Sam Merlotte

Sam Merlotte is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse Series by author Charlaine Harris. Sam lives in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and is the owner of a bar named Merlotte's. He is both a close friend of and the employer of mind-reading barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. Sam is a shape shifter. His biological mother was a shifter as well as his brother. He is a true shape-shifter in that he can take the form of any animal; although his preferred shape is that of a collie, he can change into any animal he has seen."