May, 1997 - Sammy 'The Wonder Dog'

"One morning I came out from under the couch, and I looked like this."

In a judging decision based on pure personality, Fuzzydog's Pet of the Month award for May, 1997 goes to Sammy 'The Wonder Dog,' a proud canine hailing from Canada, the land of...uh...maple leafs.

Why Sammy?  Well, in his Mom's own words: "Sammy is orange and considers himself to be a 'mighty, fearless hunter'...although I have my doubts, as I've never seen him hunt anything except for the vacuum and, sadly enough, he was defeated. He has a certain attitude towards humans that can only be described as condescending...he possesses a quick-wit and is always ready for a battle of the wills. He'll eat just about anything, and the V-E-T claims he is overweight...Sammy claims that V-E-T is stupid, but that's just his *humble* opinion."

Yes folks, Sammy is orange, and he thinks that V-E-Ts are stupid.  These two things alone are reason enough for us to give Sammy this month's POM, but there's more!  In Sammy's own words (taken from his very own website):

"My full human name is Samuel L. Cook the First ( the L stands for Lovey, because everyone loves me!). I have been know to respond to Sammy, Sambo, the Saminator, Chicarone and Shamby. However, my canine name (translated for you humans) is, 'Orange, Mighty, Fearless Master Hunter'. I have the face of a collie, the fur of a terrier, the tail of a husky and, my mom says, the heart of an angel."

In an exclusive interview with Sammy, the Fuzzydog staff asked the canine why he responds to Chicarone (as it sounds nothing like Sammy).  Sammy's response: "You are 100% correct; Chicarone sounds absolutely nothing like Sammy. When the humans adopted me, they read in a 'parenting manual' that they should choose a special nickname for the puppy, to use when they didn't want the puppy to know they were talking about him. Thus, the creation of 'Chicarone'...which really was only successful in confusing me about my real name. Silly humans!!"

Well, enough from us.  Do yourself a favor this month and check out Sammy's Dog Site For Dogs, a REALLY COOL SITE containing the whole scoop on Sammy and some tips for both human owners and dog owners, including Sammy's own Top Ten lists!!  Here's one of them:

SAMMY'S TOP TEN MIND GAMES TO PLAY WITH HUMANS

1. Walk around the house, crying and whining, for no particular reason.

2. Bark everytime you hear a doorbell on t.v., even if you don't have a doorbell. Become convinced that someone is at the door. (I play this joke on my humans all the time, but they don't see the humour in it!)

3. Constantly follow one of the humans all around the house, especially when the human is in a rush to do something.

4. Stare at your humans while they are on the toilet or in the shower...get right into the shower if you have to!

5. After coming in from outside, whine at the door. When the human finally gets up and opens the door, stand there, tilt your head and searchingly stare right into the human's eyes. Repeat often.

6. At night, perk up your ears, sniff the air and growl as if there's someone in the house. This works particularily well, when it's just you and the human female at home.

7. Make the humans spell. Everytime you hear a word that sounds remotely like, 'walk' or 'treat', get very excited. Get SO excited, that the humans are forced to spell these words out. Humans spelling...very funny!

8. Act like a wild dog. When company comes over, instantly disregard everything your humans say. Forget all basic commands and rules of the house. Cease this behaviour, the second the visitors leave.

9. Play sick. Act like you are on death's doorstep. Continue this game, until you get into the vet's examining room, and then mysteriously get better.

10. Pretend you are deaf. When you are outside, and the humans call your name, don't acknowledge them. Instead, just keep on doing whatever you are doing.