November 2013
On October 30 we had a call from Ryann, who signed up a couple years ago as the Samoyed representative for Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue. She had received a call from the Olympia shelter asking if she could pass along a message to us; apparently they couldn’t find our contact info. We called to find out they had just taken in a Samoyed as an owner-surrender, and did we want to pick him up? Since it’s our local shelter Kathy was there and back in just over an hour.
His owner gave a story about moving. His name is Jack, and he is about eight years old. His coat is terrible, with patches of bare skin, and he is grossly overweight. What wasn’t wrong is his personality, which is 100% Samoyed. This is one of the friendliest dogs we have ever seen. He loves everyone and behaves like a gentleman.
We were able to get him to the vet right away, where he weighed in at 116 pounds. Really. The vet thought his coat problem was a combination of poor nutrition and being shaved frequently; the name for that is “post-shave alopecia.” Jack immediately went on a diet, and after a day or two he had a bath. Within a few more days we could see hair growth, so we think the vet was right.
Jack got along with all our dogs, although Trent had the typical “last-in” response, telling us it wasn’t fair to add another dog. But he got over it and Jack settled in. We had an application from a couple in Graham willing to take a middle aged dog, so we set up a time and went to visit. Jack went along, and they thought he was wonderful. The question was whether their other family dog, a German Shepherd, would accept him. She had been abused in her former life and is paranoid about almost everything. Even though the dog belongs to their son, and they live in a separate home, they had to make the decision. We brought Jack back home so they could think about it, and on the 10th they came to visit Jack again. They felt their Shepherd would adapt, so Jack went home. First reports are all positive, and we think he has a terrific new home.
We are fast approaching the holiday season, and we hope you remember Northwest Samoyed Rescue benefits from your purchases at Amazon when you enter through our website. Your shopping experience is exactly the same, but when you start on our site we get a percentage of everything you buy. It’s a much-appreciated way to benefit rescue, and simple as it gets. Please bookmark www.nwsams.com/amazon and start there next time you go to Amazon. If you don’t remember the exact link, the link is on the front page of our website. Click the large “Amazon” logo and go from there. Thanks!