Sam and Tiffany
I stared in disbelief, my jaw dropping to my chest. Huddled inside a filthy cage made of rusted chicken wire were at least fifteen whimpering little black standard poodle puppies. I had answered an ad in the paper and it had led me to this backwoods farm in South Carolina, but I had no idea that I would encounter such atrocious conditions.
My heart wanted to rescue every dog there. Knowing that was not feasible, I carefully chose the tiniest, dirtiest, most frightened pup in the cage. I noticed that her little paws were cut and raw from standing on chicken wire, and her coat was matted. She looked at me with sad yet hopeful eyes as I reached out for her and took her from the other pups, holding her trembling body in one hand. She was so very little for being eight weeks old, but the seller assured me it was safe to take her.
Since these dogs didn’t have papers, I paid a minimal amount and left, cuddling my new puppy to my chest in an attempt to comfort her. I was happy to have rescued her, but saddened and angered at the thought of the puppies that remained behind.
Tiffany may have started life poorly, but the horror of those early weeks was soon forgotten as she became the queen of our house and hearts. Despite my vet’s concerns that she would never develop to full size, she became the most elegant standard poodle you can imagine. Now I was sorry she didn’t have papers, because her conformation and intelligence would have merited her being in the show ring. She looked stunning after a grooming with bright pink ribbons adorning her jet black ears, and she would prance around as if she knew she was gorgeous.
But the standard poodle was bred to hunt. Tiffany loved outdoor life on our six-acre horse farm more than she would have loved a beauty pageant. Hunting rabbits was her favorite pastime, but she was just as content to lazily lie on the back deck of our house and watch the horses graze in the pasture. She knew her boundaries, and my husband, Pedro, and I could fully trust Tiffany to never leave the farm . . . that is, until Sam came into her life.
Sam was our neighbor’s German shepherd—a beautiful dog, beyond a doubt. But he became an awful nuisance as he began jumping over the fence and luring Tiffany to follow him on his daily adventures through the woods. It was apparent in no time that they had become best friends, and she would rather listen to his beck and call to roam the neighborhood than to our insistence that she stay put.
To our dismay, we had to take away some of Tiffany’s freedom by making a fenced dog run for her so that she could not follow Sam. We thought we had the problem solved until we came home from work one day and discovered that Tiffany was gone. The pen was empty. We called her name in desperation, expecting her to bound out of the backwoods of our property with her usual joy (and maybe a little guilt after escaping from the pen). But she did not come. I frantically called my neighbor, Sam’s owner, and was informed that Sam was safely at home. That’s when I began to panic. If Sam was home, where was Tiffany? She would never leave without him.
Pedro and I searched by foot and by car, calling her name, but there was no response. A neighbor a few roads down said he had seen Sam and Tiffany earlier on the other side of the highway. So we looked much farther than we ever imagined she could have roamed, but to no avail. My heart pounded within my chest at the realization that we might never find her. As friendly, loving, and beautiful a dog as Tiffany was, maybe someone just picked her up and took her home. I imagined her leaping into a stranger’s car and the person ridding her of her identification tag.
That thought was bad enough. More frightening still was the idea that I might find her lying hurt or even dead on the side of a road somewhere. I was frantic, but it got too late to look any longer, so we headed home. I never slept that night, and the next day I put posters up all over town offering a reward to anyone who had seen her. But the phone remained silent.
Pedro already had an attitude toward Sam that now had escalated to anger. He blamed him for Tiffany’s disappearance. Not that Sam had a liking for my husband either, because he always met him with a low growl, as if warning him to keep his distance.
But late one afternoon, three days after Tiffany disappeared, the strangest thing happened. Sam came over to our yard and started barking at my husband, who was working in the garden. At first Pedro ignored the dog. “Go home, Sam!” Pedro commanded with audible irritation in his voice. Sam started to run off but then turned back around and barked at Pedro, refusing to budge.
“I told you to go home, Sam. Now get!” Pedro scolded. Once again Sam started to run off, then abruptly turned and barked, refusing to go any farther.
It was then that a remarkable communication occurred between man and dog. Pedro suddenly realized that Sam was trying to get him to follow him. He approached the huge dog. Instead of being met with a growl, Sam looked at Pedro with approval and scampered toward the woods, all the while looking back to make sure Pedro was following him. Through the trees and brambles, dead leaves and branches, Sam led my husband into the woods and across a stream. Finally, Sam stopped and stood hovering over something.
As Pedro drew nearer, he could not believe his eyes. There was our Tiffany lying on the ground, seemingly lifeless, her thick coat caught in a terrible trap of brambles and thorns. Sam stood over her as if guarding her while Pedro worked frantically to free our precious dog. Dehydrated and weakened, but with no major injuries after being trapped for three days in the woods, Tiffany rose slowly to her feet, then happily kissed my husband’s face. Sam stood nearby wagging his tail, as if aware of his great accomplishment. Our beloved dog was alive, thanks to Sam.
Sam and Tiffany remained friends for years. Fiercely devoted to one another, Sam would often visit Tiffany in her tightly secured run area. We now welcomed his appearance. This handsome brown-and-black German shepherd who once was an annoyance in our minds would forever be a hero in our hearts.