Dan Antion

One-Liner Wednesday – Faith Meet Sammy

Faith came over on Sunday, ostensibly to finish a bench she has been making in my workshop. Maddie and I delayed her entry into the shop – Maddie with some oooh-oooh-oooh-Faith-is-here-Faith-came-to-see-me time and me with two heavy desks located in the basement family room and a dumpster in the driveway. Maddie was mad at me, because when we were schlepping stuff up and out, Maddie had to be in her crate. So, when we were done filling that dumpster, Faith agreed to take Maddie out with the clear and present expectation that sitting would be required.

They were only gone a few seconds when my phone rang:

“Can you please bring some peanuts out here…”

Faith managed to capture the encounter with Sammy on video. For any of you who have wondered whether Sammy and Maddie really have a friendly relationship, Faith’s video (below the gallery) should suffice as evidence. The best part is at the end, when Maddie points at Sammy as if to alert us to an intruder.

The photos, offered as additional proof, were taken earlier, after Maddie and I returned from our walk and a few minutes after Faith’s encounter when we sat with Maddie, Sammy and his merry band of neighbors. I think they were trying to decide how many peanuts I had brought to Faith’s rescue.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

“Hi, is the lady of the house at home?”
“Nom nom nom – I love walnuts.”
“Hold up there! Can we talk about those peanuts you’re supposed to have.”
“Hi. I know you gave me a bit of walnut, but I ate it and I’m still hungry. Got more?”
“So, do you have those peanuts?”
“Hi there. You’re new around here. I’m Sammy. They should have given you a bag of peanuts before sending you out here…”
“Hi again. Sammy here. Got peanuts?”
Sammy does get scared now and then.
When Maddie is on her cot, she really doesn’t care about the squirrels.
Yeah, this guy doesn’t look hungry, but he’s got to keep up his weight as it gets colder.
“Yikes. Can you raise this gate an inch or two. I’ve put on a few ounces.”
“I love this photo that Faith took of Sammy.”
After Faith finished working on her project, she helped me clean up te leaves. She likes using the leaf-blower.
After our work was done, it was off to the bar. I forgot to snag a picture until we were almost done, but we started with an order of BBQ Tots
After sharing those tots, I had an order of Mussels

67 comments

  1. I have never seen a squirrel get that close to a dog without some sort of repercussions for the squirrel. That is quite the relationship and chunky Sammy doesn’t hold back much for the peanuts. You and the Editor have him spoiled…maybe Santa will bring all of you a 50 lb. bag of peanuts for the winter so that Faith never has to make an emergency peanut call again.

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    • I think Sammy just wants the nuts. It’s like he understands that Maddie brings us out, where he can put the arm on us. Faith was working hard to keep Maddie from giving chase. It’s much harder when Maddie is up. On her cot, she couldn’t seem to care less about Sammy.

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  3. So sweet. I just love Sammy and Maddie. And Faith! It’s so difficult to envision Maddie being hyper from all those mellow moments with the squirrels only inches away! Will we get to see Faith’s bench project?

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    • Thanks Mike. When Maddie is on her cot, she really tends to ignore the little guys. We work to toss the nuts away from the cot, but they keep coming back. Eventually, we give them a shelled nut (which they take to the next or to bury) and the stay away.

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      • I have lots of squirrel activity in my front yard without any effort on my part. They seem to like to dig a lot in the areas where I put down a lot of topsoil earlier in the year.

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  7. I laughed out loud at the photo of Sammy trying to squeeze underneath the fence. A few more walnuts and he’ll have trouble hauling his belly up a tree 🤣

    Watching the video and the way Sammy was walking back and forth in front of Maddie made me think that he was actually blocking Faith’s path until she paid the peanut toll. He’s the worst kind of criminal … using charm to extort his peanut tax 😉

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    • Thanks Joanne. We were laughing like crazy when they would squeeze under that gate. Sammy isn’t even the biggest one. The one sitting on the trash bin is quite a bit heavier, and we don’t feed it often. That one only shows up in the back yard. Sammy is the one that will come around and knock on the front door.

      We keep small bags of nuts near Maddie’s leash, and my wife and I find them in almost every jacket we wear around the yard. Sammy is getting very bold. We worry that he might think all dogs are like Maddie – that would be a problem.

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  8. Oh my goodness, Dan, that is SO adorable! So those two are friends! I bet Faith was holding her breath taking this video. LOL This video just proves we ALL can be friends, despite our differences. LOVED this post!!! You put a huge smile on my face! 🤗

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  9. Great post!! The video of Maddie and Sammy is just too cute. I get that Maddie is on a leash, but nevertheless, that she isn’t straining against that leash trying to get to Sammy is incredible!! Good girl Maddie!

    Faith is brave indeed putting her hand within biting distance of Sammy. Maybe he’s so used to you and the Editor spoiling him with peanuts he’s elated to have another human serve him his dinner. He is the chunkiest squirrel I’ve ever seen! Lol.

    You can’t make this stuff up! 😄 —-Ginger—-

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    • Thanks Ginger. We joke about what it will be like if we have to explain why we have rabbis. Maddie wasn’t pulling on the leash, but we keep it tight when she’s walking. Sammy scares me when he comes back toward us, within the range of the leash and us with no way to really stop Maddie.

      On the cot, Maddie doesn’t seem to care at all. Sammy actually had is front paw on the edge of the cot at one point. We were in too much of a hurry to throw a nut into the yard, for fear that he’d jump up on the cot.

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  12. We had mussels last night. Aldi has the best deal on them and we have them often. Sammy’s quite daring, but I agree that there might have been a bit of taunting involved and without the leash, the story/video would have been quite different, I think. :-)

    janet

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    • I love mussels! Yum.

      We’ve had squirrels that taunted our other dogs by running along the fence, but Maddie only rarely chases them, even when off the leash. Actually, she likes being on the leash for her “business trips” – we were trying to get her to go out alone last night (it was raining) and she would have none of it.

      I think/hope the squirrels would give Maddie a wide berth if she was off-leash – unless they think she’s got a bag of peanuts.

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    • Ha ha – Now I will be thinking about that when I see him, Lois. I do imagine he’s saying stuff to us, particularly the first time we see him and I imagine he thinks he’s starving (although his belly doesn’t support that argument).

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    • The ones we encounter on our walks in the park are skittish, John. These guys grew up here. Sammy was actually orphaned when his mother was hit by a car in front of our house. That’s when my wife started feeding him.

      Maddie sits and watched the world go by. We have pictures of her watching bunnies, chipmunks, birds and all these guys. Just don’t let a cat enter the yard. She goes nuts at that point and she’s almost impossible to hold.

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    • Ha ha – no, but I don’t leave my phone out there, they might send my wife a text message with that peanut emoji.

      Faith called after Sammy stopped her for his peanut toll.

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  21. That is so sweet! She’s almost like, Hey come back here, lil gray fluff!
    I can’t relate, obviously. My love for squirrels is not okay with Sadie, not at all, and vice versa. But you’re lucky :)

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    • Thanks. They are fun to watch. We worry that the squirrels will think all dogs are like Maddie and run up to a Sadie, and…

      But they’ve gotten demanding as the weather turns cold. Then again, there were very few acorns this year and way less of the Maple seeds, so they are struggling to find food.

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  24. This is so precious! That is one chunky squirrel. I love when they hold their hands over their chest like that.
    I rehabbed and hand fed many a squirrel. We often wonder if the ones that come really close like yours is one that was hand fed

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  25. Aww, Maddie is a very good dog! Such a sweetheart with no yanking on her leash and just looking at Sammy!
    The mussles would be right up my Dad’s alley, Dan. The BBQ tater tots look extra yummy. 😋 I like it you had Faith with you, right?

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    • He’s actually put his front feet on the edge of her cot. She hasn’t gone after him yet. If he were running in the yard and she were loose, I think it would be a problem. I think her dog-brain would take over. And, he’s getting too fat to squeeze through the fence ;-)

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