Rest in Peace Sampie- We Love You

Yesterday at about 3:30 p.m. our precious Sampson passed away. We will know he is with us on every walk we take in the woods. We love him so much. Sampie had many nicknames...little man, Samuel P. Plumpinheimer, Sammy, The Mighty Sampson, Sampy Clampy...to name a few. Sometimes I called him "little round bean", or "banger sausage". I even called him "little pig-man" on the days he would come home from foraging the neighborhood all bloated and happy.
I only knew Sampie a little less than 3 years...but he changed my view of small dogs forever. He was the absolute best snuggler...and he would always shake with joy when I would come over to visit. Ginger loved him because he was in the same "zone" as she...kindof old and stinky...and happy to just toodle along. My favorite memory of Sampson happened not too long after I met him. It was a snowy winter day and Dan and I took the doggies up past the Teton Science School...Sampie was eating snow and got really bloated and round...he was shivering and didn't want to walk any further...I finally coaxed him to walk and heard a sloshing sound and realized that it was all the snow he'd eaten...sloshing around inside of him. I will never forget him...and his big brown eyes.