Well the pic I posted is not Sammy. Just one I picked up from the net. (See the link) I only have a few of Sammy and I'd have to scan them into the pc.

She mainly ate 'dry feed' because ordinary canned dog meat just went straight through her and the resulting mess was simply too awful. However, sacks of dry feed were very reasonably priced and she loved scraps. In fact she had scraps at the top of her list. She used to sit by the backdoor at tea time and wait for us to finish eating and drop our left-overs into her bowl. That done, she would then sit by next-door's fence for them to finish their meal and dropping their scraps over the fence!!!!

In the UK there used to be- probably still is - an annual event day for Newfies, where they would be hitched up to little carts that gave kids a ride around a park, and other doggy events.

A lake in the park provided a demonstration area for the Newfie's water skills. A couple of folks would row out into the lake watched by most of the Newfies and throw a large doll into the water; The idea being that the Newfies would see the doll and think it a child that needed rescuing.  I watched this event on TV one year. They threw the doll into the water and yelled and hollored, but the Newfies weren't having any. It was only when one of the boat crew jumped into the water that the Newfies reacted, swimming out to try to rescue the 'distressed' swimmer.

Oddly enough, Sammy didn't think much of seawater and wouldn't go swimming. However, on long walks on the beach near our home, she would trot along doing huge figures-of-eight that always enclosed the kids and scouted out the beach ahead of us.

As for grooming??? OMG! That brings back memories. Sammy used to lie in front of the vacuum cleaner when Mrs Bryster did the carpets and wouldn't move till she'd had a good hoovering! We regularly removed pounds of matted hair from her. We could have stuffed a sofa with what she shed over a year. And don't get me started on her drooling when a treat was up for grabs.

Sadly, the time came when her hips got the better of her and athritis crept up her spine. One evening she couldn't get to her feet and was set on dragging herself across the floor. We called the vet and after 11 fun filled years we said goodbye to the best animal friend we ever had.

Available on Amazon for the Kindle E-Reader

All the Woes of a World by Jonathan Icknield aka The Bryster

And in my final hours - I would cling rather to the tattooed hand of kindness - than the unblemished hand of hate...