him. I got a call the next morning at work saying Sammy didn't make it through the night. My husband was to pick him up so we could bury him in the farm and say our goodbyes but there was a mix up at the vets and he was cremated. I still get sad when I think that he's not home any more. I couldn't believe how attatched we had become to him. He greated me when I left for work and was right there when I got home. It's almost six months later and we are just starting to think about getting another dog, but its hard there will never be another Sammo!