June 2018
When we were helping a dozen dogs a year, we used to say that May brought us the majority of them. Not true today, but we did have two dogs enter rescue last month. First was a four year old male named Joshua, who came from Falling Cedar Farm and lived in Gig Harbor. His owner didn’t have time to care for him properly, especially not time to exercise him enough. He got a couple walks a day but he still had too much energy. While the owner said he was trained, that mean he could do a couple tricks. He definitely needed obedience training. We had an applicant who had been on the waiting list for quite a while who we knew would be good for Joshua. Because we’re so limited on space with the puppy mill girls here, we arranged to get him on a Sunday and she came to visit him the next day; we only had Joshua overnight. He was a very nice boy and we know he will do well in his new home where there is the structure he needs. His new mom and dad think he is a good fit for their lives, and we agree.
In early April we heard about a puppy in the Seattle shelter. We called to let them know we would like her, but first they wanted to do surgery on her leg, which was broken when she was found. They already had a number of names of people who wanted her and said they would call us if needed. We heard about her again last month, this time from the woman who adopted her and was taking care of her after surgery to put pins in the leg. She was pregnant and realized a puppy wasn’t a good fit, so she called us to help. The pup was named Bailey, and today she is about seven months old. Tom and Erin went to Mercer Island to pick her up for us, and Melissa came north to Ron and Kathy’s house to take her to her house, where Bailey’s new name became Yuki. After she was fostered a couple weeks the vet gave her a release to use her leg carefully, and we called an applicant in Idaho who has been waiting quite a while. She made the trip to Melissa and Terry’s home on June 11. Yuki is now an Idaho dog and doing very well. She has a large fenced yard and her new sister is a 2½ year old Golden Retriever.
Yuki’s new Mom stopped by on her way back to Idaho so we could see Yuki with our three White Fire girls. Melissa believes there is a good chance Yuki is one of the puppies born to them at Prairieland last November, and we wanted to see them together. We still don’t know, and probably never will, but it gave us a chance to meet our adopter in person and see Yuki again.
Sophie, Fena, and Tessa have been here since February, and a little more than a month ago we began giving them Prozac. We hope it will make them more approachable; so far it has helped marginally but we understand it may be six weeks or more to really work. We have been trying hard for months to find a suitable foster home for two of them, but the woman we expected to help has been unavailable because of family matters. We were promised help from another person, but haven’t heard anything from her either. We have an offer from a volunteer and friend who is working on a double fence around her yard; that’s a requirement because of the flight risk. Undoubtedly we’ll resolve this problem eventually, but in the meantime our lives are revolving around these three dogs.
Next month Herbie will be 15 years old, and on July 4 we will have had him for two years. He shows his age a little more every month but just keeps going. He is such a joy to have around that we will be happy to have him around until he decides it’s his time to go.
We also still have Nanuk, who is 10 years old, but we decided recently he needs a home where he will be dog number one. He continues to challenge Rowdy for the top spot in our pack, even though Rowdy takes him down every time it happens. The stress of watching for signs the boys might fight, on top of caring for the three girls, is taking a toll. Nanuk is a friendly boy with literally the energy of a three year old, and he will be a great companion for someone.
