April 2022
We have begun to make some small changes at Northwest Samoyed Rescue. At Melissa’s suggestion, we have been searching for some outside foster homes. For 20 years, almost all our dogs have been fostered by Melissa and Terry or Ron and Kathy. Right now Melissa and Terry have three fosters plus their own dogs (they had four!), and Ron and Kathy also have three fosters. Our newer board members, who will eventually run the show, don’t have space for foster dogs, so recently we posted on the Facebook group Northwest Samoyeds. We told them we needed experienced Samoyed homes with people who know the breed. Several families wrote to ask more, and we think this was a good move.
One of our new foster homes, in Albany, already has a foster boy. Yeti joined Kris and Paul March 26, and has fit well into their pack. Yeti’s family had a baby and they realized a young Samoyed wasn’t working out for them. They contacted rescue and we agreed to take him. He came from a one-time breeder in Utah, and his pedigree shows mostly Ukrainian dogs. He is going to be a great addition to someone’s family.
For several months we worked with a woman in Salem. Her daughter was a tech at an area vet who was asked to take in two stray dogs. She called her mother, who offered to care for them. Eventually the owner was found, and they didn’t want the dogs back. Unfortunately, one of the dogs, a girl named Luna, had a broken leg. After many trips to vets in the area they decided the break was so bad they needed to amputate the leg. When she took Luna to the vet, she had a UTI, so they postponed it. Later, when she took Luna back, the vet said scar tissue was holding things in place and they recommended doing nothing. As they said, 50% use of one rear leg was better than losing that leg.
As time went on, the woman realized her health challenges made it too difficult to care for a dog who needed to be lifted frequently, so she called us to take Luna. Melissa said she could take her, and Luna moved there on March 21. Luna has since seen Melissa’s vet, who concurs the right treatment is to leave things alone. We don’t know the date of her leg injury, but Luna seems not to be in any pain. Melissa says she gets up on the bed easily every night. Luna is a Samoyed mix, not purebred, but seems to have the Sammy personality. She is around 9 months old.
Our third young dog is Banjo. His owner’s daughter-in-law contacted us the first week of March. She said he had COPD and wasn’t able to walk a puppy, so Banjo had been loose in the house since he got there. Erin and Tom picked him up from a family member on March 10 and brought him here, and the following day Melissa came to get him. Banjo is obviously a social dog, happy and playful, and his house training came quickly as he spent time with the other dogs there. Banjo came from Whispering Pines, the Mennonite family in Idaho.
In early February we heard from a woman in Alaska who hoped we could help her find a good home for an eight-year-old girl named Elune. She is on the small side, and we thought she might be just right for our friend Terry. After many phone calls, the woman brought Elune south to spent time with Terry so she could decide whether it was a good match. It was, and now Elune has a great forever home with Terry in Lynden.
Kona has been adopted after spending four months with Melissa. She is now Layla and lives with Anita and Howard in the Salem area. They are the ones who adopted Freya, the girl with entropion, years ago. They lost Freya earlier this year and it was the right time for Kona, who came from northern Idaho. We think she might be from Whispering Pines, but we don’t know because the people who left her at the shelter said only that they wanted a different dog. Layla is a shy girl, but a sweetheart.
Shadah, at this writing, is with Melissa and Terry. If you’re counting dogs, you can see Melissa will soon be nominated for sainthood. Shadah came from a man in Salem who didn’t want her anymore because she wet on his expensive rugs. We told him to get her to the vet first, and of course she had a UTI. She also had a food allergy which caused a problem with her coat, but after the vet visit he still didn’t want her. So Shadah came to the Hopper Bed and Bark-fest where she will be seen by a potential adopter about the time you read this. She is a wonderfully mellow girl who should be a great companion. Shadah is eight years old and deserves to have a caring home.
Sophie and Tessa are still having issues coming indoors, so during the day they have to be walked. We generally let them out to run off-leash after dinner, because they always come back inside at bedtime. That’s when they get their bedtime kibble, and routine is their friend. We know after four years that both would benefit if we could split them up, but finding a home for a flight risk who is nearly feral, as both are, is close to impossible. There is only one like that, and Fena (the third girl from Iowa), is already there. If only we could clone Kathi!
Bella continues to surprise us. Since she was put on thyroid supplements her activity level is so much higher she sometimes acts like a puppy. We know her thyroid cancer will eventually take her, but she is such a happy-go-lucky girl we are having a great time fostering her. Her only real problem is a small bladder, which means she usually has to go out at night.
During March we heard of two more Samoyeds in southern Oregon, but as we were working on getting them, someone in Rogue River took them. Of course we would like to have had the chance to place them, but it was honestly two more dogs we don’t have room for. Are all these dogs part of the pandemic problem? Have they come from people who got dogs because they would be home, not understanding the work a Samoyed takes? Probably yes, but we don’t know for sure.
Because we have so many dogs, we have been working through our list of applications and trying to schedule home visits. It takes special homes for young dogs, so we’re being picky. As you might imagine, people who have been on a waiting list for months or years have often found dogs elsewhere. Each one takes time to contact and schedule a visit if they say they are ready. So far about two out of three no longer want a dog, so we don’t know how long this will take. Are you willing to take a foster dog? Rescue could use some more help.
Fifteen years ago we took in a mix named Katie. She seemed to be gaining weight, so we consulted Bobbie, a breeder who lives close by. Her opinion was that we were less than a week away from a litter, and she loaned us all her whelping supplies. She was right. Katie had four puppies, of which three survived, and the last two were by c-section. Those were such mixed breed puppies we usually said they were half Katie and half traveling salesman. Two were placed in a great home in Portland, and Sue adopted the other. The Portland pups grew up and lived a good life with a growing family until they passed a couple years ago. The third, Sadie, was adopted by Sue. We got this photo from her recently on Sadie’s 15th birthday. Sadie has always been one of our favorites. She is shy, but has always been tail-wagging happy to see us. Happy Birthday, Sadie.
