October 2019
This month we had a visit from Terry, a friend who has twice adopted dogs from us. She and her late husband Dennis were loving parents to multiple dogs over the years. While she was here we talked about the possibility of giving Sophie a home after her senior girl Tasha passes on. We hope that will be a long time from now, and we know it will be quite a while before Sophie learns to trust. Just like Fena, who is now with Kathi, it will help her confidence to learn she can cope with being a single dog. Equally important, if we can split Sophie and Tessa it will help both of them because their fear feeds off each other. Both are coming along slowly, and although it seems we say that monthly, it is true every time. I’m keeping kibble in the office now and both the Iowa girls frequently come and ask for a bite. Tessa hangs back in the hallway, while Sophie comes in and takes it from my hand. We’ve experienced some regression with Tessa, who would rather stay outdoors in good weather, who won’t come back in. With time and patience she always ends up in the kitchen eventually but it takes a while. Handling them is difficult so we can’t clean their feet, and the mud on our kitchen floor is testament to that.
The big news of the month is that Annie has been adopted. We contacted a previous adopter in British Columbia who has had dogs from both rescue and a breeder; she lost her Samoyed girl a few months back. After several tries, put off because of travel and a cold, she was finally able to come and meet Annie. When she got here she sat down Annie began showing interest in her; we have said many times the dog chooses the human, and it happened again. Annie rode back north with no problems at all, and is settling into her new home. This was an ideal match. We’re still getting used to her absence because she spent ten months with us. It seems much quieter, and on the positive side we have been able to fill in some holes in the yard and plant a little grass. So far Annie hasn’t begun digging in her new yard, possibly because she has more attention there.
Nanuk is still officially on the books as a rescue dog in a foster home. He needed some minor dental work, which was done at our vet’s office locally, so we had a chance for a short visit with him and his people. He is a strikingly handsome boy who is thriving in his home. We consider this boy one of our biggest successes. He came into rescue matted and filthy and his life changed forever when he went to live with John and Theresa. He gets daily walks with John (you might say John gets daily walks with Nanuk), and he goes everywhere with them. This is a perfect definition of a lucky dog.
We keep responding to dogs we hear about, like the one in Abbotsford BC recently. Most of the time we check in with either the shelter or the party listing the dog, and sometimes we hear back. Usually we don’t, but we keep trying.
Many of our friends go to Amazon using the link on our website, and we appreciate that a lot. Well, bad news. Amazon decided a week ago that we were not in compliance with their rules because “friends, relatives, or business associates are using our link.” The email we got was quite rude, and allowed for no appeal. We tried to explain that we don’t know who uses the link because they won’t share names, but we got a second copy of the email. Amazon pays two months in arrears, and when they closed the account they kept two months of contributions.
What we have been using is the “Amazon Associates” program, designed to drive business to them by incentivizing “partners” to get people to use special links. It gave us from 1% to 5% of each purchase, which has been a substantial part of our income. They have another program called “Amazon Smile” that is built especially for charities, which gives 0.5% on everything. That’s all we have now, and the link on our webpage has been adjusted. It’s all we can do. If you previously bookmarked the link, please DO NOT use it any more. Go to Amazon through our website (www.nwsams.com/Amazon) and bookmark the new link. It we can get just a few dozen people shopping with that link our dogs will benefit greatly. Thank you.
