Sam with his Dad, Leland “Mike” Brown. Photo Courtesy of Karen Brown

BETHEL — Meet Sam. Sam is tiny black-haired pup who greets everyone with enthusiastic barks while wagging his tail. No need to fear! Sam is only protecting his Dad and owner, Leland Richard Brown. Once Sam learns you’re safe, he walks about, scrounging for food, before coming over and plopping his head in your lap.

However, there is more to Sam that meets the eye.

Brown originally bought Sam shortly after his wife, Barbara, had passed away, according to Peter Gould, Brown’s son-in-law. Seeking a comfort dog, he recused Sam from a mall in Tavares, FL when he was three months old. It became clear Sam loved food. He ate everything, from sticks of butter to cupcakes. He objected to only two things: celery and raw onion.

“He can rip open clear plastic wrap over food,” Gould says, nodding his head. “He leads a life of crime as a convicted food felon,” he adds, smilingly warmly.

Mostly notably is Gould’s favorite memory of Sam. This was when he ate three pounds of lobster. Gould had spent three-hours cooking lobster rolls from New Hampshire, left the room for a moment, and in went Sam on a mission, jumping up on whatever means necessary to obtain the lobster.

Jokes aside, Sam is an extremely sweet, loving dog. Once he recognizes you, he’ll lay in your lap, and even fall asleep. More so, he flies well on airplanes, and he enjoys Bethel because of the other dogs he’s met and has yet to meet.

Gould comes from a family that raised him to love animals. His first dog was a Gray Toy Poodle named Chico. Raised in New York City near Central Park South, he was delighted to take Chico on long walks through Central Park. When he moved to Greenwich, CT., his family bought two Afghan dogs, named McGregor and Sandy.

Throughout Gould’s life, he always had two dogs, and simultaneously two to three cats. He had a Black Lab, a Golden Retriever, German Shepherds, and his favorite: a Vizela named Wimp. He always had two dogs so they could play with another and have a friend.

Gould describes how much he loved his two massive hunting dogs who would run around and play relentlessly. If Gould threw a ball into the pool, they jumped in the pool for it. That’s when they discovered the floatable beach chairs in the pool. Soon, Gould would pull the floatable beach chairs to the shallow end, the dogs would jump on, and off they would go into the pool, floating on!

“By definition, all animals, if you show them kindness, they show you it,” Gould says.

Someone walks in through the door. On cue, Sam jumps up and begins barking his little bark. Gould points at Sam’s tail, which is wagging happily. Then he smiles, and begins walking away with Sam at his heels, wagging his tail merrily, his feet bouncing, almost as if he were dancing.

If you would like to have your dog featured, please contact Meira at mbienstock@bethelcitizen.com