Angel walks the walk with owner and best friend Sam

It is not everyone that is fortunate to do the walk of life with their very own ‘Angel’, which makes Limavady man Sam Dickson very lucky.
Angel gives owner Sam Dickson a big kiss. INLS2613-166KMAngel gives owner Sam Dickson a big kiss. INLS2613-166KM
Angel gives owner Sam Dickson a big kiss. INLS2613-166KM

A cute blonde with a wide range of party tricks, Angel, an Akita dog, has a disarming personality and the knack of putting people at ease despite the fact that she is close to six feet tall when she stands on her hind legs to give a hug or kiss (see photo right).

Angel came into Sam’s life by accident: “She’s very much a family pet. She’ll be seven in November and she came to live with me when she was one. My son said her previous owners needed to find new home for Angel because the woman who owned her was being relocated due to her work and could not take the dog with her, so I ended up taking the dog. I have had her now for six years,” said Sam.

Sam had been in another band before joining Newbuildings crew The Pride of the Orange and Blue a year ago as Drum Major, but despite being at the front of the band, with some fancy footwork and baton tricks, no matter how hard he tries to impress Angel steals the show, displaying the patience of a saint as she waits for Sam to catch his baton before setting off again.

“It does not matter what music or noise there is, she is happy as long as she just walks with me,” says Sam.

Angel even has her own range of jackets.

“A woman in Limavady makes dog coats, and this is Angel’s fourth jacket,” Sam says of the navy blue one pictured.

“Angel has been asked to walk in Scotland at Coatbridge at the ‘Scottish Twelfth’ on July 6, so Angel has another coat coming for that. My colleagues call my car ‘the kennel’ because it was bought for the dog and when people see us out they say ‘there’s the dog that walks with the band.’ Everybody knows us.”

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