April, 2006
Last month we told you about Powder and Peyton, the brother and sister pair in Coeur d’Alene who needed a new home. Their owner was moving and changed her mind about taking them with her. At about the same time we were talking to the people in Seattle about Roxie, so I mentioned Powder and Peyton. It turned out they were actually thinking about getting two dogs, and this was too perfect. On March 25th, Esther and Margaret drove to Coeur d’Alene and brought both dogs back with them. The dogs’ registered names are Aspen Powder and Princess Peyton, so they are now named Aspen and Princess. If you visit Green Lake you may see them meeting and greeting their adoring public on frequent walks. If you’re really lucky, they may be accompanied by their neighbor, Mori, with one of his humans.
Roxie, who arrived a month ago, was about to be spayed when she came into heat. We pushed back the spay appointment three weeks and took her instead for a quick checkup and shots. During the visit our vet told us she had a heart murmur, so an appointment was made with a cardiologist in Clackamas, and Roxie was diagnosed with a congenitally small pulmonary valve. Odds are she will have a completely normal life at least through middle age, and may never show symptoms. We’ve been working with a woman in Juneau, Alaska, who was in Portland on business and drove up to meet Roxie. We sent the reports to her vet and will find out soon if Roxie will be an Alaskan resident.
Honey, the beautiful honey-colored Samoyed mix, hitched a ride from Idaho and stayed with Lon & Mary while waiting for her new family to find her. We are delighted to say that happened late last month. Her new name is Akai, and we are getting wonderful results about how well she fits into the family.
On April 31 we had a report of a purebred Samoyed named Nikki in the Everett shelter. Erin Sitterley dropped what she was doing and rescheduled appointments to hurry there and arrange for him to enter rescue. First he was neutered, after which Erin picked him up and met Lon. Nikki is a striking young purebred about a year and a half old and should be available for adoption very soon.
Seven is an unusual name for a dog. He was first spotted in the Tacoma Humane Society a month ago, but was placed by the shelter as Kathy was en route to pick him up. A few days ago he was listed again, having been picked up as a stray. They have to send an official letter to the registered owner and wait five days, so we can’t get him out yet. By the time you receive this newsletter we hope we will have him here and he can be placed better by rescue than he was by the shelter.
You may remember Emily, the puppy we found in Coeur d’Alene in January last year, adopted by a Portland area family with small children. We received terrific reports since then, up until last week. Now we learn the family is having problems that will result in a move, and they feel Emily needs to find a new home. Emily is now about a year and a half old, just into the “teen” stage, and it sounds like they didn’t spend any time training her. She looked much more like a Samoyed as a puppy than she does now, but we placed her and we will take her back. If she isn’t in a new home by the end of the week, it looks like Emily will be moving back with us.
Abby was our queen, dropped from a car window in February, 2003. She was helped by a Tibetan Mastiff breeder and delivered to rescue. By the time she was ready to be adopted, we knew she was here forever. Despite severe arthritis and spondylosis, her constant cheer and huge smile brightened our lives beyond description. I’m sorry to say she has been declining, and last month she told us it was time to go. We consider ourselves fortunate beyond words to have been able to spend over three years with her beautiful spirit.
Rescue depends on volunteers all around the Northwest who help with transport, fostering, and especially home visits. Because each home has to be visited before they get to adopt, we really appreciate the time given by all those who want to help these special Sammies find forever homes. We are grateful to you all.