September 2013
In April 2012 we heard about a dog in the Cle Elum area that had been seen many times, but nobody could catch her. We asked Kathy Thomas to help, and she drove over with her dog and a bunch of chicken snacks. Happily, she was successful and the dog got in the car with her. We named her Faith, a name thought up by one of the rescuers in the area who had been keeping people up to date with efforts to catch her. We think she is a husky mix, not a Samoyed, but we’ll always be grateful to Kathy for getting her for us.
Faith learned quickly she was safe and we placed her with Jill, who named her Stella. We’ve been getting entertaining updates ever since, like the time Stella jumped up on the stove to eat dinner off the back burner. One of the first things she learned was to pull a cart, and lately we hear stories about Stella trying to catch up with cars that passed her. It must be a wild ride for Jill, who has clocked Stella at more than 24 mph. This week we had an update with this picture of Stella (on the right) waiting for the green light so she could take off running. This is what a rescue success looks like.
Trent is the aging Malamute mix we took in the middle of July. We expected him not to be with us very long because he was so sick, just emerging from kidney failure and barely able to walk. Today you wouldn’t know he was the same dog. Although there’s no cure for old age, his kidneys are healed now and he has started to run, especially when there’s food involved. A couple weeks ago our vet suggested Duralactin, a new NSAID based on milk protein, and the difference in his mobility has been significant. Kathy has groomed him a few times, and last week was able to spend significant time combing (the picture shows him next to the hair combed out from only one side). He is looking great and has bonded to us like no previous foster. We were told that’s a characteristic of Malamutes. We enjoy his company and expect he will live out his life here.
Twelve year old Chip is our other foster, and he has been here for nearly two years. Many years ago he had TPLO surgery and has had a pronounced limp since he arrived. Lately it’s getting worse and he is going to the vet soon to see if there is anything we can do.
This month we had a first; a woman wrote and asked if we would take her cat. We’re still shaking our heads about that one, but we recommended a cat rescue group close to her. Life gets more interesting every day.
As we get closer to the holiday shopping season, please remember you can help Northwest Samoyed Rescue at no cost to yourself. If you enter the Amazon website through our link, we automatically get a small percentage of what you spend. Go to www.nwsams.com and click the Amazon link. It’s simple and it really works.