"Samantha" aka "Sumisum" aka "Sam" aka "Ballerina"
born Dec. 14, 2007
Dam: Ch Huzur's Hasari Leydi
Sire: Adana's Bono at Caatskill
Samantha is a female puppy I have kept from my first litter. She has a lighter build than the other puppies; she is very fast and agile. She is headstrong and is the only one who humps both Leydi and Ayla. When her mom has a bone, she will lie next to her with her mouth on the bone; she is very persistent, and she really likes to hang out with me.
Lately she has gotten more interested in running after the chickens; we will see how that develops over time. And just like her litter mates, she is already alerting to changes in the neighborhood, I think she inherited her mom's bark; she already has a quite impressive bark.
Update at 8 months. Samantha is growing quite tall 28 3/4 inches, but she is lighter boned than her litter mates; she is very feminine. She can be quite animated at times and gets excited when I teach her new tricks. She is affectionate and has a quiet sweetness about her. She is the fastest of the 4 puppies I kept; she is also very agile, sure-footed and light on her feet.
She is still too interested in playing with the chickens, so when it cools down next month I will get her acquainted more with the goats. My herd queen does not tolerate inappropriate behavior so I am hoping that Sammie learns to mind her manners around the goats.
She gets along with all the other dogs except she and Enya aren't very compatible. Sammie takes offense if other dogs don't give her space. If one touches her while she is resting she will raise a lip and she grumbles to express her displeasure. Sometimes the other dogs don't seem to be aware of what she is upset about, so basically ignore her when she does this. She never escalates it; she will just go on about it and if they keep ignoring her she gets up and leaves.
Sam is my sweet and cuddly girl who always comes to check on me in the mornings.
One year update: Samantha is 29 inches tall and 86 lbs at the one year mark. She is a beautiful girl, and I love how agile and fast she is. She can be very animated at times; she can get all bouncy and spins around when she gets excited. She is very cuddly and just melts into somebody hugging and petting her. With strangers she is initially a little bit cautious but warms up quickly and is ready to do tricks for them or cuddle. She is so soft and sweet with people, yet tough as nails with the other dogs. She has always been very touchy about her space and other dogs sitting too close. Interesting how those personality traits already surface in a 6 week old puppy.
As far as the livestock goes, she still gets way too excited about them and when given a chance loves to scatter the chickens or chase the goats. So she is a bit of an experiment for me as I am curious whether she will ever stop that. Since I don't depend on her as a livestock guardian, I will just wait and see what will happen as she grows up. I take her in to do chores and let her spend some time close-up with the goats and chickens, and I praise her for being good, but I am not doing anything drastic. Time will tell. Sammie likes to go for walks with me, but she really doesn't care much for outings like going to the vet, she is much happier if she can stay home.
15 months update, looks like Samantha is starting to get the idea about the chickens. Recently I had to do some painting in the chicken area and brought Samantha with me. In the approximately 2 hours we were in the chicken yard, she never once did anything inappropriate, she was respectful with the chickens, occasionally glanced at me if she did well, like standing still when the chickens were zooming by, and eventually she laid down in the midst of them to take a nap.
3 1/2 Year Update
Samantha is a little over 29 inches tall and weighs around 100 lbs. She continues to be very graceful in her movements, hence the nickname "Ballerina." She is very fast and agile; to see her go from zero to running flat out is amazing. It happens in an instance; there is barely a period of acceleration, she just goes like a bullet.
Sammie loves to eat and is the only one of her littermates who has a tendency to put on weight, I had to cut her portions to less than a cup twice a day to keep her lean. She does a wiggly dance when it's feeding time. But as much as she loves food, she does not steal from counters or tables; she waits politely. She does not show any food aggression towards people, but she is hilarious when she threatens her brother when there is food around. She can wrinkle those lips and show her teeth and look really serious. Prince takes it all in stride and usually just act like "never mind..."
When she wants something she turns on all her charm, she will sit very pretty, squints her eyes, grins, rubs on you like a cat -- she has gotten this down to a science. She is very cute in her demeanor and thrives on attention. She is very obedient and loves to visit the goats and chickens, however, she still likes to play with them. She has been great with my part-time house chicken, but when she is outside with the chickens she still loves to chase them a bit. One day she and her brother Prince almost chased one of my hens to death. I found her in time and Sam actually guarded the exhausted hen from her brother. The hen had no injuries and hadn't even lost a lot of feathers, but I could tell from the condition I found her in that the dogs had not given her a break from the games until the hen just couldn't run anymore. Sam loves the goats and has been very good with them; she just can't hang out with them as the chickens share the same area. Sammie loves visitors and turns on her charm with anybody who will pay her some attention.
