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SAM (Darkbeck Zebedee O.W.)
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This is Sam. Sam was born in April 1986 and was a son of Sylvia Bishop’s wonderful little Sunny, Ob.Ch. Magic Sunday, who I had admired from the first time I saw him at Crufts 1984. I desperately wanted one of his puppies and I was very lucky to hear about Sam’s litter and find that I had a choice of 3 dog pups. I chose Sam because he was the pup that looked most like his Dad.
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Sam was in the ring at 6 months, and won 4 Beginners when he was a year old. At one show, we were supposed to be working A and B, but I found I’d entered him in Open ‘C’ by mistake. Neither of us
had worked a ‘C’ before, but I decided to have a go, just for fun. I gave Sam a crash course in ASSD (positions on the move) and Distance Control and took him in the ring. He lost 5½ on the round, did a clear scent, and finished 3rd, gaining his first ticket qualifier. What an amazing dog.
By the time Sam was 8, his health was fine, but his heelwork position had gone to pot, and he was so OTT that I couldn’t get a decent round out of him, so he was retired and he spent the rest of his time playing with his toys and herding the cats. Sam died on 26th January 2000, aged 13¾. I often wonder what dizzy heights Sam could have reached if he hadn’t been so ill when he was younger. Two other pups from his litter went on to do incredibly well and became obedience champions, namely Ob.Ch. Darkbeck Kracker Pop and Ob.Ch. Darkbeck Houdini. Maybe Sam could have been at Crufts with them. I’ll never know for sure, but I like to think so. Sleep well, Sam. You were a dog in a million. I will never have another dog as clever as you. You spoilt me by making it all seem so easy. Wait for me at Rainbow Bridge, darling. We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun
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Sam was a very intelligent and keen dog and was very quick to learn. I literally had to show him something a couple of times and he’d got it. I remember taking him to the Gravesend Dog Club when he was 14 weeks old, and he surprised everyone by doing a Novice Recall, the length of
the hall, with a perfect present, and he could do an English or a Continental finish. The speed at which he learnt new things was often quite frightening to me as a pre-beginner handler, because I could teach him something the wrong way just as quickly.
Sam became ‘C’ only when he was 3, and won an Open ‘C’ just after his 4th birthday, but a few weeks later he became ill with what was to be the first of many illnesses, which then plagued him for the next 4 years.