Family: Arjuna Balasingham, Kimery Leong and kids Ed and Barry Balasingham
Pet: Sammi
Age: 11 years
Breed: Mixture of possibly Labrador, Shar Pei, pit bull, Australian Ridgeback, Whippet (she is a very fast runner).
Adoption story: We got her at 9 months old from a rescue organization called Cooper’s Dream. Her foster parent had cats and now she loves to be near our neighborhood cats. Neither Arj nor Kimery had ever had a dog before so the humans needed to be trained to train the dog. While training Sammi to sit down at each street corner, I would snap my finger and command, “Sit!” One time, I was surprised to see that not only Sammi sat down on the sidewalk, but also Barry and Ed (then ages 6 and 3).
Likes: Sammi used to like playing fetch with a ball, jumping over obstacles like patio furniture, and terrorizing the mailman. Now that she’s more senior, she loves napping and terrorizing the mailman.
Dislikes: She doesn’t like showers, especially cold ones from the hose. She also gets distraught when we roughhouse.
Interesting facts: She spent her first five years living in San Francisco. When she first arrived in Piedmont, she climbed a tree at Linda Park, chasing a squirrel, while the squirrel snickered at her foolishness. Once, she ate six hard-boiled eggs that were cooling on the kitchen counter, shells and all. She has a lot of extra skin that makes her fun to pet. She’s sweet and wants to please. Sammi loves to curl up next to you and the central heating vent in the winter.
