March, 2006
After working with a couple from Salem for several weeks, we decided together that Honey might be a bit timid for their active family, so we have moved on to another prospective home for her. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to find exactly the right new home, so we try not to rush the process.
Honey remains for now in her foster home with Lon & Mary, where she is charming everyone who meets her. We have a home visit planned for a couple who met Honey last weekend and fell for her.
A few years ago someone in eastern Oregon bought a male and two female Samoyeds from a Utah puppy mill, intending to get “into the business.” He apparently found it to be more work than he thought, and about a year ago he gave his male to SRO. That was Casper, who was placed in the Lake Stevens area. Cathie Falck is in LaGrande, and has been a tremendous help getting 
dogs from that area into rescue. A few weeks ago she heard about Roxie, who is probably one of Casper’s pups. Roxie was placed in a home where her owner let her stay inside unattended, and at nine months old she chewed on things she shouldn’t. Her owner beat her for chewing, and threatened to shoot her.
Fortunately he was persuaded to give her to a woman who took care of her, but that home was a chain attached to an outside doghouse. The woman knew this wasn’t the best thing, so after 11 months she called Cathie and arranged to get Roxie into rescue.
We talked with Melissa about whether SRO or SCWS would take Roxie. Because we were told she wasn’t housetrained, she came here where someone is home with time for the training. Roxie is still timid and a bit skittish, but has warmed up to humans and dogs alike. It turned out she was quite well housetrained, and she is coming along quickly learning to trust people. It’s a warm feeling to watch a dog like Roxie find out how a sammy should live. She will be spayed on the 14th, and after recovery we will look for the right home for her.
We placed Powder and Peyton, a brother and sister pair, in 2002. Unfortunately we just learned they need a new home again because of a move. In the last two years they have gone from a pair of outside dogs to well-groomed and family oriented sammies, so we would prefer to place them together again. At four years old they would make a terrific addition to almost any home.
Each day we check Petfinder and other listings for newly listed dogs, and Holley checks Craigslist in every city across the country. Last week she forwarded the listing of a ten year old in Seattle named Aspen, and we wrote for more information. Consequently we will be listing Aspen while he stays with his family. He looks like a grand old boy with floppy ears. We checked with our rescue network, and the consensus is that he came from a Missouri puppy mill where many sammies have floppy ears and eyes rounder than usual.
Sadie was in the Moses Lake shelter, and we contacted them about getting her into rescue. They were willing, but before we could get someone there to pick her up, they placed her with a local sanctuary. When they listed her on Petfinder we called and have begun a good relationship with them. We added her to our website listing and will let adopters know about her, and in return they will assist us with dogs in Grant County and surrounding areas. This could be extremely helpful in an area where we haven’t had good coverage. Sadie is a neat older senior Sammy girl with lots of love left for her next home.
This month, in addition to Sadie, we found two other shelter dogs we couldn’t get to before they were adopted. The Moses Lake shelter also had Marshall, a young sammy boy, early in the month, and we were about an hour too late to get Seven, another young male at the Tacoma Humane Society. In both cases we cross our fingers they found good homes, and we always ask the shelters to pass our contact information along to the new homes.
Back in February 2003 we took in an older sammy girl surrendered by her family in Battle Ground. Mandy lived her life on a long rope with access to the garage, getting attention only when someone had time. There was a divorce and she needed a new home. When Mandy got in the car, she had to sit sideways because she was literally too large to sit facing forward. Because we didn’t have room, Melissa agreed to foster her, and Mandy began her diet.
She also found the love and freedom she hadn’t had before. During June we heard from someone in Seattle who wanted to meet her, and it was a perfect match. Esther is a third grade teacher, and over the years we heard stories about Mandy becoming the class mascot, even posing for the class picture.
With great sadness we learned recently that Mandy had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We hope you join us in celebrating the last three years of her life, when Mandy had a life that made up for all the years that came before.