October 2015
Back in May we had a call from the Everett shelter and picked up an eleven year old girl by the name of Princess. She had lived in the yard all her life and was actually a little confused being in the house. It took us a little time to realize the reason she wasn’t eating was because she didn’t understand food being in a metal dish. When someone suggested her owners may have tossed food out the door for her we began feeding on the floor and she ate with enthusiasm. These months later she still doesn’t like a dish, so we have a special towel we put on a pillow, and her food goes on it.
Princess was initially afraid of everything. She was suddenly mixed in with other dogs and humans who wanted to be social, very different than her previous life. Gradually she came around nicely, albeit slowly, and we mark the special occasions like sneaking up beside one of us and waiting for petting. Her tail is up most of the time now, and when we call her in from the yard she runs happily toward the house. We expect she will stay with us because she isn’t a good candidate for adoption. We will enjoy her as long as she stays. The is nothing as special as a senior Sammy.
It has been a slow month in rescue. Another few applications come in each month, and we always have to say our waiting list is long and getting longer, while no dogs have needed our help. Recently we modified our application webpage to ask people not to apply unless they want an older dog, but still we have people who want young dogs or puppies. We try to help people who ask us to find a breeder’s dog, so if you know of an adult dog that is available, please let us know.
Do you remember Jack, who came into rescue a couple years ago? He had hairless patches all over his body and he was over 110 pounds. After finding him a home that didn’t work out, he came back and we decided he should stay. Over the months he has lost weight until he is now 60 pounds. We’ve had him on thyroid medicine and his coat has grown back except for his tail. We modified the meds slightly and will be taking him back to the vet in a month for more tests. Jack is one of the most mellow, well behaved, and loving dogs we have had.
Ron, Kathy, Melissa, Terry, and Joy make up the board for Northwest Samoyed Rescue. All of us are past retirement age now, and we can’t run rescue forever. If someone is willing to help, and perhaps someday take over, now is the time to step forward. We can all work with our replacements to make a smooth transition as long as we are still here. We can still do most of the work while you get experience. Otherwise, someday it’s going to be a difficult transition — or maybe Samoyed Rescue will disappear. There will always be dogs who need us and we don’t want that to happen.