December 2019
Brand new this month is Starla, a three year old Samoyed girl from the Tacoma area. We first saw her listed on a Facebook group, and replied that we exist to help find Samoyeds a new home. The woman had received Starla as a gift for her daughter as a puppy, but as she got older she was just too much for a single mom to handle. We get that a lot in rescue, and usually the people are really trying eliminate all the work. We are confident this one was different. The woman and her daughter desperately wanted to keep Starla and decided to find a new home for her benefit. The owner worked full time and her daughter is in school, so Starla was alone much of the time. Kathy went to pick her up, and reported the woman was in tears the whole time she was there.
Starla came with enough toys, food, and bedding to fill most of the car. They apparently compensated by giving her treats, and as a result she is a full figured girl at 67 pounds (we think 50 would be about right). Starla has an appointment with our vet for a check-up and we expect she will get a clean bill of health; she is current on all vaccinations. They are transferring her records from the woman’s vet, something we routinely do. When Starla is adopted we will call the new vet and give them our vet’s name and number so the records will follow her. We have already contacted someone we know would give her a terrific home. More photos of Starla are at https://nwsams.smugmug.com/Rescue/Starla/.
Last month we had Bear, who now lives in Lake Oswego with an ideal couple who have had Samoyeds in their lives for a long time. The husband calls the downstairs room his “man cave,” but as Melissa pointed out, man caves don’t have doggie doors and this one does. Outside the door is a large doggie area which opens to an even bigger yard. It was too bad we didn’t need another dog because Bear was wonderful. Combine that with a couple so nice that, after she did the home visit, Melissa asked them to adopt her along with the dog. It’s a memorable match. Incidentally, we called their vet to transfer records from the former owner; we don’t disclose names to either the former or new owners, but we give complete info to the vet so they can get the records. Having a health history from puppyhood through their entire life is a benefit to every dog.
This sounds like a broken record, but Sophie and Tessa continue to make progress. Kathy is now able to pet Sophie whenever she is near, and can approach Tessa without her running away. A couple weeks ago she was able to sit and pet Tessa’s head. I now keep a container of kibble on my desk and offer some in my hand when they come into the office. The last few weeks I have been trying to put the kibble on my palm so my fingers can scratch Sophie as she takes it. She has gone from backing up quickly to tolerating the touch. I still have to toss the kibble to Tessa, who won’t come that close, but she is a phenomenal catcher. At night I feed both of them from my hand after they go into their crates, and drop some in front of them. While they eat, I pet them. Slight improvements from week to week are all I’m getting, but it’s progress.
Darlene continues to foster Cloud, the dog we placed in Boise a couple years ago, while his owners try to find a rental in Hawaii that will take him. Many thanks go to Darlene for doing this.
At the end of the year we think back and remember all the generous donors who help us run rescue. Some send small amounts every month, and some send larger donations annually. Others send funds for special occasions, or in memory of either dogs or people. We appreciate every single one of them because they are the reason we can do rescue and charge a lot less for dogs than they cost us. There is a different way of donating that you may not think of, and that’s donation of your time. We have a cadre of friends and volunteers who check dogs in shelters, find them online, and do those things that we aren’t able to do because of distance. Thank you to all of you for your generous support. If you want to see what your help has allowed us to do, look at https://nwsams.com/rescues/
Remember this time of year that you can be a great help if you go to Amazon through the link on our website. They send a small percentage to us from everything you buy, and it adds up. The link is at https://nwsams.com/amazon/ (click the Amazon logo).
Ron