‘There will never be another Samson’

“I had my heart set on a Basset Hound. But then we looked at this breed of dog I had never heard of, called a Rat Terrier. In that moment, I knew I was not going home with a Basset Hound. It ended up being one of the best decisions of my life.

“Samson came at a pivotal time. All my friends were dating somebody or getting married or having kids. While they were having these big life events, he was that thing in my life that I could be proud of. He was sort of my big life event.

“We kind of grew up together. I was in my early 20s, trying to find myself. He was my ride-or-die buddy. He went everywhere with me.

“It was a transitional time for me. I went to college in Alabama, then moved back to Texas, away from all my college friends. So he kind of filled that hole for me.

“As a puppy, he was really fun and goofy. As he got older, he developed this very serious personality. For a while, he was my registered emotional support animal. If I was having a panic attack or anxiety attack, he would sense it and come stand by me.

“When my husband and I got together, we were two pretty stupid young kids unprepared for marriage. We had a difficult time at the start. If we were arguing, Samson would come and stand between us. He would provide that wall of separation, that wall of peace. My husband would recognize it as, hey, we both need a moment here.

“We’ve been married 15 years, and we struggled with infertility. So, quite frankly, Samson was like my child. I babied him.

“It may sound crazy, and it probably is, but I found a lot of my identity through him. Not only did he help me grow up, he helped me get through some really difficult times in my life.

“A couple days before he passed, I had a going-away party for Sam. I wanted to give everybody a chance to love on him. It got very emotional.

“I have this hole in my heart now. Some people may not understand. They may think, oh, he’s just an animal, just a dog. But he was so much more than that to me. We had this connection that you couldn’t understand unless you experienced it.

“Even though I love all my other dogs, there will never be another Samson. He was that once-in-a-lifetime pet.”

— Trina Hattenstein