Sam Cervi

OUR BEAUTIFUL REBEL HAS GONE (10/03/17)

A very upset Nicky, who had been Sam’s fosterer in 2012, alerted us to the very sad news. She told us how absolutely devastated his mum, Maria, is on losing him and she fondly described Sam as a mischievous character, a lovable rogue.

Maria then let us know more about Sam’s sad passing which was on Friday 10th March with him having suddenly become ill on the evening of Friday 10th February.

She said “Sam spent a full month battling severe Uro Sepsia which was resistant to all known antibiotics and turned out to be auto immune in origin. He went into remission for 5 days with steroids but then relapsed. The steroids loosened his ligaments and his right cruciate ligament tore as he tried to force himself to urinate as he was going into total renal failure.

He had already successfully survived surgery and treatment for Para Thyroid cancer and also surgery for a torn left cruciate ligament 2 years ago.

Sam fought to survive right up until his body completely shut down. We are both totally heartbroken especially as he was with us for such a short time (just four and a half years).

I adored Sam who was, to use the vet’s words ‘a real maverick, a rebel without a cause’. This describes his character very well. He was a very unique dog who thought he was a human.

From day one, he stole so much food etc that I called him’ Sam I Am ‘ like the character in the Dr Zeuss book ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ but, for now, I am still too sad and numb and the house is so empty and tidy without him.

I even miss the constant hoovering of his hairs and the battles over food … he used to open the fridge and help himself whenever we were at work and he broke locks etc so, in the end, we had to remove the fridge from the kitchen and put it in the study.

Thanks to our lovely Sam, Nicki and I became good friends from day one and she has been absolutely fantastic when we have needed her most. She, Ray and the kids are a lovely family and I feel honoured to have them all as friends.

Sometime in the future, I will write about some of the many scrapes Sam got himself into, not to mention the money he cost me because of it, some of which is so funny that I could write a book about all his adventures”.

Goodbye Sam. You will never be forgotten.

Everyone at IRR was very sorry to hear the devastating news about Sam and, although we didn’t all know him personally, we could see he was, clearly, an absolutely beautiful boy, full of character, who was cruelly taken far too soon. We would like to say a big thankyou to Maria and her husband for giving our boy such a wonderful life and for loving him unconditionally.

SAM’S HISTORY

In 2012, Sam was 6 years old. He was surrendered because his previous owners didn’t have the time to walk him.

Fosterer’s initial report – Ireland July 2012

Sam is great with children and good in the car. When he arrived here he had a run in the garden and then settled down, despite being very anxious to begin with.

Sam does not appear to have had very much basic training so will need someone to spend time with him.

Fosterer’s first report – UK: July 2012

Sam arrived on Friday 13th July. He rode home in the car and was perfectly behaved. He met our dogs with great enthusiasm sniffing in the usual manner. On the first night Sam settled in the utility reasonably well barking for a short time.

On Saturday night Sam didn’t settle as well into the utility and barked for a longer period of time and for short bursts throughout the night.

On Sunday night Sam slept with our dog Levi in the Utility and after an initial period of barking slept.

Sam is an intelligent dog. He is fully housetrained and he walks well on a lead (harness) with just a bit of pulling to begin with. Sam is also really affectionate, although very excitable. I would liken Sam to a puppy in a 6 year old dog’s body. Because of this I would not recommend he be rehomed with younger children. He doesn’t seem to like cats either.

I can see great potential in Sam, he is food orientated and enjoys training. He is starting to understand what behaviour is expected of him. Obviously his world’s been turned upside down lately and he is showing this through a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

Fosterer’s second report (July 2012)

We’ve seen some major transformations in Sam since he first arrived. He is a lot calmer and seems much happier in himself. At night he now sleeps in a crate and settles quite quickly with just a few woofs. He continues to be fully house trained. On walks he pulls to begin with and barks with excitement when he sees other dogs as he wants to greet them. He gets a little perplexed if dog owners walk in another direction. If Sam doesn’t want to do something on a walk he does the retriever refusal and won’t move, this is usually because he wants to sniff (he does more sniffing than walking).

Sam now comes when called; he can also sit on command. Sam remains very reliant on Levi as a guide as to what he should be doing. He will probably benefit from living with another dog.

Sam seeks attention by nuzzling your arm for a fuss but we are seeing longer periods when he is happily settled. Sam loves to greet everyone, but might be too much for younger children as he lacks spatial awareness and is a little bit clumsy. Sam continues to woof at the cat when he sees him but we can call him away from the patio doors. He’s not been introduced to the cat as of yet.

We are seeing more of Sam’s personality shine through. He is very affectionate and loves a big cuddle. He will need further training but is adapting to life as an indoor pet well.

SEPTEMBER 2012

Sam went to his forever home to begin his new life with Maria.