When I first started this blog it was to share stories of Sampson and generate interest for a (bad) children’s book I had written. I quickly discovered dogs like Sampson don’t generally make for great story telling.
How many times can a person read, “Sampson stayed on the couch today.” “Sampson laid out in the sun today”? Etc… But bad dogs… ok, let’s say challenging dogs, challenging dogs generate some highly amusing content. ( “Delilah’s Reality Show”, “Delilah’s 12 Days of Christmas“.)
Monday after I returned from BlogPaws, I discovered that good dogs can make for some great blog posts too.
We have a wood retaining wall in the back of our house that is in need of replacement. I had scheduled an appointment to have someone come out to give us an estimate.
It was rainy and cold on Monday and I was hunkered down in the house, waiting for the appointed time. The crows were going bullshit. I could hear them, caw, caw, caw, up in the trees in the back yard. I figured something was out there, took a quick look (threw a rock at the damn crows) saw nothing and told the crows to make tracks.
Once the wall consultant arrived and it looked like he might be there a while, I asked if it was okay to let the dogs out. Delilah was losing her mind, wanting him out of her yard and Sampson needed to be loved. He was fine with the dogs so I let them out.
After the initial honeymoon phase had worn off the dogs went off to poke around the yard.
Meanwhile the damn crows were still at it. “I think something’s up there” I said to Jim and I looked up back and sure enough, both dogs were interested in something on the ground.
I headed up back to find them both sniffing a crow that was just sort of lying on the ground. The crow did not move as I approached, but it did look at me and I could see it was still breathing.
Poor guy couldn’t move.
I had a hard time convincing the dogs to leave it, but I finally did. Then I knew I had to do something with that crow. But I wasn’t sure what.
I decided the best course of action would be to move it to the other side of the fence, that way it would not be bothered by the dogs and hopefully whatever was going on with it, it would recover and fly away.
No, I didn’t pick it up. GAH, that’s just gross, besides I’m afraid of birds. Remember the one that hissed at me?
I went in search of a shovel.
To move it! Not to kill it! What kind of blog do you think this is?
Jim (bless his heart) offered to move the bird and offered to use a pitchfork. “You won’t stab it will you?” I asked.
He laughed, “No, I wouldn’t do that!”
Thankfully we found a shovel and as carefully as he could Jim scooped up the bird and gently placed it on the other side of the fence. Besides getting the bird out of my yard, this appeased those damn crows and they finally stopped squawking.
Jim and I went about the business of discussing the wall, when I noticed Sampson was missing.
My sweet, sweet boy, he was up in the back sitting with the bird. I’m not sure if he was protecting it from the other crows, or keeping it company, but I had to go up there and drag him away.
He’ll get by with a little help from his friends.
See, sweet dogs can make for good storytelling. (At least I hope my storytelling was good.) 😉
Later as I was relating the story to Hubby he said, “The crows were cawing at it, hoping it would die so they could eat it.” UGH
I replied, “I like to take the more optimistic approach and think they were cheering him on to get up.”
When I checked on the bird last night he was gone. There were no feathers and no evidence that anything malicious had happened to it.
So I’m going with the theory he just needed a little time to recover from whatever was ailing him.
Hey Mr. Crow, please remember the kindness you were shown at my house and tell your friends to have their raucous parties somewhere else.
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Awe! That is so sweet of Sampson!
Sweet dogs do make good story telling! Very kind of Sampson to keep the poor little crow company!
Maybe Sampson was hoping to get a taste of the crow. Just sayin’…
Love and licks,
Cupcake
So nice to see a good dog story and you weren’t even harmed! We’ve moved wabbits I’ve injured outside the fence. I watch them too, but in the hope they come back into the yard! That was very kind of you and I bet the bird appreciated it.
I love your story telling! The stories always make me smile! Sampson looks so sweet laying there, protecting his new friend! Mmmwahh!
Love this story…good dogs can make good stories!’
I always talk about luke in my group, not because he is bad, but because he is so goofy and weird and people ask..what about kayla…she is so good and sweet…and just a normal sweet baby..i sort of overlook her in my storytelling too…she eats, she sleeps, she plays, she loves…everyday….only so much you can talk about that…lol
Oh, now see, I’d have taken the crow into the house. And I believe that the proper term is, “The crows were going apeshit.” Just sayin’. 😉
LOL, Flea! I was going to mention the same thing!
Okay mom is feeling totally stupid because she didn’t talk to you at BlogPaws! Did you see us? I fall into the challenging category, pretty sure about that, especially after our post today. We have two bird houses in our tiny backyard with new families rotating in and out constantly. Which means lots of baby bird incidences, or remnants there of found on the ground. One time I found one in distress and let mom know about it. Dad is our bird person, so he returned it to the bird house. So Sampson was just concerned and keeping an eye on it. Good boy. Love Dolly
Sampson is a gpod guy. We need more good guy stories in the world.
Hi Y’all!
Dear sweet Sampson! Crows have an extended family structure. I’m sure they, like Sampson, were just looking out for their relative. Annoying as their parties are, they are very intelligent and they use tools, too.
I’ve relocated to http://www.browndogcbr.net. There is a link on http://browndogcbr.blogspot.com .
Hope y’all come to my new home. I’m still workin’ on it. For now you need to click the title to find a spot to comment.
Y’all hurry on by now!
Hawk aka BrownDog
That was so sweet. Sampson would have made a great doctor or nurse. My dogs are infamous for dispatching any bird that is foolish enough to light in the yard.
How sweet! I think Sampson was watching over it to make sure nothing happened until Mr. Crow was able to recover. I’m an optimist though. 🙂
I think the crows were just yelling “Man Down!”…or in their case “Crow Down!”. Hopefully the poor thing had just bumped his head on a tree and was recovering from a bad headache. Birds on the ground don’t usually fare too well.
Pawsome good story! I would have opted for a set of latex-y type gloves I buy in gigantic boxes from Costco to move it-I’ve got a jillion of them and always feel invincible when they’re on my hands. Never would have thought about a pitch fork, but good thinking. Sampson is such a sweetie; I’m sure he was whispering sweet messages of inspiration and encouragement to the crow. Maybe he can host a dog TedX Talk kind of seminar? 🙂
I love Sampson! What a sweetheart. You can see the love in his face. He understood the crow was important too and was giving him comfort. Awwwwwwww
Aww, that is a sweet story! Rita would have totally tried to eat that crow. I have a love/hate relationship with crows, but Rita just has a hate-hate relationship with them. (I hate them because they are so mean to other birds and sometimes eat the eggs/babies of other birds, but I love them because they are SO smart and so interesting. Saw a fascinating show about them once – including info about how they learn to use tools and mourn crows that have died. I agree with you – they were probably trying to cheer that sick crow on. Or maybe mourning his passing a little too early!)
That was sweet, good boy Sampson!
I love the happy ending to this story….Sampson was such a sweetie guarding the crow, and the crow recovered. That’s a great story (yes, I’m a sap for a happy ending).
Sampson is a sweet guy!
Sweet dogs DO make great stories! How wonderful of Sampson to birdie sit! Such a good boy!
awe Sampson what a sweet guy you are your such a helping kinda guy.