Samson and Grandma

Letter written to Blue Paw Nation with love by "Arya's Mom"

So..... my grandmother had lived with us for 20 something years taking care of us as we grew up. Now, it was coming time for us to watch after her as she grew old. Our dog Samson was a mix of Black Lab and Pitt Bull, a ridiculously strong animal who needed the strongest leash imaginable when outside for a walk.


Samson was very protective of his house, but little did we know how protective he really was! My dad said that one night he awoke out of his sleep, and he doesn't know why. He went downstairs to where my grandmother (and the dog) slept. He found the back door open and both Samson and my nanny gone! (She was in her early 90's so walking the dog in the middle of the night wasn't a habit of hers!) He went outside to the top of the driveway. In the distance he saw two shadows under the moonlight. One was of a woman clutching something at her side. The other was a pet at her side, looking up at her.

My dad started to walk down the driveway a bit, when Samson must have noticed him. All of a sudden, Samson ran towards my dad, stopped in front of him, then ran back down to my nanny. It was as if the dog wanted to tell my dad something.....I bet it would have been- "Oh thank you! Thank God you're here! I don't know why she wants to go out now, but I was sleeping when I heard her leaving. I couldn't let her go out by herself, as I have watched you take her out so many times before. She just grabbed her pocketbook, barked something then walked out the door. Now quick let's go get her so I can go back to sleep!"

So my dad went down to my grandmother and brought her back inside. According to her, there were strange men who entered the house earlier and that's why she left. If this was true, Samson would have ripped them apart-no doubt! All I can say is thank God for Samson! We live on a main road, and who knows where nanny would have ended up that night!!! What really shocked us was that at any given opportunity during the day (like someone leaving the back door slightly ajar...), Samson would have ran out the door and not come back. He was ALWAYS on a leash when we walked him because we couldn't trust that he would come back.

Has anyone else ever had a strange "thing" happen with their dogs??? They are really remarkable and intuitive animals!