Sampson, our dog is getting on in years. He’s a German shepherd and is about 14 years old. Sampson has been a good pet but he was really my dad’s dog. My dad died a few years ago and Sampson has been kind of strange since then.
When our other German shepherd died by coincidence this guy had come into the police department wanting to know if we could use a dog for a K9 program. The department wasn’t ready for one at that time so I offered to take the dog. He was in the military and was being shipped overseas and I guess it was a big problem taking the dog with them. Odd though, as he was going to Germany…… 
He came out to the property and after the dog ran it’s self silly he gave my dad Sampson. Sampson is the fourth German Shepherd I have lived with. I must say that male shepherds are not as smart as the females. They are bigger but dumber. I base this observation on the fact that two of ours were male and two female. The females (both named Princes) were very intelligent and the two males were both dumb as a box of rocks. Still they are a great breed and I will probably get another one some day. For now I think we will take a break when Sampson in gone. Anyway we have our hands full with Morgan the cat… ruler of the house. But that is another story.