Last month we took in a young female Samoyed named Faith, who came to us as a stray. She spent the past month with us because we wanted to do a serious search for her family. Finally we reached the conclusion nobody was looking for her, which goes along with the initial report she was hanging around an intersection for days before she was caught. That’s what frequently happens after a dog is dumped while waiting for her people to return.

Complicating her placement was that Faith came into season two days after she got here. It was only a minor nuisance since our boys are all neutered, but it meant we had to delay the spay for a month. During that time we began talking with Jill, who adopted from us previously. She was looking for a puppy, and after hearing about Faith she decided another rescue dog would be right for her. Because she works for a vet we were comfortable letting Faith be adopted before her spay; Jill will take care of the surgery in place of an adoption fee.

Reports since adoption are that Faith is even more feral than we saw while she was here. She learns extremely fast but acts like she had to take care of herself for a long time. Other dogs barking triggered a response, but Jill has been able to reassure her that it’s no longer necessary. She recently went through an advanced training session, inadvertently, when she went jogging with Jill and ended up on the same street as the high school marching band. Jill got her through the experience, as she has all others, and we are totally satisfied Faith couldn’t have had a better home.

To no surprise, Chip and Ozzy are still living with us. They shared the experience with our other four seniors that having a one year old girl was a shock to their system. Ozzy recently had a growth removed from his leg, and he suffers from arthritis in all his joints as well as being mostly blind and deaf. His brother Chip has a bad hip that once had surgery, but other than that he is doing well. Both have become affectionate dogs since they arrived.

We heard of three dogs, all males and two seniors, within a few days the last week of April. Cody, the eleven year old, needed a home after his owner died and the family had no place to take him. We’re still waiting for the family to find his AKC papers so we can contact his breeder. When we heard that his owner moved here from Florida eleven years ago we contacted rescuers there and learned a great deal about her. Because of what we heard, we would like very much to find out who sold her another dog so quickly after she moved.

Cody came to us intact, but we already had an appointment for Faith to be spayed so we used that appointment for his neutering. He came through it OK, but the vet forgot we don’t want Ace used; as a result he and Ozzy, who were in the same day, didn’t completely recover from anesthesia until the following morning. In talking to a past adopter in the Ellensburg area we mentioned that we had an eleven year old needing a home. She immediately said she would take Cody, which took a lot of pressure off of us. By the time this report appears in the newsletter we hope he will have a new home. Many thanks to Erin for helping with his transport.

Another dog, Koda, came from a home where the couple had new jobs requiring more travel than time at home. Koda is six years old and was left home alone a great deal so they decided to ask for help. The original inquiry came through SPDR, where Ryann is the Samoyed representative. Together we worked to find a home north of Seattle with experienced Samoyed owners. Both the old and new families wanted to meet and we elected to let them work out the transfer together. Koda is doing well in his new home.

The third dog is Ares, who also came through SPDR. He is nine and may be more difficult to place. He is a handsome boy, which will help, but his age will work against him. We are now waiting for Ares’ owner to decide what happens next. He also travels and his girlfriend has given him an ultimatum that he needs to re-home his dog. As usual, we suggested he keep the dog and re-home his girlfriend, but haven’t yet convinced him.

Although this report usually closes on an optimistic note, this month was disappointing. When we heard of all the seniors coming into rescue, and knowing that our house was full with three fosters already, we appealed to every club member and all our volunteers and those on our email list and Facebook group. We badly needed a couple homes for seniors that are almost no trouble at all to foster. I’d like to thank the three people who took time to write that they wanted to help but couldn’t. To all the others, a reminder that Samoyed Rescue is a community effort for the sake of our breed, and we are only the coordinators. When nobody helps, we either do everything or turn away these wonderful dogs. It means we burn out fast. And when we’re gone, who takes care of them?

About four days before Easter, a woman living west of Cle Elum noticed a stray white dog hanging around an intersection not far from her home. She tried to approach the dog, who always ran across to the opposite of a stream to get away. Fortunately the woman was on a Sled Dog group on Facebook and posted about the dog there. Several others tried to help, but nobody could get her to come close.

About this time we were notified, and Kathy Thomas offered to drive to the area the day before Easter to see what she could do. We know Kathy’s abilities with dogs and expected if anyone could approach a stray it would be her. She took along Isis, as well as a lot of chicken treats.

Kathy spent the day driving the roads around that area, checking in with other people who were searching, and mid-afternoon she spotted the dog. She sensed the dog would run if she opened the door, so she sat and talked to her and offered treats out the window. After enough time passed she was able to open the door and the dog came to her.

The previous day, the woman who first posted about her said she had faith that she would be caught and taken care of, and since it was the day before Easter she began referring to the dog as Faith. Since coming up with names for all our fosters is always difficult, that sounded just fine with us.

Kathy took Faith to the woman’s house so she could meet her, and then took her home for the night. Others had already placed ads on Craigslist, and we think some flyers were posted, and since nobody has responded we believe Faith may have been dumped. A clue to that is the fact she stayed around the same intersection for at least three days. She has scabs on the back of her neck that make it likely she was caught by another dog or some other animal but was able to escape. It’s no wonder she was fearful and reluctant to get close to anybody. We placed three more ads on different Craigslists and will put notices in the newspapers in the area, but at this point we don’t expect anyone to claim her.

On Easter morning, Kathy Manor drove north to Kathy Thomas’s home and picked up Faith, answering the question “What do rescuers do on holidays?” Since then Faith has been here, settling in. We have determined a number of things about her; she is quite young, probably over a year old but certainly less than two. She is not spayed, and may not have had her first heat cycle. There was a question on the Sled Dog list about whether she is a white Sibe, but Joy visited and is sure Faith is a badly bred purebred Samoyed, so that’s how we will place her. She has soft brown eyes, and her personality is Sammy.

Faith has more than enough energy to go around, and it appears she has never been indoors before. She was not housebroken, but is learning quickly, as we expected she would. She has learned to stand next to a door when she needs out, and always returns quickly after going out. It’s no surprise she likes to chew, and she is active from dawn to dusk. She does sleep in a wire crate soundly all night.

Since Faith came in as a stray we have to make a serious effort to find her family, so we won’t be placing her immediately. With twenty applications on hand we definitely have good homes available, so when we are confident she was dumped we can let her go to a new home.

Chip and Ozzy, our senior fosters, are still with us and doing well. Both have been increasing in strength and becoming friendlier every month they are here. We expect both will be here as hospice dogs the rest of their lives.

Ryann sent late word that SPDR received a message from someone who wants to surrender a six year old male. It sounds like that may be next month’s work. This is the time of the year we usually get busy in rescue.

Sam has a forever home! After he returned from his first placement we knew we had to find the perfect family for him, and it took some time. Sakura and Tatiana offered to foster him after he came back, which was perfect because Tatiana worked with him on leash training. Meanwhile we started working our way through a long waiting list of people who wanted a rescue Samoyed. Lately we’ve had from twelve to twenty families waiting, but we didn’t have anybody wanting a male of that age, and of that size (very tall). We even checked with people who wanted females, small dogs, or older dogs.

Many times over the years we have been saved by serendipity, and it happened again for Sam. Into our inbox popped an application from a family with another Samoyed, a well fenced yard with a concrete base, and they really understood the breed. Kathy Thomas did a home visit for us, and considering how important this home would be she gave them every potential problem she could imagine. They weren’t worried, and asked to visit Sam. They drove from Bothell to Graham, where Kathy Manor met them at Sakura’s home. They took their time getting to know him, and at the end of the visit they asked if they could take him home. Everybody agreed and Sam moved into a perfect home. He gets along with their other Sammy and hasn’t has a single problem like he had in his first placement. His family sent a picture taken during the January snow. Is this a happy dog? Thanks very much to Sakura and Tatiana for taking him in, and to Norma who fostered him right out of the shelter.

Chip and Ozzy are still here. We haven’t tried to place them yet, primarily because of their age. Ozzy is thirteen years old, and although he gets around fairly well he isn’t able to walk on uncarpeted floors (we have mats where he has to walk). He doesn’t hear well, and his eyesight is failing. We have to consider him a hospice dog; not the first time we have done that. Chip is only ten but has one bad hip. He is otherwise in good shape, and we’re waiting for the right person to be just right for him. In the meantime we’re enjoying their company.

Let’s take a moment this month to thank a special volunteer, Danna d’Asaro. She has filled a special niche by twice taking dogs when people have problems in their lives and can’t keep their dog but don’t want to give it up. In the first case a Sammy was with her for months before going back to the original owner. In the current case, she has been caring for a Sammy for many months, while keeping in touch with the owner. It takes a special person to foster a dog for that long, knowing it will someday leave and go home. Many thanks go to Danna.

As the year comes to a close we can report one of the busiest months in recent memory. 

Chip and Ozzy are here for the foreseeable future. Although they are good dogs who deserve a great home, senior dogs are difficult to place. Chip is ten, while Ozzy is thirteen. They came from a woman on the Kitsap Peninsula who had been unemployed a long time and couldn’t afford vet care for them. We took care of their medical issues and returned the dogs to the woman, only to find out from her son that she has some other issues. He thought the dogs would be better off elsewhere and we agreed to take them back. Now, after six weeks here, they have settled in and we can see their real personalities. Both of them are loving dogs but probably didn’t have much physical contact with the previous owner. They are now beginning to separate emotionally from each other and finding their own places around the house. That’s good, because we are confident now that placing them in different homes would be OK. Despite their ages they have a lot of time left to give to a new family.

Tundra, who came back to us last month, has found a perfect new home. We don’t know her past, or why she has a case of separation anxiety, but she was causing damage when left alone and that’s why she was returned. Our friend Harry, who found two previous dogs through us, lost one of them recently and was left with just his thirteen year old. His wife recently moved to an assisted living facility and he was lonely. Tundra, whose new name will be Molly, is going to help tremendously with that. She wants to be next to her human 24 hours a day, asks (or demands) attention, and at six years old will keep Harry active. The report we received is all positive. He doesn’t go anywhere without his dogs, and they are with him when he visits his wife.

A couple years ago Ryann Grady talked to us about becoming the Samoyed breed representative for Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue, one of the oldest rescue groups in the northwest. For many years there has been no rep for Sammies because SCWS Rescue, now NWSR, has been active enough nobody was needed. Nevertheless we thought it would be a good idea for her to sign up, because there can’t be too many people watching over our dogs. Until last month there was nothing for her to hear. Then, because of a change in the way things were done at the Tacoma Humane Society, Ryann was called about a Tacoma dog. Our foster space is full, so together we began asking for help. Kathy Thomas asked Norma Irish if she had room and she said yes. Kathy Manor picked up Sam and took him to Norma’s home, hoping we could place him in three or four days. We had a perfect family who have been waiting a while, but this was over Thanksgiving and they weren’t home. It took a few extra days, but as soon as they returned home Liz and Van visited and told us it would be the perfect place for Sam, just as we expected.

In the meantime Sam came down with kennel cough. You might think this would be common working with as many dogs as we get from shelters, but this is only the second or third time ever. Norma took Sam to her vet to verify the diagnosis, and she wasn’t concerned about his cough. Just as fortunately the adoptive family also wasn’t concerned, and Sam is now in his forever home in Renton. By the way, we were able to trace his story back to his breeder, a woman in Port Angeles who called us last summer to take her two dogs because she was moving to Ohio.

By now you have probably heard of the seizure of 102 dogs in Duncanville, Texas in October. The woman who had them showed her dogs, and over the years bought a number of dogs from breeders around the country. Nobody knows what happened, but sometime in recent years things changed. She kept them in crates full time, didn’t care for them, and worst of all didn’t clean the crates. For the full story you can read news reports posted at http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/duncanville/.

About a dozen dogs were Samoyeds. Lynn Sluder and Claudia Khan, of North Texas Samoyed Rescue, turned their lives over to getting the dogs to safe new homes. They went to every court hearing and worked cooperatively with the SPCA of Texas. They helped breeders get their dogs back; a number of those dogs were from Christie Smith of d’Keta. One or two were well enough to be flown back right away, but others were in poor health and the SPCA wouldn’t release them.

On December third two more of the d’Keta dogs were flown to Portland, where Christie met them. Dixie went to Linda and Paul Martin, while Christie drove Graham north to us. Graham is nine years old and has been a Champion since he was 22 months old. We could even find pictures of him over the years in the ring. He was very dirty after his experience, and luckily for us Joy Ritter drove up to bathe and groom him for us. At the end of the day he looked ready for the ring again. His ears were damaged over the years, and it looks like he was in fights where his ears were bitten and not treated. In talking to the vet who treated him twice for hematomas in his ears, we learned the ears were erect after treatment, so we may never know exactly what Graham went through during the last few years.

You may remember a few years ago the story of Casey, who went to live with a senior lady on Vancouver Island. He had been his “daddy’s favorite boy” until his owner died in his late 40’s suddenly, and from there he went to a shelter in southern Oregon. When we got him here he was filthy, to the point we had to wash him before combing, something we never want to do. About that time we heard from Pat Cummins about Lorraine, a woman she knew who always had Samoyeds and was now living alone after losing the last one. We decided Casey would be perfect for her, and he absolutely was. In the pictures we received over the years we saw a handsome and perfectly groomed Samoyed and a happy Lorraine. But then, with time, Casey became more and more infirm and she had to let him go. That was a few months ago and we have been searching ever since for the right dog for a woman in her 90’s. After consulting with Christie and people who know Lorraine well, we all decided Graham would be just right.

On the seventh of December Kathy drove Graham north to the Canadian border. She was met there by a friend who crossed the border and handed him off to Paul, the husband of Diana, a good friend of Lorraine (are you keeping all the players straight?). After taking the ferry over to Victoria, Diana and Paul delivered Graham to an ecstatic Lorraine. This second picture of Graham is with Lorraine, who couldn’t possibly have been happier.

The next morning we heard that Graham slept well all night, but took advantage of an early trip outdoors to jump on the bed and spend some time there before getting up for the day. He wouldn’t let Lorraine out of his sight, and she said she had to call a neighbor to watch him so he wouldn’t crawl in the shower with her. We don’t know about Graham’s previous life, but we know the rest of it will be wonderful.

There are many people named in this month’s report. Once again we are reminded that we owe a lot to all those terrific volunteers who help us, because nobody could do rescue alone. Thank you!

More pictures of the dogs are online:
Tundra – http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue/tundra
Sam – http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue/sam-tacoma
Graham – http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue/graham

In September’s month’s report we had just heard of a dog named Rory at the Oregon Humane Society, but they wanted to place her themselves. Melissa made sure we were on their list if Rory came back, but we have heard nothing to date. We hope that means she went to a good home. We worked with a shelter in Colville who wanted help with breed ID on a dog that turned out to be a Great Pyr mix.

Two months ago we took in two old dogs, Chip and Ozzy. Their owner was unemployed and couldn’t afford vet care so she tearfully surrendered them to us. We made appointments for them to have growths removed, ears cleaned, and dental work done. When it was all done, we learned the woman had found a temporary job in California. She told us it was for three months with great pay and free housing, and that a friend of hers volunteered to take care of Chip and Ozzy. We decided these old guys would probably be better off in the home they knew, so we let her take them back.

It looks now like things weren’t what she represented them to be. We have been in contact with a friend of hers who told us the house is in terrible shape and the dogs won’t be healthy living there. The friend who said he would care for them backed out, and we were left in the dark. Before we heard about her home, she called to ask what she could do, and we gave her Lon’s name and number so she could kennel them while she was employed in California. She never called him. Apparently it was a mistake to let them go back, but things finally turned positive for these old boys. The woman’s son called us; he just came in from a deployment in Asia and found his mother in distress. He asked if we could take Chip and Ozzy again and we agreed, with the caveat that there will be no further communication with the former owner.

Tundra, the six year old deaf girl from Lynnwood, was adopted into a home we knew back in May. Since then the work schedules of her family changed and Tundra doesn’t handle being alone very well. For her sake they asked if we could take her back, and of course we said yes. Tundra is a sweet, friendly girl who is fearful when left alone. We couldn’t track her history so we don’t know what caused her problem. She is fine here for now.

Sandy in Montana called to say she heard of a dog who needed a new home there. We don’t know any more yet. Meanwhile, a woman called who has a 14 year old female she can’t keep. We contacted the breeder who immediately offered to take her back, but the woman wouldn’t do that because she wanted to put the dog somewhere her grandkids could continue to see her. Both we and the breeder tried to explain that’s not now things work, but with limited success.

On a personal note, I had major back surgery the first of November and recovery is a bit slower than we hoped. It’s something I’ve been anticipating for years, and it should make life better eventually. We decided we absolutely couldn’t foster for a few months, so naturally we have three extra dogs. If you ever thought about helping rescue by taking a dog for a short time, this is the time to let us know. There is a lot of reward in fostering a Sammy, knowing that you helped make a life better.

It has been quiet in rescue since April, and it gave us all a nice rest. Rescue doesn’t give many vacations and we enjoyed it while it lasted. Meanwhile the applications kept coming in and as of now we have a waiting list of almost thirty families.

A message from a woman in southern Idaho arrived telling us about a friend of hers who needed help. The downturn in the economy has hurt a lot of people, and her friend has been living on unemployment since she was laid off a very good job with a Seattle hospital. Now her home is in foreclosure and she can’t afford vet care for her two senior dogs. Her friend described it as a “severe neglect situation” so we called to see if we could help. The owner has lived with two Sammies since they were puppies, and now they are 10 and 13 years old. She very reluctantly and tearfully signed over the dogs and we took them to our vet.

“Severe neglect” was too strong a term for what we found. While they haven’t been given vet care and have some issues, they were fairly healthy and there were no mats in their coats. They both have a growth on one eye and both have dental issues; Chip needs his teeth cleaned and Ozzy has an abscess from a broken tooth. Both of them have yeast infections in both ears. The younger dog, Chip, had TPLO surgery on his leg a few years ago and now the other knee is weak. The older dog, Ozzy, was previously described to us as barely able to walk. He is as stiff as you would expect a 13 year old dog with no exercise to be, but he is getting stronger by the day because we make him go out and walk around the yard. The two of them played together, rolling around, for about 5 minutes on the evening of the second day here, so the exercise is helping. It could be their nutrition wasn’t good and now they are getting better food.

We’ve had many, many dogs who were surrendered by people who didn’t care for them, but this was different. We feel everything we have seen here shows an owner who genuinely fell on hard times even though she was trying to keep things going. She is crushed that she had to give up her dogs so they would get vet care. If she could find appropriate housing we think she would still be the best home for them. What will we do? We don’t know yet. Obviously two senior dogs who are tightly bonded to each other would be difficult to place. Hopefully next month’s report will be more positive.

Just before this newsletter’s deadline we heard of a 1-1/2 year old female named Rory at the Oregon Humane Society. She has been there for a while because they had to do surgery for an in-grown eyelid. It looks as though she had been shaved or clipped badly. Melissa has been in contact with the shelter, but once again they feel they can do a better job of placement than rescue, so we may not be able to get her. On the other hand, if they do their usual job the dog will return and we’ll be able to get her then.