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.

Our puppy stories conclude this month with the adoption into permanent homes of Sadie, Sparkle, and Cubby. The experience we gained whelping a litter gives us a great insight into the work involved, and appreciation for the people who happily bring quality puppies into the world. We will be forever glad it’s them and not us. For movies and lots of pictures of puppies, look at http://www.nwsams.com/katie.

Sadie, who was “Big Girl,” was adopted by Sue Yim. Sue previously adopted Biscotti and has a girl named Gracie, and Sadie is working into their family nicely. Sue and Sadie loved each other at first sight on their first visit. We kept her here while Sue prepared her home, and on June 15 Sadie went home.

Sparkle and Cubby, formerly “Little Girl” and “White Boy,” found their homes when a family from Gresham, Oregon came to visit them on June 30. Their new dad went through 4-H obedience for ten years as a youth, and the family now has two boys, 8 and 10 years old, who want to do the same. We were impressed with the maturity of the boys and the commitment of their parents, and the puppies liked them right away. Every report we’ve had of all three puppies confirms they are in the correct homes and will have great lives.

Katie, the puppies’ mother, is still with us while we search for the right home for her. She has changed so much we decided not to place her in the home we originally chose. When Katie came here she was a tired old dog with allergies and worn teeth who plodded around the yard. Now, although nearly naked after shedding her coat, she runs in the yard like a young dog and her coat is growing back nicely. She acts years younger, and her activity level is so high we can’t place her with the older couple whose home we thought would be right for her. Katie is, unbelievably, the first dog we ever fostered who jumped over our fence and got loose because she wanted to chase a rabbit. Fortunately one thing hasn’t changed, her desire to lean on a human and be scratched.

We told you about Harley last month, the dog who has been in a shelter four times. Different excuses were given, but it was probably because of his barking. What we found was an enthusiastic boy who wanted SO badly to be your friend that he couldn’t help telling you so. He is an intelligent dog who understood within a day what we meant when we asked him not to bark. An application came from the Lake Stevens area from a family with three dogs, two of whom are too old to play with the young one. His name is Chief, and when they came to visit it seemed Harley and Chief would do well together. Best of all is that they understand Samoyeds (and dogs in general) and see no problem with Harley’s barking because they know he can be trained. Kim did the visit and has been working with the family grooming him.

Holly was fostered by Jeff Bienstadt, who hosted a visit by a couple from Monroe who already have a Samoyed named Cloudy. Holly and Shawna, who has become her new Mom, were attracted immediately to each other and Cloudy approved. There have been some barking issues, which we understand to be actually neighbor issues. No news is good news, and it seems the problem has been addressed successfully.

We’re working with Samoyed Rescue of Oregon, who just got a male through Malamute Rescue from the Medford area. Their vet isn’t able to neuter him for several weeks, so we are moving Topper here for a few days for our vet to do it, then on Saturday at the Rescue Picnic he can go back with Melissa. She has a home arranged for Topper with people from Corvallis.

Finnegan came to us from the Bremerton area in May, 2005. The director of the shelter knew his coat needed grooming, and when she called she urged us to come pick him up “before some fool on the staff shaves him.” We always laughed about that. Kathy spent days grooming, pulling out dead hair, and at the end we had a good looking dog. Finnegan was mostly deaf and he walked like his back hurt, but it looked like a lot of love was left in him so we listed him for adoption.

Twice we invited applicants to look at Finnegan. The first time someone came he saw them, turned, and walked to the bedroom and hid. The second time he had visitors we closed the gate in the hallway, so he walked into a corner and pretended they weren’t there. That’s when we gave up and listened to him, and he stayed with us as a family member. Finn was always mellow and happy with a huge smile, and didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. A few months ago he began having serious problems getting around. X-rays showed a great looking spine, and the diagnosis was neurological problems. He became more incontinent and finally reached the point he couldn’t stand without help. We helped him cross the bridge and he said good bye quietly. He was a special boy, one of the dogs whose memory will always remind us why we do rescue. In his memory, we told Oakley he now has a permanent home with us.

It’s true! There’s nothing like puppy breath. Our three little house guests have passed six weeks and are developing real personalities. White Boy is timid and would just as soon snuggle than play hard with his sisters. Big Girl is mellow but always willing to roll around with the others playing. Little Girl is a fireball, pouncing on the others and running her little legs off. She is also the most affectionate, but with puppies it’s hard to rate affection. All of their little tongues get going when a human face gets close enough. Check http://www.nwsams.com/katie.

After considerable research we elected to go with the new vaccination protocols as recently published by nearly all the vet schools in the country. That means we will wait until they are 8 weeks old for the first shots, and won’t let them go to their new homes until after the second shots at 11 weeks. If you aren’t familiar with the changed protocols, please read them no matter how old your dogs are. You’ll find the new schedule at WSU’s Vet School site: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/pets/. There is a growing body of evidence that over-vaccination is harming our dogs.

Katie had a few days where she didn’t feel well when the puppies were about four weeks old. That’s when we decided to seriously work on weaning them, and as a result their weights went up even faster. Katie’s check-up showed great vital signs, so the only help we gave her was with feeding, with some herbal support for her diarrhea. She is as close to perfect a mother as she could be, even to the point of still nursing three pups with mouths full of needle-sharp teeth. Still, at her age, we’re relieved that she will never have to go through this again. Her recovery from her c-section/spay was incredible, and from the time she jumped a baby gate one day post-op she acted like nothing ever happened (yes, we blocked her from doing that again). Whoever gets Katie is going to have as loving a dog as they ever met.

Because we can’t take any fosters until after the puppies’ first shots, we had to leave a Sammy girl at the Tacoma Humane Society for quite a long time. This year they announced they are trying to be a no-kill shelter and they have staff actively looking for rescue groups to take dogs. We’ve had a great relationship with them for years, and now it’s even better. They gave us updates several times a week as we kept our fingers crossed she would be adopted. Kathy (Buckner) Thomas did an evaluation that showed a dog that was possibly a mix but might be a poorly bred purebred Samoyed. Finally, after three weeks, we decided enough was enough. We wrote an appeal on the NW Samoyed Rescue list, and Jeff Bienstadt responded. Jeff adopted Sasha four and a half years ago, and has expressed interest in helping Rescue. He drove to Tacoma and pulled “Muffy” (the shelter named her) and took her home. Now her name is Holly, and she is doing well there and we have listed her on Petfinder.

May is the month we hear about more dogs than any other time of year. This week we were asked to take an eight year old female in North Bend. The woman who has her says Nikita was given to her a couple years ago, and she doesn’t do well in a situation with so many other dogs; she boards other dogs and has as many as a dozen at a time. We will list Nikita on Petfinder as soon as we have a signed release, and she will remain where she is while we take applications. We also heard from two other people recently who want help with their dogs, but we had to give our regrets because they were obviously not Samoyeds, probably not even mixes. That doesn’t mean we didn’t help; we have an extensive list of other rescue groups and individuals who can help with most breeds, and referrals are a big part of doing the business of rescue.

Oakley is still with us, waiting for the perfect home. He is still timid but getting much more confidence and asking for attention frequently — and he is a real face-washer when he gets it. The man who surrendered him claimed he had Oakley for five years and was told he was nine years old when he arrived. This is obviously not a 14 year old dog, and lately we have wondered if he was nine months old. That would make him about six now, and would be consistent with his behavior.

This month we introduce a new foster girl, Katie. She was in the King County shelter in Kent, found as a stray and unclaimed. Erin went to check her out, and they said they would like us to take her. Erin headed south with her and met Kathy, who brought her the rest of the way here. Katie is a middle aged dog, lots of biscuit, and not spayed. She appears to have had at least one litter in the past. A quick vet visit pronounced her to have good lungs and a healthy heart. Her urine output is, shall we say, enormous. A urinalysis didn’t pick up any problems but did tell us she was in her last few days of her heat cycle. Her spay appointment is March 15.

Katie came to us with something we haven’t experienced before — kennel cough. In all the Sammies we fostered before, this is the first time we have had to deal with a sick dog. Three days after she arrived she began to sneeze, and five days after that most of the rest of our dogs caught it. She has an elevated white count and high liver enzymes as well as low thyroid, all of which might be due to the illness. It might not, in which case other tests will need to be run after she gets over her cold.

We’re especially happy that the shelter contacted us, rather than the other way around. This marks the first time Kent ever called us about a dog needing our help, a positive sign for the future. We also recently made contact with someone who routinely checks the Seattle area shelters and who will let us know when we are needed.

Oakley and Emily are still with us, waiting for their forever homes. We have listed Emily on Petfinder because none of our current applicants are quite right for her. Emily runs like a greyhound and has the boundless energy of any two year old and it’s going to take a special home for her. Oakley has settled in and we’re waiting for the right home to come along without advertising him. Because his past includes some sort of mistreatment he will need a gentle hand.

Precious was adopted just before last month’s rescue report, and in the past month several of us have visited with her and her new family. They are first time dog owners and needed some extra reassurance that Precious is getting what she needs from them. Special thanks to Liz and Van for visiting and spending an afternoon there.

About a year ago we picked up a senior Sammy girl named Snowy from the Tacoma shelter. She was traced to a vet in the area where we got the name of her owner, but we were unable to find where she moved. Carey and Kaz had recently lost Madison and called to say they would take Snowy. Under their care she blossomed and had a wonderful life there. We’re sad to report she bloated a week ago and they lost her. Please join us in our sorrow at the loss of Snowy, and in our undying appreciation for two guys who have twice given a Senior girl a wonderful home. They are truly two in a million.

Because we are fostering a sick dog, we can’t take any more until the whole pack is well again. If we find another dog needing rescue we may need another foster home on very short notice. If you think you can handle an additional Samoyed for a little while, please let us know.

The greatest joy of rescue is hearing about dogs months or years after adoption. When folks with rescue dogs take the time to write and send pictures it thrills us. At Christmas we hear from a lot of people and it makes the season bright. It also makes us think about all the success stories. There have been many who stand out in our memories.

Tonka was one of the first dogs we hosted in our home in the days we were volunteers helping Cheryl and Steve. Tonka’s mom suffered some financial setbacks and had to move to a new home with people who already had many dogs, and they told her he had to go. Christie Smith helped with his transport through Oregon and we fostered him. Marilyn and Gordon Dahl adopted Tonka and have become firm friends of rescue. We hear from Marilyn almost every month, and frequently she sends pictures. Tonka is a very handsome dog, as you can see in this recent snow picture.

Mori was special for another reason. We spotted him when he was listed by the Lewis County shelter, about a half hour from us. They told us they would list us as “last chance” on his kennel card. A couple days later, while Cheryl and Steve were out of town, the shelter called to say they need his cage. Right now. I think we set a record getting there, and a big happy goofy boy came to stay with us. The first applicant who came to visit him was intimidated by his size and energy and ended up with another dog. But then Holley and Hans came through the door and Mori walked over and sat down by them and said “these are MY humans.” Not for the first time we saw how true it is that the dog chooses the people. Hans and Holley have been responsible for the great artwork for all our fundraiser shirts ever since. Mori’s vocabulary is quite extensive, but “zoom zoom” (a ride in the car) may always be his favorite. You can see Mori walking around Green Lake daily, showing himself off to his loyal public.

Homer was picked up as a stray and taken to the Tacoma Humane Society, and his owners were known. Unfortunately they had previously bounced a check there, so they decided not to claim him. As soon as we could, we bailed him out and brought him here. He was a high-energy dog and several families met him before his perfect humans arrived. They understood exactly what he needed. His name now is Tova and he lives happily in Lynnwood with his family. After he settled in they added Amira, who helped demonstrate how well Sammies do with children. Is he a good babysitter or what?

Divorces are something we hear about all the time, and it’s often the dogs who suffer. Old friends who gave their families long lives suddenly find themselves homeless. One of these was Mandy, who at the dignified age of 9 had to come to rescue because her humans were moving into an apartment. We picked her up and took her to Melissa Hopper, who had foster space at the time. Mandy subsequently went to live with Esther and Margaret, close neighbors of Hans and Holley. Esther is a teacher and took Mandy to work with her, where she became the class mascot. Mandy has since crossed the rainbow bridge, but her final years taught her true love. Esther and Margaret have adopted two more rescue Sammies who came from the Coeur d’Alene area, so Mandy’s influence is touching two more dogs.

We can’t write about rescue success stories without confessing to the dogs who ended up staying with us. Charlie was the first, and the experience taught us what rescue was all about. Shadow was one of the first we found after taking over as coordinators, and we couldn’t bear to let him go. Abby had been dropped out a car window before she found her way here and literally couldn’t walk more than a few steps; we had the privilege of having her for the final two years of her life. Cassie was also a hospice dog who came to us with teeth so bad that all but four of them had to be pulled. She was also very old, but we believe love is magnified in a senior dog.

Finnegan is our current senior, found in Bremerton. He is having significant problems getting around and is leaving presents for us around the house, but his smile is as big as any we’ve ever had here. We’ve been privileged to be involved with rescue.

This is the month of our annual fundraiser, and this year we’re offering a new design by Holley called “Samflake.” We will take orders until at least the first week in January, so there’s lots of time left to get yours. We have had great success in our fundraisers in recent years. There are many other Samoyed Rescue groups around the country constantly scrambling to pay vet bills, and we have the privilege of not worrying whether we have to turn a dog away because he or she might be expensive to help. Your financial support is what makes it possible to save so many dogs.

New this month is Precious, a one and a half year old female Samoyed. She came from the Everett shelter where she was an owner turn-in. Although there was a note on her paperwork that the previous owner wanted a call when she was adopted because he cared so much, someone else brought her to the shelter for him, and she was filthy and ungroomed. Erin picked her up for us and took her to meet Lon, who is now fostering her. Precious needed bathing so badly that Erin says she stopped at a dumpster and threw away the pad from the back of her car on the way home. Wow. Lon & Mary have taken care of grooming Precious and we’re waiting for more pictures so we can get her listed. She should be an easy placement.

We can understand why Emily’s families have had so much trouble keeping her out of trouble. She is possibly the most active girl we’ve ever encountered. Emily first came to us in February 2005 after being found as a puppy in the Coeur d’Alene shelter. The best guess was that she was mostly Samoyed. Now that she has grown up (and UP and UP) our guess is that she is not as much sammy as everybody thought, but it’s still a matter for debate. We took her as a puppy and placed her, so she will always be able to count on us for a place to stay. She is a wonderful dog, but she will need a big yard or someone really committed to exercising her.