August 2017
One of the pleasures of an established rescue group is working with other rescues; not only Samoyed rescues but other breeds. Several weeks ago we had an application from a family who wanted to add a Sammy to their home. They already have two Siberian Huskies, and because we have so few dogs, and Sibe rescue has so many, we asked if they would like to think about another Sibe. The answer was yes, so we reached out to a Sibe rescuer in the area (if you were at the picnic you may have met Susan). We forwarded their application form to our applicant and with luck they will link up with a Sibe.
We also work with the Samoyed rescue groups surrounding us. To the north, the Western Canada club has a rescue arm and we frequently exchange info on people looking for a dog. Pat on Vancouver Island has been rescuing dogs since before we existed. Recently it was Denver Samoyed Rescue who was asked to help two dogs in Montana. One of them will go to Samoyed Rescue of Utah for training (Dorinda is an experienced trainer), and we are working to find a home for the other dog. Most of the rescues across the country are doing this for the dogs, without the frequent politics you hear about, and we all lean on one another from time to time.
Snowy has been here since February. She was a fearful dog, unwanted by two families, and dropped at a shelter. She had a bite history before the shelter got her, and our first attempt at placement resulted in another bite. We are pretty sure these were “Sammy bites,” where a dog will turn and grab a hand of a human trying to force her to do something she is afraid of. We had pretty much decided she would stay here with us when she and Lily had a fight. Snowy was probably trying to take over the alpha spot in our pack. What we didn’t know at the time was the shelter was wrong, and Snowy was not spayed after all. After the fight we suspected that, and our vet confirmed it and she was spayed as soon as we could. It didn’t affect that we had to have gates and doors closed all the time, and it was no longer a harmonious pack. Because she was a sweetheart of a dog, we knew we could live with the inconvenience and she settled in.
About that time we were contacted by a former adopter whose family lost their Sammy girl a few months back. They thought Snowy might fit their home, and we already knew they would have the patience to make it work. They came to the picnic in July and kept Snowy with them on a leash for five hours. It went well. A few weeks later Kathy drove Snowy to north Seattle and spent the day waiting for her to look comfortable. That finally happened and we decided to leave her there to see what happened. Rather than an adoption, we wrote it up as a foster home so they could work with her.
Every update has been positive. They spent hours and hours with her, comforting her and teaching her she was safe. The graduation ceremony, so to speak, was a large family gathering where she greeted people and had no problems. We will wait a few more weeks and let her new family decide when it’s time to make it a permanent home.
Celine is coming along very nicely. She gets an NSAID every day, pain meds when needed, and had a four week course of Adequan. For the near future she will get a maintenance dose of Adequan monthly. She can stand without screaming, or even whimpering, and although she is slow to get up she gets around the house and yard as though her hips don’t hurt. The week of this report we decided to remove her lifting harness and start really working on grooming. Her weight was 62 pounds when she got here and is now 56 pounds. We’ll keep her on a diet and hope for continued slow improvement. Her personality has improved from grumpy to friendly and she looks for attention now. It’s a big change. We’ll continue working with her and hope she is eventually adoptable.
Good old Herbie has been here since someone dumped him in July last year. He celebrated his 14th birthday recently. Most of the day you can find him dozing, but he is wide awake at feeding time. His weight is now perfect. It’s hard to say how long he will be here, but he is welcome as long as he sticks around. There is nothing quite as nice as a Senior Sam.