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Abby is settling in and becoming part of the pack, although she is such a strong alpha that the other dogs don’t especially like her. Her rear is so weak they know she can’t enforce her dominance, so they pretty much ignore her. She has bonded to me and is usually found at my side. Abby is a barker who is so food-motivated that we have to exclude her from the kitchen during meals, or she will bark continuously while we try to eat. None of the usual training methods work. We think she must have been starved at some point in her life and just can’t accustom herself to not being fed while others eat.

She has a problem we thought might be a perianal cyst, or a problem with an anal gland, but it appears to be a type of perianal dermatitis. There isn’t a lot to do for it; she isn’t agile enough to lick herself, so that’s not the problem. We had full blood and urine tests done and she is in pretty good shape for eleven years old. As we say, her problem is behind her.

Tessa and Sophie are still slowly improving. Kathy can pet and scratch them if she approaches slowly, but they still run from me. We are continuing to clip clotheslines on their collars as they go out, since they return when we do that (for a month or more we had trouble getting them back in the door). One of the things we are trying now is for me to attach their lines; they run to the bathroom and jump in the shower where they know they will be cornered, and I follow them slowly and hook them up. I take advantage of the situation and pet them so they get used to me, and give high value treats at the same time. Until recently I was waiting for them to make the move, but it’s time to try something new.

Last September we were asked to take a two year old dog named Casper. While we were contacting people to go meet him, the owner said he found someone to give him to and they hoped it was a good home. Last month we had an email from a woman who said a friend with a Samoyed needed to find him a new home, and after talking to the owner we realized it was the same dog. Casper has had a nomadic life. He was sold and quickly returned, then sold again to a doctor in Seattle who was remodeling his home and left Casper with a day care center a lot. Finally he abandoned his dog and the woman gave/sold him to a family in Bellevue. On the first day there Casper jumped out a second story window and broke his paw. They spent thousands getting him through that, and they are the ones who approached us last September. Their vet tech found Casper a new home, but the new owner was gone 10 hours a day and Casper was too much for him. That’s when we became involved this time. We didn’t want to bounce him around again, so rather than bring him here to foster we contacted people on our waiting list, but none were ready for a young male. Then we called breeder friends and asked if they had anyone special on a waiting list who would take an adult just under 3 years old. Darlene came through for us with a perfect home. They already had a young female, worked from home, and were anxious to meet Casper. We arranged to meet here, and Casper was driven down from Sultan while they came north from the Portland area. You know how often we say the dog picks the people, and that’s what happened again. Casper went right to them, and even ignored his owner of the past four months. It’s impressive when something like that happens. We get frequent updates and this really is his forever home.

We heard of a puppy who came into SeaTac from the Ukraine, but without the correct paperwork. Reports are that they can’t reach the shipper and don’t know who was to meet her, so she is being held in the custody of a vet. We tried to contact Customs, but they would only say it was in the hands of the airline and they can’t tell us anything because of privacy concerns. The pup is being talked about, as usual, on Facebook groups full of concerned people who can’t do more than talk about it and tell us we should do something more. Until we are asked to do something, we’re observers like everyone else.

It has been a little over a month since eleven year old Sophie arrived. We initially referred to her as “Sophie 2,” since we already had a Sophie here, but when we realized she didn’t answer to her name we changed it to Abby. We know she doesn’t hear well, but she seems to answer to Abby now more than she did to her former name. Kathy has been working on her coat, making significant progress, but just a few minutes at a time. Abby is the barkiest dog we can remember. It is primarily food-motivated; she acts like she is starving. It’s easy to see why she weighed 88 pounds the first time we had her in 2015. Since we can’t speak to the adopter from that time (he is in a care facility), or the man he gave her to because we don’t know who he was, we don’t know if once of them got her weight down or if she was on the run a long time before she made it to the animal shelter. The result of the weight loss is a desperate desire for food. She has a number of small wounds either healing or where her coat hasn’t grown back. We gave her Amoxicillin for a UTI when she first arrived, which cleared up her incontinence, but in recent days she has asked to go out in the middle of the night, so it may be back.

We know Abby came from Falling Cedar Farms. They sell to anyone wanting a puppy, do no health checks on parents, and they have accounted for more dogs we get than any other breeder since Misty Mountain, back when we started rescue in 2001. There is another connection. In looking at the pedigree we received with Abby (Sophie) in 2015, we know where many of the Falling Cedar Farms dogs came from. They were from Misty Mountain. Besides the pedigree, there is a head shape that’s common among them, shared by our own boy Rowdy. If he or Abby looks into the office we have to check nose color to be sure which one it is.

February 5, 2021 marks the third anniversary of the arrival of Sophie, Fena, and Tessa. They were three of five pregnant Iowa bitches that were “leased,” already pregnant, to a man in Brush Prairie, Washington. We were told he was going to sell the puppies, split the proceeds with White Fire, and return them. We don’t know what happened, but he offered three of them to us and we said yes. Our partner Melissa got the girls and brought them to us to foster. We had no idea what we were getting into. In 20 years of rescue work we have never seen three dogs not just feral, but petrified. They acted like they had never seen a human being.

Kathy and I made a quick decision and moved the cars from our garage and made it into a big dog kennel, with beds in one corner and pieces of x-pens and other panels fencing off storage shelves because they chewed on everything they could reach. They were totally untrained, so we cleaned the concrete floor frequently. Each day we took turns sitting with them to get them used to people being around. We fenced a small outdoor area outside the garage, set up so if they escaped there was another fence holding them in. Our vet did a home visit, and Tessa was discovered to have a heart murmur. Blood samples showed Fena was heartworm positive, so she made the first of three visits to the vet clinic for treatment. In May, Sophie stopped eating and was discovered to have eaten some plastic. A midnight surgery removed bits of a string trimmer reel. They put in 33 staples. A few weeks and a few thousand dollars later she had recovered.

In the early fall we began letting the three girls into the house, first by letting them come in through an open door, and finally moved them in the house full time with a path through the garage to their potty area outside. During that time they regressed because it was another change in their lives, but settled down after a few months. On their one-year anniversary we cross-fenced our dog yard and gave them quite a bit more area to roam outdoors. After 13 months they were finally housetrained. In the early Spring, 2019, they were spayed.

We tried to find trainers in the area and couldn’t find one willing to take them. We even contacted the prison system because they train dogs, but couldn’t get help there either. Finally we found a friend and previous adopter who said she would take one of them. A breeder friend stopped by for an evaluation and decided Fena was the best candidate, so in August she went to live in the Seattle area with a wonderful woman named Kathi. We continued sitting with Sophie and Tessa in an x-pen every day, feeding them treats, and they began tolerating it.

Being inside meant they were free to bark all night, but the fix was surprisingly easy. Kathy led them to the bedroom every night and they slept in crates. We were impressed how quickly they liked it there. Then in June we opened up the entire yard to them so all our dogs were together. In the meantime, Fena was with Kathi becoming more of a regular dog every day. About that time Fena rolled over and asked for a tummy scratch. In late Summer Fena began going with Kathi’s dog walker, a man, happily.

On their second anniversary here, a year ago, Sophie and Tessa’s progress became slower. Kathy has been able to touch them, pet them, and give them scratches and a little grooming, but generally speaking I can’t get close. Whatever a man did to them in the past must have been bad enough they still can’t trust. The exception is when they go into their crates at night, when I can feed them some kibble from my hand. In past months I have been able to pet them while they eat kibble from the crate floor. Once or twice I have been able to get close enough to put a leash on Sophie, but not Tessa. A few months ago they stopped coming inside, no matter what the weather, unless they had long lines clipped to their collars so we could catch them. The exception is at night at bedtime, when they know there will be kibble in their crates.

It’s a slow road, and we expect the two will be here the rest of their lives. We know they would both do much better if they didn’t feed on each other’s fears, but try as we might, we can’t find anyone who can take a dog this fearful. It requires either two fences or one that’s built to keep a dog in no matter what, with no way in the house to escape through a door and end up in a place not fenced. If you know someone in the Northwest who has that kind of setup, we’d love to hear from them.

We are starting the new year with a new Sophie. Perhaps new is not the right word, since we had her here in 2015, and she is ten and a half years old now. On January 7 we had an email from a woman who surrendered her dog to us in April, 2015, letting us know she received a call from the Kitsap Humane Society that her dog was there. Looking back at records I found she had been adopted to a man in Bremerton, so I called and left a message on the number he gave us on his application. About ten minutes later I had a call from a woman who identified herself as his caretaker, asking what we wanted. When I told her, she said he wasn’t able to take care of himself, let alone a dog, and that he gave Sophie away. Although that meant he had defaulted on his contract and Sophie was ours again, the shelter had to hold her for 96 hours waiting for the owner to claim her. We talked to them several times, and they told us she was not in good shape, that her coat was terrible, her nails were very long, and her stray hold would be up at noon on the 11th. Kathy picked her up a few minutes after noon and brought her back home. Sophie’s coat is bad, but probably salvageable. Her whole back is matted, but Kathy is getting some of the mats combed out. She is incontinent, but the shelter didn’t have time for a vet to check her so we have an appointment soon with our own vet.

Winston, the abuse case in King County, was released to us on December 22. Erin and Tom picked him up and brought him here. Originally they planned to foster him, but their schedule changed and we decided he could come to us instead. What we expected was a dog afraid of people, but we found quite the opposite. During the month he was at Regional Animal Services of King County the staff all worked with him, and what we got was a normal Samoyed who loves people. That’s quite a turn-around because they said he was timid when they seized him. They did a wonderful job and we are grateful to them for their efforts.

We worked with Winston’s breeder to find a good home, and it turned out to be ideal. While he was here we were contacted by people we believe were friends of the man arrested for abuse, trying to adopt him, so we are going to be quiet about where his new home is. Winston couldn’t be in a better place. He is with people who have years of experience with the breed, and he lives with two Samoyed sisters. They have a large fenced yard, with acres beyond it that are also enclosed. He goes on daily walks and is as happy as a dog could be. He deserves it.

The Sophie we already have, along with her cousin Tessa (the Iowa girls) have done better in the past month. A month ago we were having a lot of trouble getting them to come back in the house when they went out. Several times they were out all day, in bad weather, until they came in at bedtime. They missed dinner, but for some reason they have always come in eagerly when it meant going to bed in their crates and getting bedtime kibble. This month we began putting them out with lengths of clothesline connected to their collars. It meant that Kathy could go outside and step on the lines and lead them back inside; for some reason they walk on leashes like they have been trained. They began coming back inside when they were on their lines, so we shortened the lines to just a few feet and they kept coming in. It means we can let them outside more often, but it also means they are learning.

Most of our effort this past month has been dealing with an abuse case in the Seattle area. On November 24 we saw a video posted on several Facebook groups, showing a dog being hit and kicked by a man. The video had been captured by the Ring doorbell camera of a business in Mercer Island. The police were able to get the license number of the car and trace it back to a man in Bellevue. They requested a warrant, went to his home, and seized the Samoyed who had been abused. The dog is now in the care of Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC), and must be held a minimum of 15 days.
Charges were filed by the Prosecutor’s office and reported by Seattle media. KOMO news posted: “A Bellevue man has been charged with one count of first-degree animal cruelty after he was caught on a surveillance camera last month beating his pet dog in an empty Mercer Island parking lot, Tzu-Chieh “Jack” Shan, 26, has been ordered to not live with or own any dogs while the criminal case into the incident is pending, according to court documents. Shan told investigators that the white Samoyed-type dog, whose name is Winston, had urinated on the vehicle floor inside the family’s Mercedes SUV and had scratched the man’s toddler daughter in the face while they and Shan’s wife were in the vehicle as it was traveling through the tunnel in Mercer Island, court documents show.” The video was widely circulated and is quite disturbing.

Northwest Samoyed Rescue contacted RASKC immediately offering our assistance, and we have been in a dialog with the Sergeant in charge of the case. Their hands are tied to a great degree because the case is in the courts, but their answers have been prompt and caring. We have worked with them before, and hopefully they know we are trying to help. We learned the last three numbers of the dog’s microchip and have been contacting breeders in the northwest in an attempt to find out where Winston came from. We think we know, but are still trying to verify it. You can understand we aren’t going to make that public. It is our hope that a good breeder’s contract will demand the return of a dog that has been mistreated, and that RASKC can leverage that contract to remove the dog permanently.

Rescue has received donations to help this dog, and we have told each donor that there is no guarantee we will be able to help. If we can, and there are costs involved, we have the resources to do whatever is asked of us. As far as finding an adopter, we have a special home waiting that has experience helping dogs like Winston. As of this writing we are still waiting for more information from RASKC.

In early 2019 we tried giving Prozac to Sophie and Tessa. A week ago we talked to our vet and we have begun giving it to them again. They are so afraid of people that we’re hoping it will help. Several weeks ago we also began giving them a supplement of hemp, valerian, and other calming herbs. We haven’t seen a change yet, but it’s worth trying. If they go outdoors without leashes they refuse to come inside until bedtime, and with winter weather it means they get pretty wet. Kathy has been leash walking them, and they act like they were leash trained ages ago. The problem is that they won’t do their business, which is why we are walking them. Recently we tried clipping them to a 20-foot long clothesline so Kathy could catch them. Unfortunately they walk next to her even though she isn’t holding them, and still won’t do their business. We tried six-foot pieces of clothesline, but again, they think it means they have to walk next to her. We hope with some more time on the lines they will understand what’s going on.

Each night at bedtime Sophie and Tessa dive into a crate together and I feed them from my hand. I began dropping kibble on the crate pad, trying to pet them while they were eating. Sophie tolerated it, but until a week ago Tessa backed into the crate when I touched her. Finally she has begun to tolerate touching and petting, which is progress. Next month will mark three years here, so that progress is mighty slow.

In December 2017 we picked up a senior dog named Nanuk, surrendered by a woman in Sultan. She sent us a few photos showing how beautiful he was. Kathy met her half way, and the owner pushed out a dog from her car, covered in filth and matted to the skin.  Kathy did her magic and got him cleaned up nicely, and we found him to be as wonderful as only a Senior Sammy can be. From what we could determine he was kept out in a muddy yard.

Once he was ready to adopt we called John and Theresa, who had recently lost another rescue boy named Scooter. They hesitated to adopt another old dog because Scooter had been so expensive at the end, so we worked out a deal. They took Nanuk as a foster dog and we took care of costs. It didn’t take long for him to worm his way into their hearts, and they gave him a life that made up for anything that happened in his early years. He had his own place in their RV, a fenced yard with all the toys he wanted, and at least one walk each day along the river. They named him Nikkee and he had everything he could ask for, but most of all a loving home.

In July, they let us know Nikkee wasn’t feeling well and they were taking him to their vet, who immediately referred them to an emergency clinic where it was determined Nikkee was bleeding internally from a tumor on his spleen. It was removed, but the report said cancer was likely to return in a few months. They brought him here in August so we could visit with him once more, and he was doing quite well. Then last month, as we knew would happen, he began to decline fast and they had to let him go. In a breed where we have many favorite dogs, Nikkee was one of those we will always remember, just as we will remember the love and great care John and Theresa gave him. Nikkee was 13 years old.

I don’t know how many times we have reported “slow progress” with Sophie and Tessa, but probably most of the rescue reports since February 2018 said something like that. When you compare them today with what we had then, they are considerably changed, but changes are still glacially slow. Kathy has begun walking them around the yard and they are doing surprisingly well on leashes. They are still slow to come through the door into the kitchen; unless there is food in the offing they usually decline, so we don’t let them out as often as they would like. Sophie will take food from my hand, but not Tessa. Kathy is able to pet them both, at least sometimes, but I’m not. The one exception is bedtime, when I give each some kibble in their crates, when I can reach in and pet them. Recently Sophie came into the office next to me and actually laid down, the first time that has happened.

Sophie’s sister Fena is still with Kathi, and she has turned into a much better adjusted dog. Kathi sent this photo recently showing Fena’s first trip into Mud Bay. Congratulations, Fena!

This past month we have seen two Craigslist advertisements for Samoyeds. We always write and let the people know who we are and try to get information. Advertisers remain anonymous unless they choose to give us name or numbers, so that’s about all we can do. We know that one wanted $1500 and the other wanted $400. Both of the listings disappeared so we can only hope the dogs went to good homes. Just a week ago we had an email from a woman who wanted to surrender her two and a half year old male. I wrote back asking for photos, but heard nothing. Since we have her email address I’ll check back again. There’s a fine line between helping and pushing too hard.

The high point of our month was the adoption of Max, who is now named Sundance. He first arrived here in late January, an independent dog who needed a lot of socialization. Although Max was a nice boy, and from a good breeder, he was first sold to people who might have wanted a beautiful dog more than a companion. He was given to their daughter, then to the daughter’s boyfriend, and finally sold on Craigslist. The woman who bought him contacted us and we emailed back and forth for months before she decided he needed a new home. About two months after he got here he began to seek out affection, and finally turned into a wonderful dog. We knew all along he needed to live where he was dog number one, not number six as he was here. We got lucky when a couple from the Oregon coast came to visit. Max, who wasn’t always wild about new people, jumped up on both of them. That was the first time we saw that, so once again the dog picked the people. They agreed to take him to a veterinary ophthalmologist for his right eye problem, which our vet said was a clogged tear duct, but which turned out to be an allergy of some sort. There were a couple dogs in their neighborhood named Max, so they now call him Sundance. He just celebrated his third birthday in his new home. He is in wonderful hands now and happy as can be.

We heard of a dog in the Vancouver area who was tied out in the back yard and needed a new home. We were able to make contact with the sister of the owner, who said she would try to convince her brother to let us have him. Over the next few days her brother had a change of heart and asked her to take the dog. She wasn’t wild about the idea, but our understanding is that she did. What will happen in the future is unknown, but she has our contact information. We also heard of a dog in Goldendale and sent the Craigslist post to one of our applicants. He wrote back saying he was also looking at a female from a breeder and was wondering if he should get them both. He has had two or three Samoyeds at a time for most of his life and we said we couldn’t see a reason not to do it. Besides, we’re a backup if the two don’t work out, even though we think it will.

A woman in Seattle advertised on one of the many dog listing sites, and a family in Redmond ended up with a two year old male Samoyed named Casper. They thought he would be a good friend for their own young male, but after taking him the two young males began fighting. The first day there, Casper jumped out a second story window and broke his paw. For over two months they dealt with his recovery, keeping the two dogs apart, and then reached out to rescue. While we were arranging to have an applicant visit them, the vet tech they worked with found someone to take him. It sounds like it was a suitable new home.

Rory, the boy we talked about last month, ended up in a good home. Kim dropped by to check on things and reported his new people understand dogs and he is happy with them. He had quite a life, and he earned his place with a great family.

Nanuk, now called Nikkee, is still a foster living with John and Theresa in Kalama. He went through major surgery a few months ago, but has bounced back and still loves his long walks every day. He will have his 13th birthday soon and still looks great.

There’s not much to report about Sophie and Tessa. Their progress is still very slow. Kathy has been trying to get them out on leashes occasionally, and they behave fairly well though they aren’t wild about the idea. In the house it takes effort to catch them to attach a leash, and of course outdoors there isn’t a chance. There is an area of our deck that is usually out of the weather, and if they go outdoors they usually won’t return until it’s time for treats or dinner. The two girls will probably live out their lives here.

After 19 years and nearly 200 dogs, we still have to come up with new approaches once in a while. Back in the middle of July we asked a previous adopter to look at Rory, a seven year old dog living on Mercer Island. His owner was moving out of the area to live with her sister, and there was no room for Rory. She wanted to find a good home in the northwest rather than place him in the muggy climate of Atlanta. Normally we foster a dog here for a while, but we have two males who don’t really love each other, and three wouldn’t work well. A full two weeks later we finally heard from the adopter, saying he decided Rory would not be a good fit. That put us in a bind, but we sent another adopter to meet Rory. It took her another three weeks to visit him twice and then decide to take him home. Some adopters are wonderful keeping us in the loop and others make us feel like tearing out our hair trying to get them to respond. This was the latter, but Rory finally made the move.

The first day there we had a call that Rory wasn’t getting along with her cats. The second day it was better, but then she said Rory was aggressive to them; he chased one and hurt it, but a day later she thought things would work out. The final call was on the sixth day when she said “Rory has to be gone today.” This is the thing we worry about most when we arrange a direct adoption and can’t meet a dog first. We immediately went through the applications on hand, trying to qualify the ones who would take a seven year old male (that ruled out 90%). We finally got down to two people and I called one of them. Although I had asked someone two days prior to do a home visit, there hadn’t been time yet. The call was quite positive, and the couple sounded like a good match. The woman even worked as a trainer in the past. That night Rory went to stay in a boarding kennel, and the next morning they drove from Lake Stevens to Ellensburg to pick him up. By the time he was in the car he looked comfortable with them. This is the first time we ever placed a dog in a home we hadn’t visited before, and the first time we chose an applicant whose app we received only a few days earlier. It’s also a record for the most time we spent in such a short time coordinating Rory’s new home. Kim Leslie, who was originally going to do a home visit, will now follow up with them in case they have any questions or need some advice.

Max has been here since February and we would love it if he ended up with us, even though he and our boy Rowdy don’t get along well. Max has gone from an aloof, independent dog to a friendly boy who likes to be with people. Still, much as we care for him, Max deserves to have his own family and be dog #1 instead of #6 as he is here. We found a great couple on the Oregon coast who have had Samoyeds all their lives, and they are coming to visit Max on the 17th. If they decide to take him it’s going to be hard to watch him leave. They promised to take him to a veterinary ophthalmologist to see about getting his tear duct unplugged, and we promised to pay for it.

We heard about Jack on a Facebook group. He was in the Adams County shelter after someone adopted him somewhere and decided during the trip home that she didn’t want him. People can be strange. After the shelter posted him as a Samoyed they decided he wasn’t one; the next day they decided for sure he was a Sammy, and promised to send some photos to us (the ones we saw certainly showed a Samoyed). They didn’t sent the pictures and a follow-up message got no response, so once again we don’t know what happened. It’s something we have grown used to, and we have to hope Jack found a good home.

A bright spot in the month was when Sue Yim sent photos of Sadie and Snowy, both of whom were adopted from us. You may remember when we found Katie, who turned out to be pregnant when she got here. She had three puppies; two went to a family in Portland and one, Sadie, went to Sue. Sadie is a bashful dog who doesn’t especially like to meet people, but each time she came for a picnic she was happy to see us. It’s the most flattering feeling in the world. Katie has been gone a long time, and Sadie’s two littermates have also passed, but Sadie is still doing well. Snowy has also been with Sue for years and the two dogs get along gre. We love to get updates on the dogs we have known.

This is the time of year Tessa and Sophie like, when they can be out in the yard alternating between running and playing and napping. Sophie’s sister Fena is still with Kathi, and doing better with each passing month. We’re certain if we could find another foster home for one of our two that they both would benefit, but after two and a half years here we haven’t had any takers.

We put off finding a home for Max while we tried to decide what to do about his clogged tear duct. While we have a good veterinary ophthalmologist here in the area, she is booked out several months and we don’t want to wait that long to place him. In the months he has been here he changed from an independent dog who wouldn’t look us in the eye to a loving dog who wants to be with us. The difference is truly remarkable. If we didn’t have another male in the house who doesn’t care for boys, he would already have found his home, but he deserves to be the only dog with some lucky family. We decided we’re going to make it a requirement for his new family to take him to a veterinary ophthalmologist, and we will pay for the procedure.

Last month we had Sonoma and Nala, two litter sisters who originally came from a home where the owner died. They were taken in by a family that already had a Samoyed, but two of them together were just too much so they called us. They went to Melissa to foster, and Nala went from there to a great home in northern Idaho. She had been in so many homes already they named her Gypsy. She has been spayed and had a small hernia repaired and is doing well; she should soon be playing with her new doggie brother again. Sonoma has a new home too, due to something we call foster failure. Our policy has always been that a foster home gets the first chance at the dog they have, and Sonoma is no longer a foster dog. She still lives with Melissa and Terry, but now it’s a forever home. Her new name is Roxy, in tribute to another dog. Splitting up the two girls has been a positive thing for both of them.

Rory is a seven year old in Mercer Island, looking for a home before his human mom leaves to move back to Georgia after her husband’s death. We referred a prior adopter to him, but after three weeks he decided not to adopt this time. Although it put us in a bind timewise, we were able to find someone else, also a previous adopter, who is going to meet him a few days after this report’s deadline. We think the match should be excellent. If not, we’re the safety valve and can take him here. It’s not ideal with two other boys in the house, but it’s why we have so many gates.

This month we’re happy to tell you that Luna has a wonderful new home. Her family has had multiple Samoyeds in the past, understands the breed very well, and at six years old Luna fits their lifestyle. She lives in the Salem area with a Sheltie and a Chihuahua, and is already settling in and playing with them. While we are delighted she is in the right home, we will always miss Luna. In a breed with such wonderful, gentle personalities, Luna was one of the sweetest girls we ever fostered.

Nanuk is a twelve and a half year old foster dog who lives with John and Theresa in Kalama. Last month he had surgery to remove his spleen and a tumor on it. It was an emergency, and rescue paid for it. Their regular vet said he was bleeding internally, and transferred him to an ER vet in Portland where they did the surgery. He came through it with flying colors, and was here for a short visit on August 12. He looks wonderful, and is acting normally five weeks post-op. The vets predict the tumor will return in two or three months, and while we all hope that is not the case, John and Theresa will give him the best life possible, as long as possible.

We often say rescue is less demanding than it was 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago. This month it’s as busy as it was in the old days. We have in rescue, or are working with, eight dogs at once; Sophie, Tessa, Max, Luna, Nala, Sonoma, Rory, and Nanuk.

Still here since February 2018, and likely to be here their entire lives, are Sophie and Tessa. Each month Kathy is able to interact with them a tiny bit more, and once in a while I’m able to almost touch them. Sophie is usually the braver of the two, though Tessa sometimes comes in the house first. I’m able to feed them from my hand at bedtime, and we continue working to get them more comfortable with people.

Two and a half year old Max has been here since February. He is from a good breeder who immediately offered to take him back, but we said we would be able to place him quickly. Of course that was just before the quarantine and we didn’t know we wouldn’t be able to have guests in our home for such a long time. We bent that rule a few weeks ago to introduce Max to a couple, but there was no spark. They are fine people who will remain on our waiting list, but we feel strongly the dog picks the people. They thought the same thing, so they will wait a little longer. During his time here Max has become a different dog, much friendlier and easy going. He and our boy Rowdy are still separated most of the time, but they don’t posture now like they did at first.

On June 15 we were contacted by the Everett Animal Shelter, one of our favorites. They had an owner-surrendered female named Luna, six years old, whose owner said she had an anal gland problem and they couldn’t afford the surgery. Tom and Erin picked her up and brought her here. Our vet says we should monitor the problem, but there is no surgery indicated. We tracked down the breeder with the help of her microchip, and not only is it a good breeder, it’s a good friend. They immediately offered to take Luna back, but we have a number of good applicants and we are happy to keep her here for now. The home that gets Luna will get a real prize of a dog.

In March we were contacted by the son of a man who passed away. He was a former adopter of ours and had purchased two puppies from a breeder in Michigan, and his son wanted us to take them. We said yes, and talked to the breeder who was happy not to get them back. Meanwhile the sister of the man who called located a home with a Samoyed who was willing to take the two pups, who were nine months old in March. The family that took them realized it wasn’t working out because they didn’t have the resources for two young dogs. We arranged for him to take the pups, Nala and Sonoma, to Erin and Tom, who brought them to us. The next morning they went to live with Melissa and Terry, where they have been since June 28. Darlene did a home visit to a home in northern Idaho, and Nala will be going there in a week. We think we have a home for Sonoma, and we’re finalizing the arrangements.

Living with John and Theresa in Kalama is Nanuk, now called Nikkee. Instead of an adoption, we decided to place him as a foster dog. Just before the writing of this report he was taken to the vet because he wasn’t feeling well. His vet believed he was bleeding internally and Nikkee ended up at an ICU/ER vet in Portland, where his spleen and a tumor were removed the same evening. He was a very sick dog who now has a good chance for full recovery. This is the reason we have had fundraisers over the years, so we could afford a $7,000 emergency surgery. We are fortunate to be in a position to take care of him.

Rory was purchased from a pet store in Queens, NY and lived in the Seattle area. He is seven, and when his human dad died he went to another couple in Mercer Island. Last November the man died and his wife needs to move in with her sister in Georgia. She contacted us because she wants to know he his safe here in weather he knows, rather than finding a new home in such a hot and humid area. The weekend of this writing one of our former adopters will take his family to meet Rory. We hope it goes well.

Because we have so many dogs at once we have been sifting through applications on hand. We have some good ones, but if you know of someone who is qualified for a rescue, please ask them to visit our website at www.nwsams.com and send us an application. Thank you to all our supporters!