August 2019
Early last month we were told about a stray Samoyed at the Everett shelter, and Ryann volunteered to contact them and see if we could help. She called and they didn’t give her much information, so she went in to check. They told her the owner had already claimed her. A week ago there was another Samoyed at the same shelter, and we heard from someone else about that one. Again, the shelter said the owner came for her. It shows again that our policy of placing only in homes with secure fences is a good one. Samoyeds like to explore new places, and they don’t stop till they are tired. Some of our dogs even come to us because owners are tired of paying the fines. Thanks to Holley, we heard of a Samoyed already with a rescue group in Seattle. We offered our assistance and asked if we should advise our applicants about their listing; they returned our emails promptly and said they had an adopter lined up. There is a great demand for our breed, and people are always searching. Unfortunately, that’s also the reason for puppy mills and retail rescues.
A week ago we were contacted by a man in Portland who had a 3 month old female puppy and wanted to place her that same day. His girlfriend couldn’t keep her, didn’t understand how active she would be, and he agreed to find a new home. His mother has “an immune problem” so the pup had to be outside. Melissa agreed to take her and he wanted to drive to her house immediately. He agreed to wait until the next morning, but didn’t show up. Eventually Melissa reached him and he said a family member took the pup. This all happened in the space of a single day.
Max was with Melissa and Terry since last December, after Laura picked him up from the Clackamas shelter and took him there. There was something about him that said we needed a DNA test, and it showed he was actually 7/8 Siberian Husky. The other 1/8 may have included Samoyed, and he was white, but his personality was more reserved. He frequently challenged their dog Boomer, and it wasn’t always a perfect situation although 99% of the time he was a sweet dog. Melissa said he was wonderful except for being a bed hog. When she got up at night to let other dogs out, he jumped up on her side and sacked out. It took a while, but we were lucky to find the right home for him. The same family that adopted two of Katie’s puppies 12 years ago lost both in the past few months and asked us about finding another dog for them. They met Max and the match was excellent. His eyes were only for them. They thought about it, then returned and took him home where all are happy.
The day this report was written we heard from a man in Montana who wants us to take his two Samoyeds, 6 and 12 years old. He says he is a single parent of four kids and has too much work. He told us the breeder of the younger one (the old dog was bred by someone no longer around), and she said she will take both dogs if needed. First we will try to find an adopter willing to take them, but it’s a great relief to have good, responsible breeders.
Several people told us about a dog in a Salem shelter. He appears to be something other than a Samoyed, and after recent experiences we concluded we have to stick to purebred Samoyeds. We also heard again from people who want us to receive dogs from China or Korea, and we declined to participate. We know that puppy mills everywhere will make up great stories of hardship to get people to donate money, and we suspect Asian countries are no different. The usual story is that they were saved from the meat market. We think it’s much more likely they are breeding dogs and making money from the donations. There are also reports recently about sick dogs coming into the U.S. Whatever the truth, we have decided to keep the scope of our rescue in the northwest states.
Nanuk is still technically a foster dog, even though he lives in Kalama. He loves his life and gets to go everywhere with his humans. Nanuk, now called Nikki, is one of the true Samoyed retrievers we have seen. He fetches a ball over and over until he is tired.
Sophie and Tessa, the Iowa dogs, are still with us. Fena is still with Kathi Bacon and is getting more comfortable. Last week Fena allowed Kathi’s dog walker Zak to take her to a dog park, and seemed to enjoy the experience. A few days ago Kathi bathed her, and Fena looks terrific.
Sophie and Tessa are enjoying the liberty of having the entire yard to run, but taking advantage of it to add to the list of things they find to chew on. Sophie will take food from my hand, while Tessa hangs back a little. When they run into their crates at night in the bedroom they will take kibble from my hand. Our grandkids were here for a few days and the two chose to spend much of each day in their crates. The experience with the chaos probably helped them in the long run, but I doubt you could convince them it was a good thing. Baths for our two are still in the future.
Annie is the reason the other two dig holes. She is an affectionate, high-energy young girl who is always ready to run and play and dig. Especially dig. Once every few years we find an especially busy dog with an abundance of energy, and she is at the top of that list. She came to us quite apprehensive and a bit fearful, and after almost ten months we think she is ready to move to a forever home. We contacted a woman in Vancouver BC who adopted previously, and she is up to the challenge. She had experience with a digger and will come to meet Annie sometime early next month. We have six dogs in the house, but Annie creates about half the workload. We know when she leaves we will miss her a lot.