January 2009

Last month we were happy to have found a home for Nanook and Rio together, two young dogs who enjoyed being together. They were settling in well, but two weeks into their stay one of the resident cats was found dead outside. It happened many hours earlier and it couldn’t be determined which dog was responsible, so both of them had to come back to rescue. This wasn’t the fault of the dogs, but of circumstances. The adopters asked us to keep the adoption fee because they want to support rescue.

Fortunately for Nanook, he found a terrific home in Vancouver and has great parents and a new canine brother. For him this is probably an even better home than he found before. He gets exercise and companionship with a young family. They understand that he still has muscle strains from incorrect exercise in a previous home, and they will work with him to take care of the problem.

Rio is still here, waiting for her home. We admit if she had not arrived with Honey as part of a pair we probably wouldn’t have her in rescue now. We believe Honey is her mother, and if she is a mix then Rio is not more than a quarter Samoyed. She is smaller than the average Sammy and more active. She is also timid and slow to trust people. Even after a month we have to be careful not to frighten her although that’s getting better by the day. She asks for affection and her most relaxed moments are sprawled across a lap getting petted. She is as overtly affectionate as a dog can be, frequently sitting next to a chair and reminding you she is there. In the right home she could be a once in a lifetime dog.

Honey, our three-legged dog, healed beautifully after her amputation. We listed her on Petfinder and received a large number of inquiries and applications. After looking through them we went to visit an older couple in Centralia; the man had a recent stroke and his wife thought his recovery would be faster with a dog. Although still relatively young, Honey will do well in a home where she is not pushed too hard physically, and she is a dog who prefers curling up on the sofa next to a human. When she was introduced she went immediately to the man and sat with him, telling us she agreed it was the right home. We are thankful to Erin and Tom, who fostered her since November and through two surgeries.

When we heard of a Samoyed named Sophie at the Seattle Animal Shelter we asked for help because of the driving conditions, and Doug & Michelle Manis said they could pick her up and keep her for a few days. We arranged for her to be spayed the next day by the shelter, but when they called to see if she was ready she hadn’t been spayed. In fact she couldn’t be spayed because she was a very rotund neutered male. The somewhat embarrassed people at the shelter said he was ready to go and they picked him up. The day after Christmas he came to Ron & Kathy’s house.

We originally planned for Melissa to foster him, but we had an applicant in Tacoma who was very interested and was planning to see him soon. Despite having three fosters in the house already it seemed better to keep him close. What we got was a 96 pound boy, as round as he is tall, who has a handsome bear face. We tried the usual names and he instantly answered to Sammy. We checked his microchip and found he came from a puppy mill that uses chips as a sort of inventory control, but doesn’t register them. That made it impossible to trace him. Lucky for Sammy, he found someone who sees him for the wonderful companion he is, and he now lives in Tacoma with another Sammy who also came from the Seattle Animal Shelter about five years ago. Many thanks to Michelle and Doug for getting him to us.

Kayla is still with us, waiting for a ride to Coeur d’Alene to live with Celine and her other Sammy girl China. Kayla recently had minor surgery to deep clean her right ear, which has a chronic yeast infection that narrowed the ear canal so much it couldn’t be cleaned normally. Kayla thinks that was a great idea and no longer feels like shaking her head constantly. She is definitely a senior dog but in great shape, and yesterday actually chased her own tail for three or four turns. If we mention food she jumps up on her hind legs like a puppy.

Twice this past month we had requests to take owner-surrender dogs, but one was placed privately and the other still is in limbo. A third dog will probably be coming from central Oregon and Melissa is working on that. After listing three dogs on Petfinder recently we’ve been swamped with applications and trying to keep track of everybody. People who apply wanting to be on the waiting list tend to stick around, but if they want a certain dog and it’s not available they disappear. That makes it harder to keep track of our waiting list.
Our fundraiser is over for the holidays and it looks like we earned a good amount for rescue. Sales were definitely less this year because of the economy, but for the first time we offered t-shirts as well as sweatshirts and that helped. We also have calendars from Wolfpacks (thanks, Paul!) and they are still available on our website: http://www.nwsams.com/.