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RAYMOND, Wash. -- Lori Bowerman says her dog, Sampson, knows when it’s time to come home.



“He knew to come home. He knew he was going to get help if he came home,” Bowerman said Monday.



Bowerman said the 5-year-old husky almost didn't make it home after playing in the woods near her Raymond property two Sundays ago.



“When he came home, he collapsed at the edge of our driveway. We didn`t know what was wrong with him, we thought he’d gotten hit by a car,” she said.



Bowerman said her husband got Sampson to the local vet right away. Once there, an X-ray revealed a hunting arrow lodged in Sampson’s skull near his left eye.



“It was a kill shot. I hunt and I fish, up until 15 years ago, and that was a kill shot,” said Bowerman.









The surgery was too much for the local vet to handle, so the Bowermans drove three hours to Tacoma to see veterinarian Dr. Jerry Demuth.



“He`s very lucky. It was embedded in an area that was, you know, if he would have gone a centimeter the other direction he wouldn`t be with us at all. He did lose the left eye and the trauma to his brain has compromised, hopefully short-term, the vision in his right eye, but he’s doing well,” said Demuth.



Lori can`t understand why anyone would try to kill Sampson -- to hunt him down.



“This was a mean act, you just don`t, it’s like shooting my kid, you just can’t put a value on that,” she continued.



And while Sampson may never be back to normal, Sam is definitely back.



Lori said it wasn't his eyes that brought him home. She believes ... it was his heart.



“At least half a mile, at least half a mile it took him to get home. It was not just our choice. It was his choice, he wanted to live,” said Bowerman.