My Pet Project (Literally!)

My name is Samson. Nine years ago I was found, along with my brothers and sisters, in a cardboard box outside an office building somewhere in Atlanta. A nice human picked up the box and brought us inside. She kept us warm and fed us. But she couldn’t keep us all.

Lucky for us, the office was full of nice people who loved little furry animals, and I had a new home the very same day. When I arrived I thought I’d hit the jackpot. My human had tons of yummy food, a huge litter box (I like my space) and a toy box chock full of feathery and noisy toys. All for me.

The first few hours were fantastic. I weighed about two pounds (the moron who left me in a box didn’t even wait until I was old enough to fend for myself) and had some big paws to grow into. My human had dry crunchy food AND wet food so I ate. And ate. And ate.

Then it happened.

From behind a closed door she appeared. A giant, lion-like creature. She hissed. She growled. She was NOT happy.

All for me? I don’t think so. My human had great intentions, but she had a kid already, and that kid did not want a new sibling. It was like when human parents bring a newborn home from the hospital and the older kid asks when it’s going back.

The nice lady with the big hair and lots of jewelry picked up an electronic box and started pressing buttons. I know now that it was a cell phone (you’ll see pictures of me with mine later) and she was calling her animal lover daughter.

“Hi, it’s me. I just brought home the cutest thing ever. Come see him.”

The daughter, who she called Mindy, said, “OK, I’ll come this weekend. He sounds like a cutie.”

“No, come now. And bring the kids.”

Mindy, who had an 8 year old and 5 year old, packed them up in the car and headed over to meet me.

What happened next was pretty funny. The kids were naturally oohing and ahhing over me. I was pretty flipping adorable. Then they looked at Mindy and said, “We HAVE to have him. Please?! Pleaaassseee!!! We want to take him home now.” What Mindy did not see was the stack of supplies, packed and ready to go, in the corner. Her mom knew exactly what would go down as soon as those little humans hit her door.

“Daddy, it’s us. Gramma has this furbaby and we have to have him.” Then lots of screeching and pleading until Mindy found herself in the car with two kids. And me. Well played, Gramma. Well played.

Mindy’s family had rescued lots of cats and dogs. At that time they had a dog named Otto and cat named Emily. I started to wonder how they would react to a new sibling.

We got to the house and they had a bedroom set up for me. It was great, lots of windows, more toys and more attention than I could ever imagine. I slept in that room for a few days so Otto and Emily could get used to having me in the house.

They would sniff around and come see me, and were always friendly! By the end of the week, I had full reign of the house and played freely with my new four-legged and two-legged family.

Otto and I became instant friends. Look how happy he is when I curl up with him! His look says it all.

And it didn’t take long for me to realize we were just alike. We both have four legs. We both growl at the mailman. We both have lots of fur. We both play fetch. And we both love to eat.

Man it was good to have another dog in the house. That cat, Emily, was really annoying. All she did was sleep and eat. She never greeted the humans at the front door. She was completely indifferent to all the cool squirrels in the yard and never wagged her tail. I think she was sick. Luckily, we dogs stuck together and were having a ball.

Here I am with my sisters and Otto after just a few weeks together!

So that’s how I became part of the Levy family almost a decade ago.