November, 2006

NW Sams on May 13, 2007

As we reported last month, we had two dogs come back into rescue we had previously placed. Both are young and active and we made the mistake of placing them together. We were promised the home had lots of sammy experience and understood young dogs, but finally they had to admit they really weren’t ready for this much challenge. For Emily, it is the third time with us; we found her as a puppy in Coeur d’Alene in February last year and were told she was “mostly sammy.” Her first home in Portland gave up on her because she chewed too much. Emily grew up into a “kinda sammy,” but since we committed to her originally we’ll keep looking for the right home. She might have some Samoyed in her, and her temperament is sweet, but her activity level tops any other dog we’ve fostered. We’ve been slow to list her because we’re doing a bit of training first.

The other dog was Sammy, who came to us early this year from the Tacoma Humane Society. We think he was about a year old when we found him, so he also has a lot of energy. We could see how the two dogs would be more than a handful, especially when they joined our other four dogs here.
After the sad loss of Tramp, George and Louise wrote to say they saw Emily and Sammy listed in the last rescue report and wanted to meet them. We all got together and decided that although Emily wouldn’t be the right fit, Sammy would be perfect. We are beyond delighted to announce that Sammy is now named Loki and has taken his place between Sierra and Shasta on their team.

When we checked with AVID to be sure Loki’s registration could be switched, we found an interesting fact about him; he was originally adopted from the Greensboro, NC animal shelter. That means he was adopted from there, taken to the Tacoma area and picked up as a stray; adopted by the shelter to someone in Pierce County; he came back (again as a stray) and wasn’t claimed, then we got him. He went a home in Gig Harbor, back to us, and finally to the home he was meant to have with George and Louise. We can’t say too often that despite his travels, this is one lucky dog to have ended up where he is now.

Annie was here briefly, a ten year old girl given up because she barked too much. Her owner worked long hours and was getting complaints from neighbors — and even had a visit from animal control. He tried different training methods unsuccessfully, spending hundreds of dollars, until he was forced to board her daily. That’s when he asked us for help. We felt she was a good candidate for de-barking but his vet refused and we think he was at the end of his willingness to try anything else. Kathy picked her up October 21, and a couple from Whidbey Island came to meet her the next morning. They asked us for an older dog and we felt Annie would be a good fit. They agreed, and after visiting her they took her home. All the reports have been positive, except that she was diagnosed last week with diabetes. Their attitude is that they are used to medicating their other old dog and this is no great hurdle. We appreciate people who think like this.

Oakley arrived a month ago, terribly underweight and neglected. His owner said he had been tied in the yard for five years and was reportedly nine years old when he got him. That’s absolutely impossible, as he acts like a puppy and his teeth look like two or three at the most. We have come to the conclusion that his owner lied to us about this dog, but since Oakley was so neglected and underweight, and we have a signed release, we’ll leave it at that and give him a good life. We won’t list Oakley until we feel he is ready for another home. In the meantime he keeps telling us how much he likes his new life.

The male we heard about just before last month’s report is not coming here after all. He had been given to friends when his family moved to Germany, and the friends have been transferred to Guam. His original family has made arrangements to fly back just to take care of him, so he seems to be in good hands. We also worked with the Post Falls police department regarding a sammy in their care, but his family came in and picked him up. We were contacted by the shelter in Billings, Montana to find a home over there for a three year old girl, so far without success. Our territory seems to grow a little each year, but that’s OK with us as long as we keep finding great people all over the northwest who help Samoyeds wherever we find them.

We are now posting picture galleries of rescue dogs at http://nwsams.smugmug.com/rescue. Take a look at all the smiles.