Thanks, every one. Sam was truly one of those one-in-a-million dogs. Like I said before, he might not have been the dog for everyone, but he was absolutely the dog for me. We grew up a lot together, and the lessons I learned with him--in our last six months together, especially--made me see the world differently (for the better, actually).

And, of course, I also ended up a part of this wonderful community--and have no plans to leave This is such a great resource, and I am more than happy to pay it forward. (Plus, I like posting gratuitous puppy/dog/cat/kitten pictures to like-minded people :p)

Michelle: Gryph has undoubtedly learned some things from Sam by spirit osmosis He is very fond of eating poop, being stubborn, and...yeah, catching bunnies.

Sally: Okay, so the group christmas picture was from, oh...2005ish? And it was NOT the photo we used for our card--although it should have been. We used one a frame or two before, where everyone was (relatively) staid and in control. It was lovely and cute and...Sam had a giant red rocket in it. Yeah, Sampson was VERY happy to have his picture taken--and we apparently made sure everyone saw it when we mailed it out. (Amusingly enough, no one noticed until years later :p) FWIW, Momo is the black cat in the photo (he's the one who has an extensive wardrobe as well) Come dig through our albums on facebook--they're public, so you don't even have to have an account (and you can see cats in pants!)

Kathi: Don't worry--nobody here knew Sam with fur :p He had an autoimmune condition, and was...oh, maybe 6 or 7 when we first noticed his coat was thinning a bit. Didn't think much of it until he had surgery to remove infected muscle tissue...and the fur never grew back (his fur nipple--the big bald spot on his rib cage). And every time he'd blow his coat...it just wouldn't grow back. Eventually, he was left with just the coarse guard hairs. Except for, oddly enough, his front legs and face. Which, esp. as he lost weight, made him take on something of a puppy-like expression (He never had a grey hair--he got a single grey whisker after his amp, but that was it.)

It was such a gradual thing, and we got so used to it (since it was more than half his life), that I never really noticed it, until sometimes people would say "Er, what's WRONG with that dog???" Actually, cancer made it easier, since people just assumed he was bald from that (even though that doesn't really happen to animals, like it does with people...and we didn't even DO chemo, anyway :D). We just called him the three-legged chupacabra.