Meet Sam, neighbor (and grading person) John’s dog. His incredible eyes are his most distinctive visual characteristic. His ears are probably the second.

Sam is the most skittish dog I have ever met. I fed him for a week earlier in the summer when John and his family took a vacation. He watched me from the woods but never came close. Prior to the last few days I have been able to pet him only when John’s helper Ron was petting him. Ron picked Sam up from his previous owners for John and took him to John’s home. Apparently for that reason Sam thinks Ron saved him. Sam also lets John’s wife’s son Logan pet him. But never me, or Leah, or even John.

And then Zeke escaped on Friday and ran for hours with Sam. And then Zeke escaped again on Saturday and ran for hours with Sam. Logan and Sam have taken evening walks with Leah, Zeke, Lucy and me (and the other dog next door), and now Zeke has recruited Sam as a pack member.

Sam lets me pet him now. In fact, he voluntarily approaches me for petting. If I happen to touch him when he doesn’t expect it, he still jumps away, but he comes back. He took a walk with me and the dogs on Sunday. I tried to shoo him away because I didn’t want him to get hit by a car, but I couldn’t bring myself to be harsh enough to make him to go back. He actually did quite well on the walk. He stayed fairly close, and he ran up into the woods whenever a car approached.

Here he is with the little brown dog I mentioned earlier.

Sam’s coat is probably just as dirty as Zeke’s was after his rain-soaked romp, but its color is almost perfect to hide the red clay we have around here. The neighbors who have been taking care of the little brown dog have named him Copper. We have trouble remembering that and usually call him Cooper, which is the name of my nephew’s dog.

Copper is supposed to go to the neighbor’s mother’s house soon. I hope she spoils him. Sam, on the other hand, seems quite happy lying in our driveway.