RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - A new resident moved into the Lamplight Inn at the Leland on Easter morning.
A four-legged resident with a shiny black coat - a Labrador retriever named Sampson.
Marketing director Amanda Marquis told the Palladium-Item (https://pinews.co/1oIC4MH ) she had been looking for a dog for the senior care facility since she saw a trained grievance dog at a funeral in her hometown of Greenfield.
“Gosh, it would be nice to have a dog in our building,” she remembers thinking. For about three months, Marquis had been on the lookout, but with no success.
The night before Easter, she got a call from an old friend. He had been eating at a pizza place in Greenfield when he saw someone walk by leading a black lab on a shoestring. When Marquis’ friend finished his dinner, the dog was in the parking lot, shoestring dangling, and no sign of an owner.
The friend already had two dogs and didn’t feel comfortable introducing the lab that night. He spent the night in his car with the friendly animal and found someone who could scan him for a microchip the next morning. The dog had a chip and a name - Sampson - but, when contacted, his owners said they didn’t want him back.
So Marquis got a call.
“Sight unseen, I just said, ’I’ll take him,’” she said.
A few hours later, Marquis met her friend and Sampson at the Richmond dog park with her two Boston terriers. The animals got along immediately, so Marquis took Sampson home to her apartment at the Leland. After a bath and a visit to the veterinarian, Sampson began his new “job” - visiting with residents and staff and taking them on occasional walks.
“He’s just been a blessing,” Marquis said.
“The good Lord led him here,” said resident Julia Smith, whose dachshund is the only other dog in the building. Residents are allowed to have pets, but most choose cats because they are easier to care for. Even so, they miss their dogs and Sampson is happy to fill in.
“He’s definitely the lover boy of the Leland,” said Marquis, laughing.
As Marquis walks through the lobby with Sampson at her heels, nearly everyone motions for them to come over. “Everybody loves Sampson,” said resident Doris Stenger.
“He communicates well even though he can’t speak,” Marquis said. Sampson seems drawn to the residents with speech and vision problems, she said.
Social time with Sampson has been added to the facility’s activities calendar. So far, the dog has done everything asked of him.
“He seems to be all about it,” said Marquis. “The residents - sometimes, they can’t remember my name, but they always remember Sampson’s.”
“He has such a nice disposition,” Smith said. “He’s very calming.”
Marquis said Sampson shows no signs of past abuse and is well trained. He has proven to be everything she hoped for when she thought about having a dog for the building.
“He sure has worked his wonders in the short time he’s been here,” she said.
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Information from: Palladium-Item, https://www.pal-item.com
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