After this many years doing rescue work, there are dogs who stand out; dogs we remember because they were unique. Some have been beautiful purebred Samoyeds who might have won in the ring if they had the chance. Others had special personalities, while some have been through bad times. One of the special dogs is Rio, who found her home in January. Rio came to rescue from the Pasco area along with Honey, a Samoyed mix we think was probably her mother. Rio had only a little Sammy in her, if that, but was accepted because she came with Honey. Given the area she came from, she might even have been part Coyote. Rio is timid, slow to warm up to people, but also extremely affectionate after accepting someone. While she was here she loved to curl up on the sofa next to people, and is the only dog who thought lap time and nap time went well together. Fortunately she is a small dog.

After listing her on Petfinder, Rio was adopted along with another dog to a family in Edmonds. Unfortunately, a cat was killed by one of the dogs and both were returned. We listed her again, and we were contacted by a family who thought she might fit in well with them. They came to visit, Rio liked them, and the feeling was mutual. She now lives in the Redmond area and her new Mom has begun obedience class with her so they can bond even better. We’re told that she likes small cubbyholes, quiet places, and oddly she likes to snooze on the back of the sofa.

Kayla was with us since November, the result of a visit from a landlord to an apartment that “wasn’t supposed to have dogs.” She originally came from the Midwest at age six and had been with her owner for four years. We accepted her as a hospice dog because she had a number of medical problems, and truly we didn’t expect her to find a home of her own. That was OK with us because she was an exceptionally nice old girl. Then Celine called us and said she would like to talk about offering Kayla a home with her and China, a Samoyed she adopted a while back. Kathy drove Kayla to Portland where she met Cheri, who drove her to her new home in Coeur d’Alene. Senior Sammies make the most heartwarming adoption stories.

Around the first of the year, Melissa heard from a couple north of Seattle who wanted to find a new home for Diva. They said they didn’t have time to give her the attention she needed. It took about two weeks to put things together, and the people met Melissa at Ron and Kathy’s home to make the transfer. Diva was scheduled for a spay appointment later that week, and is now getting close to the time she can be placed. She is a small girl, the product of a puppy mill and pet store, but exuberant, loving and well mannered all at the same time. Several people have asked about adopting her and we’ve been busy getting home visits arranged.

More time and effort has been spent on a dog from southern Oregon than any recent rescue. The Jackson County Animal Shelter listed a beautiful purebred Samoyed, and the messages came pouring in from rescue friends all over the country. Paul Martin offered to go check on her, and he found the shelter preferred not to work with rescue groups because they wanted to place her themselves. A brief history of Blizzard shows she was surrendered because she couldn’t be kept in the yard. She was adopted to a family and picked up twice again as a stray, then placed with another family who thought she was safe off-leash after three days of training. Again she went back to the shelter. A family with a Samoyed tried to adopt her and was refused because they didn’t have a good yard. Another applicant was turned down because she wouldn’t bring her other dog, an elderly Chow, to the shelter to see if Blizzard would get along with him. His health was bad enough they couldn’t risk it. The people at the front desk labeled her a problem dog, but still refused to let her go to rescue.

Finally a friend went to the shelter and insisted on adopting her. She spent that night with Debbie, who brought her north to Hillsboro, and Rita kept her the second night. The next day Rita drove to meet Kathy, who brought her the rest of the way north and she is now happily in rescue. She is not an alpha, she gets along with all the other dogs (and the dogs in the homes where she stayed while en route), and doesn’t seem to be an escape risk. Admittedly she is a sneaky dog who would love to bolt out an open door, but that’s a Sammy trait we’re used to. This is a dog who didn’t deserve to spend most of a month in a shelter that doesn’t understand Samoyeds.

Melissa and Terry are fostering a dog from NW Washington while Ron and Kathy are fostering a dog from southern Oregon. Life isn’t always logical, but it proves how well it worked to combine Washington and Oregon rescues into Northwest Samoyed Rescue. It gives us the flexibility not only to work together, but to give each other breaks when needed. Next on the horizon are a couple dogs from eastern Oregon, which we have been told are probably going to be coming soon, although we don’t have details yet. We appreciate our volunteers and friends more with every passing month. Thanks to all who help!

Save the date! Our Rescue Picnic this year is July 11.

You don’t have to be crazy to do rescue, but it helps.
Eleven dogs at once, indoors, during the heavy snow.

In November we usually have some nasty weather and the usual phrase is “it’s raining cats and dogs.” Well, no matter what the weather does this month we can say it’s raining dogs. Since we started rescue we’ve never had a Fall with this much activity.

First the good news. Esau, the 12 year old in Oregon who needed a new home because his owner is now working nights, has the home he needed. His vet found a place for him with someone looking for an old dog. Also, I forgot last month to give a report on Nikki, the young Sammy girl in Centralia. Her family thought they weren’t able to give her the time and exercise she needed, but then the son, his wife, and two grandkids moved back into the house. Nikki has all the stimulation she needs now and everybody loves her so she will stay where she is.

Jasmine was in the Kalispell shelter in Montana when we heard of her. Sandy Nelson came to the rescue by picking her up and fostering her until we worked out transportation. Sandy gave her a ride to Coeur d’Alene and Kathy picked her up there. We arranged a meeting in North Bend with an adopter from Snohomish. Kim Leslie had done a home visit and thought it would be a good place for a rescue dog. The meeting went well and the whole family fell for Jasmine on first sight. We’ve had a couple updates and everything is working out perfectly for her.

Ky and Lola are a Samoyed and Chihuahua in the Bend area whose elderly owner passed away. A family friend was trying to place them and asked us for assistance. Our first step was to publish a group of pictures on the NW Sams website and begin writing to people. We got in touch with one of the adopters on our waiting list, and just before he went to visit the Sammy the two dogs were placed together by the friend.

Button and Kayla came into rescue within days of each other but from different circumstances. Early this year Melissa was approached by a woman who wanted us to take her dog because she was sick and they couldn’t afford treatment. We offered to pay the vet directly so she could keep Kayla, and she took the offer. Kayla has a slightly enlarged heart and a cough we were told they couldn’t diagnose. In October we heard from the woman again, telling us her landlord was coming to visit and she wasn’t supposed to have a dog. This time we took Kayla to prevent her from being dumped at a shelter, and immediately saw her as a hospice dog. She is about ten years old, overweight, and her nails were so long they stuck out to the sides; it obviously hurt her to walk and we trimmed a half inch from some of them. She had large areas of skin problems. We still don’t know her exact ailments, but after weeks on an antibiotic and Prednisone she seems to feel much better and her cough has decreased 90%. She is getting downright bouncy. When all the meds are completed we will reassess her condition, and whether she will live out her days here or get a new home of her own. She is a joy to have in the house.

Button was found as a stray near Warrenton, Oregon, and taken to the Clatsop County shelter. Her breeding looked good, and since that’s an area with many tourists we thought she might have been lost on vacation. Unfortunately for Button nobody came looking, a post on Show Sams brought no results, so Joy made the trip to the beach to get her. That was the day before Melissa picked up Kayla, so she brought Kayla to Ron and Kathy to foster and brought Button along for pictures. That was on October 18, and on the first of the month Button went to her new home with Daphne and Matthew, who had given a wonderful home to Bella until she passed away early this year.

Two female Samoyeds popped up in the shelter in Pasco on October 28. They appear to be mother and daughter and the mother is purebred; she is also missing one leg. Sarah and Paul Tragesser went to the shelter quickly and took some pictures for us and we looked for a foster home. On the morning of the 8th they picked up the dogs and drove them to meet Erin and Tom Sitterley, who will foster them for us. Their new names are Pogo and Cedar. On the 10th they went to the vet, where it was determined that Pogo’s missing leg was likely due to an accident while they were strays. It looks like the result of a snare, a trap, or perhaps someone tied something around her leg. The leg is now infected and she is on antibiotics. They are both intact and we’re looking into a low cost spay clinic in the Seattle area. The two dogs are tightly bonded because of the experiences they went through together, and we are going to give them time away from each other to let their personalities develop. Pogo is about three years old and Cedar appears to be around nine months old.

Nanook is in the Eugene area, purchased from a pet store, and at 18 months old he has torn ACLs in both back legs. He is lame, in pain, and his owner can’t afford surgery. We are exploring options to get surgery done and get him through recovery, but because his owner is gone 11 hours a day and living in a second floor apartment, she will have to surrender him to rescue first. We think we have funding for the surgery but what we don’t have is a place for him to recover. This surgery means confinement and walking carefully on a leash for several months. So far nobody has stepped forward to help.

This was a great month for Samoyed Rescue. Cody and Samson, both in rescue since May, are now in their forever homes. Jasmine, who is still in a foster home, has a home ready for her when we can get her to western Washington.

Samson came from The Dalles, where the shelter shaved him because of the severity of the mats all over his body. He spent several months with Melissa where he discovered the kindness of humans. Reports are that he was tied out for many years before he got there, so it must have been quite a revelation to him. Samson was also “bad with cats” until Melissa taught him they could be part of his family. We had an application from a family in Brier looking for an adult dog, and when they met each other it was a great match. We all had a scare a week ago when Samson was found on the bed, seemingly paralyzed in his back legs. After a trip to the ER and an overnight stay, he was diagnosed with a sore back; he had simply chosen not to stand and put weight on all four legs. It was probably hard play with his new brother Prince that caused it. With something for pain and swelling he is now back to normal and they are limiting his activity.

Cody spent his first few days with Melissa and then came to Ron & Kathy. He is the dog who killed part of a litter of piglets and was taken to the shelter as part of the settlement. Cody will probably always be remembered as a dog with unlimited energy, an ability to jump, and (fortunately for us) the only true Samoyed retriever we have known. He chased tennis balls – and brought them back every time – until his tongue was hanging so far we thought he would trip on it. A few days ago he went along with Kathy on a home visit where the people thought he was perfect. They were willing to handle his need for exercise and he thought they were great. They report now that they are taking him for a run three days a week and a bicycle trip around the neighborhood on the other days. He has settled in without any problem and loves to go for car rides with them.

Jasmine was in a shelter in Kalispell when we called Sandy Nelson to ask if she could look at her. Sandy picked her up and took her home to foster, and recently gave her a good grooming and a bath. Jasmine is a beautiful dog, probably a Samoyed/Sibe mix, with one brown eye and one blue eye. We have an applicant in Snohomish who would like to adopt her, and we’re trying to work out the transportation for her to her new home.

We are also listing Esau, a senior dog in Oregon whose family would like to find him a new home. At 12 years old he has started having accidents in the house and they think it’s because their work hours have changed and he has to be left home alone. Esau will stay there until someone is willing to adopt him. He is a handsome old boy and deserves to be with someone who understands he needs a little love and understanding in his old age.

Gloria, a mostly Samoyed girl, is another old dog looking for a home. She is in rescue at Old Dog Haven, a wonderful group of people in Arlington, and in a foster home in Kent. If you would like to consider a senior dog in your home you’ll be rewarded beyond anything you could expect. She is listed at http://www.olddoghaven.org/ and we put her pictures on our website.

We had an experience two weeks ago that worked out better than it might have. Holley checks Craigslist every day for Samoyeds, and she forwarded a listing from someone who wanted to place a young Sammy. We routinely do a search on rescue e-mail when we get the name of someone with a dog, especially in this case because it sounded familiar. It turned out to be a former applicant who had written back to us to say she was getting a puppy, and told us who the breeder was. That enabled us to make an immediate call to let the breeder know, and despite her being in Kansas for the National the story ended well.

There was no newsletter published in August, so last month’s report was combined with this addendum in the Aug/Sept newsletter.

For the past few months we’ve been hearing adoption agencies say the economy is affecting adoptions. Perhaps that is the reason we still have two extremely adoptable dogs in rescue now, and for much longer than usual. We feel fortunate we haven’t experienced the other side of the coin, which is dogs being surrendered because people can’t afford them. We’re also lucky it has been a fairly quiet summer.

Cody first arrived in late May, an untrained two year old fully in the middle of his teen years. He was dropped off at a shelter as part of a settlement with a neighbor after he jumped his fence and killed several piglets in a litter next door. Melissa and Kaye got him out and he was transferred to Ron & Kathy’s home for fostering. As time has gone by Cody has become calmer and much easier to handle, understanding from the other dogs what is expected. The best thing that happened to him is that we found out he is a retriever; Cody will chase and return a tennis ball time after time, with one little piece of kibble as a reward. It’s easy to take the edge off his energy now. He is crate trained, microchipped, up to date on shots, and we know he is going to be a really special member of a lucky family.

Samson came on the scene about the same time from the Humane Society in The Dalles. He is six years old and had probably been tied out for at least the last three years. His coat was completely matted and he had to be shaved because it hurt him to be touched and he couldn’t be combed. Now that he has spent time with Melissa and Terry he loves to be brushed and he understands how nice people can be. He even does a funny little dance when you scratch his lower back. Samson gets along with other dogs, is easy going and mellow, and will make someone very happy.

Cody has been here a month, and we still think he is one of those once in a lifetime dogs that will fit perfectly into a lucky family. With his energy level he would be a perfect candidate for agility or sledding. He wants to please, is completely and reliably housetrained, and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. Cody came to rescue via the shelter in McMinnville, Oregon, where he was taken after escaping his yard and killing several piglets of a neighbor’s litter. We were told he had jumped a six foot fence to get out, and we can affirm he has no trouble with a four foot fence. On the other hand he is a quick learner and now has lots of respect for an electric fence.

Over the last few weeks Cody has been wearing himself out playing with Igloo, a seven month old Samoyed from the Oregon Humane Society. They adopted him to a family but he was returned because of his energy — and because he has had no training at all. Iggy is a smart little boy, totally housetrained in three days and taught to come in less than a day. We talked about him and agreed that if we ever decided to keep a puppy for ourselves this would be the one. Fortunately we came to our senses. Carole and Bill Gainor came to the rescue picnic to meet Cody, Igloo, and Samson, and left with Igloo. He joins another rescue Sammy and a Sibe and we know he will do well there.

Samson’s hair is beginning to grow back and you can see the handsome boy he will be again. The shelter shaved him because he was so matted, and now after a month he has a thick coat of fuzz. Samson is around six years old, gets along with other dogs, and would love to have his own family. He is being fostered by Melissa and Terry.

We are working our way through some applications received for Cody and Samson, and will be calling for help with home visits. As always, we appreciate all your help.

The 2008 Rescue Picnic was held on July 12, and it was the most attended picnic to date. Even with a sign-in sheet and pictures to look at, we can only estimate the number of dogs and people. The best guess is 48 dogs and just about the same number of people. With the current price of gas, and the hundreds of miles some of them drove, that is astonishing.

To all those who came, we offer our heartfelt thanks for letting us visit with you and all the dogs we have known over the years. From the comments we heard we know it’s a big part of your summer, too. In addition to the pictures here, many of the pictures Jeff took are posted now at http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue.

Some of the dogs Cheryl and Steve rescued were at the picnic, as well as the first Samoyed we placed and the first we ever fostered. Many of the Sammies were repeats this year (and every year), and some were here for the first time. It was our first combined Oregon/Washington picnic and we hope many more will follow.

As rescuers, this is both the best and most frustrating day all year. We can’t tell you how much enjoyment we get from seeing all the dogs again, but how much we wish we had time to sit down with each and every one of you and get caught up on your dogs’ lives. We’re sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk to each of you a lot more. We always appreciate updates and pictures during the year.

Thanks to all of you who were able to come join us. Mark your calendars for the 10th Annual Samoyed Rescue Picnic on July 11, 2009!