July 2017
In May 2015 we heard of a Sammy girl at the Everett shelter. They told us Princess was bought as a puppy and turned out into the back yard, and lived there until she was 11 years old, when her family didn’t want her anymore and took her to the shelter. Friends Erin and Tom picked her up and brought her to us. Kathy was on a trip to see relatives at the time, so Princess and I got used to each other. They said she didn’t like men, but we got along fine. She was quite fearful and didn’t like surprises or sudden moves toward her. But by the time Kathy returned, Princess was bonded to me. Everywhere I went, she tagged along. If I went out to the garage, I knew when I opened the door to return that she would be standing there watching the door. Then she would scurry away like I wasn’t supposed to know she followed me.
She had a limp most of her previous life, which we know because the shelter was so disgusted with the people that they gave us all the records, names included. We treated her with Adequan and a newer procedure called “platelet rich plasma.” Between the two, she got better. She remained a little fearful and nervous the rest of her life and spent most of her days curled under my desk. We soon concluded she would be a permanent foster, both because of her age and her timidity meeting new people. We enjoy our seniors and Princess fit right in.
A couple weeks ago our pack got kennel cough. We think it was from a shelter dog although we can’t be positive. Each of the dogs coughed for a while and then recovered. Princess had it for about a week, but was doing OK and still eating and drinking. She acted like she didn’t feel great during the evening of June 25, but at bedtime she seemed better and laid down to sleep. I woke at midnight and her breathing was labored. As we were deciding what to do, Princess took her last breath. It might have been that the kennel cough went into pneumonia, or maybe her heart just gave out. Princess was only here two years, but it felt like she was a part of the family. We’re going to miss her terribly.
We were concerned about Celene, who came from the Kootenai shelter early last month. She was in such poor condition we were worried we might have to let her go. We decided to let her rest as much as possible, and began giving her Meloxicam and Tramadol. She is almost double her proper weight, and x-rays show her hips are the worst we have ever seen. In addition, she had vulvular dermatitis that was so bad it had ulcerated. Every day we had to clean her with a special soap and use an antibiotic ointment.
As time passed, she began to stand without crying. Recently she has been trying to run a little, and although those hips are never going to improve, the treatment seems to be helping. We just began giving her Adequan injections and we’re cautiously optimistic.
When Snow came from the Clackamas County shelter she was shown as a spayed female. Recently Rowdy, who is neutered, nevertheless began showing great interest in her. Snow went to the vet for a quick check, and although she wasn’t in heat, our vet examined her and found cells that are only present in an intact female. We had to delay her spay an extra two weeks because of kennel cough, but surgery found she had all her parts, and that has now been remedied. We believe we might have the perfect home for her. We’re going to take this very, very slowly because of her history. With luck, her future will be as an only dog in a wonderful home.
Herbie’s 14th birthday is July 20. He came last year on July 4, a day after someone dumped him in the Kent area. Through his microchip we learned his exact age, but unfortunately his people never thought to update their records after they moved, so he stayed with us. Herbie is a giant of a dog, a big gentle guy whose goal in life is to block doorways so he knows when we pass by, so he can follow us.
We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t have favorites over the years. We lost two of them in past weeks. Scooter was placed with a woman who had adopted previously, so in 2013 we were astonished to hear of a dog found as a stray who turned out to be him. We subsequently placed him with John and Theresa, who must have seemed to Scooter to be Saints. They nursed him back to health, then through a number of further health challenges as he got older. His body finally gave out and they had to let him go. The second was Nicky, who was placed with Holley and Hans in Seattle. He showed his regal side as he took his daily walks every day among his subjects around Green Lake. Toward the end, he got his own doggie stroller so he could continue to be admired on his regular walks. We are humbled by the love and caring of our adopters.
As this is written, our annual picnic is a few days away. Each year we post pictures of it, which you can see at http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue/ (along with pictures of the rescue dogs and fosters).