Sammy, a five year old Cock-a-Poo, belongs to Rick Lambert who found him "at a place in Montana online. I was living in D.C. working for XM Satellite Radio at the time so they actually drove him to D.C., instead of flying (...) and we picked him up at a pet store there. He was kind of a loopy dog, loved running around and it's actually what I wanted," Lambert said.

Sammy loves to go on hikes with Lambert and they have gone many places together. "We can hike for 10 to 12 miles," Lambert explained, "We've been to the alpine lakes up in the Cascades including Snow Lake, Talapus, Ollalie, Melakwa he hikes them all. At first he was one of those that would get up to the lake and look back and ask for permission. He doesn't ask for permission that much anymore. He'll just slowly walk into the lake, eases his belly down in and then slowly swims off like a graceful swimmer. He loves alpine lakes."

This dog has a ton of toys but "his ultimate favorite is one of those squeaky tennis balls."

Sammy is also an inveterate squirrel chaser. "I know it's a common trait for most dogs to chase squirrels, but Sammy learned early on that chasing them was futile. Now, he stalks them. He will sit and watch a squirrel all day, if I'd let him. He stays frozen in time when squirrels get near...and many have. Squirrels have been known to come within inches of Sammy and he'll even let them just walk away. The chase is only on if they "run" away...after all, if they run...they must want to play," Lambert said.

He's not a big eater and Lambert said he was "a hard dog to get to eat." So...his diet consists of Orijen dog food which is a dry dog food but not without some improvements. "This may sound like 'spoiled dog' but we actually have to boil a chicken breast, which lasts a week, but putting little pieces in there it gets him to eat. Otherwise he's not an eater, he's a player." Sammy does enjoy some curly rawhide treats from Next to Nature however.

Though Sammy has very soft fur, he's all about the action, not cuddling. "If you've got time to cuddle you've got time to play and he'll go grab a ball, though he is a foot dog, he loves to lay on your feet," Lambert said.

Big black labrador retrievers figure prominently in Sammy's life. "That was his first friend," Lambert explained, " and it was my brother's dog. It was a big black female dog. She was really gentle with him and he just took to that. So ever since then he loves black labs.

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