January 2020
In recent years we haven’t seen the number of dogs we did in the “old days,” but the beginning of this year feels like we have gone back in time. First was Starla, the young female we picked up from a home where they didn’t have the time she needed; we are more convinced than ever that Starla’s family genuinely had her best interests in mind. Starla has a new home now and couldn’t have landed anywhere better. She now lives with Bruce and Bess. Starla (now Star) has decided she loves to run, including in the snow, and she gets daily walks and weekends full of skijoring. They are carefully watching her weight and she is losing her extra pounds while getting in shape. It must feel like being at fun camp. We traced the breeder and placed him with her knowledge.
Since June we’ve had our eyes on Jaiozi, a young male in the Seattle area. The owner asked if we could help, and we were able to work out a meeting with a previous adopter. Jaiozi moved to eastern Washington – for a day. He turned out to be too much for our adopter because he had too much energy and pulled on the leash, which she couldn’t handle. A month or two later we saw the dog on Facebook, and we contacted the owner again. Communication has been slow, but if things work out the way we expect, he should be in foster in about a week from the writing of this report. Our fingers are crossed. He is being re-homed because he doesn’t get along with the other resident Samoyed.
We are grateful to Darlene for fostering Cloud, a boy we placed two years ago in Boise. His family had an opportunity to buy a business in Hawaii but couldn’t find a place to rent that would take Cloud. Darlene stepped in and took him while they kept looking, but word came that they just can’t find anything they can afford. She checked her own list without success, so now we’re going through names on our waiting list. There are at least two that match his needs, and we’ll decide which to call.
Each month we have small successes with Sophie or Tessa. Having kibble in the office, and offering Sophie a piece from my hand if she asks for it, has been helpful. Gradually I have put the kibble farther back on my hand, and now when she takes it I can touch her under the neck. She retreats, but comes back for another, while Tessa stands in the hall and catches hers. At night when the two go in their crates I’m able to feed both from my hand, and now when I drop some on the crate pad I can pet them while they eat it. First it was Sophie, and in the last few days Tessa doesn’t jump back when touched. A lot of this is desensitization, and although it’s glacially slow it’s beginning to work. Kathy is able to approach both of them, and depending on surroundings can often scratch both Sophie (she seems to like it) and Tessa (who tolerates it). The end of this month will mark two years since they got here. It looks more and more like they will live out their lives with us.
Fena, who is living with Kathi, is becoming more a normal dog every day. All three dogs came to us afraid of men, but Kathi has a dog-walker her dogs all love. Fena jumps in his car, goes to the dog park, and comes when he calls her. It has been a tremendous benefit that Kathi has a well-adjusted Samoyed girl who shows Fena that life is good there and everyone can be trusted. That doesn’t mean strangers are okay, but she is working on that too.
There was a seizure very recently in western Montana, where news reports say 25-30 “adult huskies” were taken from a bad situation where they were neglected and “in the wild” and saved just in time. After watching their video, we don’t see wild dogs, but we DO see at least two that look like Samoyeds. We’re trying hard to find someone we can trust to visit and tell us whether they are Sammies, but Hamilton, MT is 200 miles from anyone we could ask. If anyone has any ideas we would welcome your thoughts.
