August, 2007
Katie is just unbelievable. Despite being one of the smallest dogs we have fostered, she is the one and only dog to jump over our fence. We had to hook up a new line of electric fencing to dissuade her, and even then it took two bumps before she gave up. A few days ago while we were having breakfast we looked out just as she dug her way out. She went deaf to our calls, naturally, and dove down the hill into the woods. Kathy and I went different directions trying to head her off, and fortunately Kathy found her before she got too far. Now we have a second new line of electric fence, and Katie is spending her time running back and forth wishing she could go chase those darn rabbits. Her hair is just beginning to grow back after whelping, but she still looks pretty naked.
Kai is a dog from Coeur d’Alene who came west July 20. We were attempting to get transportation arranged when Joee Dauer called. I mentioned Kai to her and she said she was going to CDA and back the next day. The timing was perfect, and Kai came back with Joee the next day. We were going to foster Kai here, but Melissa was going to meet an owner from LaPine surrendering her male the next day, so we worked out a swap. Melissa brought the male to Kelso and handed him off to Kathy, then went back through Longview and picked up Kai. She is a stunning girl, a mostly-sammy mix with piercing blue eyes and dark tips on the hair on her back. We got to meet Kai soon after that when Melissa’s groomer refused to groom her the day before she was scheduled to meet a potential adopter. Kathy, Melissa, and I triple-teamed her on the table, then gave her a bath. She was well behaved throughout, and we still don’t know what the groomer’s problem was. The next day she met her new Mom, and a week later moved into her forever home in Vancouver.
Braun from LaPine is three and a half years old. He was with an older couple until the man died and his widow moved where she couldn’t take him. The grandkids didn’t have room for him and were glad when Melissa arranged to take him. Just imagine an 80 pound puppy, never socialized, never indoors, never at a vet and never groomed in his life. Braun is all of that, and also such a sweet and submissive guy that he got along perfectly with every other dog. Within a day he understood it was OK to be indoors and hasn’t had a single accident. He began playing with Charlie, then Oakley, and to our surprise with Katie. The two of them run circles around each other, bouncing and having a great time.
The mats on Braun were on a scale we never experienced before. The small mats were baseball sized, and there were two on the back of each leg. There were larger softball size mats behind both ears, and his tail was essentially three big clumps. The worst was his back, which had a saddle shaped mat the size of a dinner plate. His belly was a solid felt layer. Over the course of three days we split the mats so they could be combed and cut. Do you know how much hair it takes to make a pile that weights almost three pounds? That’s what we removed, and three weeks later we aren’t done yet. He is obviously more comfortable now and happy to be free to move again.
Thor was here briefly just before the Rescue Picnic. Melissa’s vet didn’t have time to neuter him, so we transferred him and our vet did it. Three days later he rode back from the picnic with Melissa, and a couple from Corvallis who had applied to both of us adopted him. Reports are all positive and they seem to truly understand that their patience is going to get him over some of the rough times he had living in what we believe might have been a drug house.
The high point of our rescue year is always the Rescue Picnic in July. This year we had about 40 dogs and 40 people here to enjoy the company of other adopters and a potluck picnic. If you couldn’t make it this year, please join us next year. It’s a unique experience and it showcases not only the great dogs, but also the wonderful people who take these Sammies into their lives.
