Author: Ron Manor

Boi is a neutered male, about 4 years old, and incredibly sweet. He loves people, other dogs (large and small), and even cats. He’s house trained, crate trained, and knows quite few tricks. Boi seems particularly quick to win the hearts of those who spend time with him (that includes dogs and people). On his path to rescue, everyone was quite concerned that we be sure to not forget his favorite stuffie.

Boi has had almost no training and it shows. He’s pushy, impatient, and demand barks a lot. He’ll jump up on people to ensure his demands aren’t missed. He has some clear separation anxiety, but we’ve seen it lessen within just a couple weeks within a foster environment. The best fit for Boi would likely be an adopter that works from home or is retired so that they can help him work through the separation anxiety. Experience with Samoyeds is also a plus, as Boi will need someone who can handle his barky/stubborn Samoyed personality and give him the guidance he’ll need to truly thrive.

We had an app from Eugene that looked excellent, and we tried for over a week to find someone in the area to do a home visit for us, without success. Finally we decided to ask for a virtual visit with Zoom, and Kathleen handled that, since she is fostering Boi. A meeting is planned soon.

Every so often, someone who wants to surrender a dog also insists on making the decision who gets it. That’s the case now with a dog named Lorek. We agreed to publish him on our website and send interested people directly to the woman who still has him. She can meet the people and make her own decision, and Lorek will get a home with someone going through the rescue process. He looks like a very nice dog, and we hope for the best.

Chalky is a wonderful dog who appears to have some sort of skin infection. Or perhaps it’s an allergy, Or it might be something serious. At this point, we just don’t know. A week ago he had oil rubbed into the bad spots (mostly his belly), followed up with a medicated shampoo bath. Afterward he looked remarkably better, and his skin was actually soft instead of rough and scabby. We are going to work on getting a referral to a veterinary dermatologist. Fortunately there is one fairly close.

We have been asked to help with a Samoyed at the Jackson County shelter in Phoenix, Oregon. That’s a very long way from any of us, and we had to ask if they can help with transportation. If there is anyone driving north from that area, we would very much like to hear from you.

There is a “Husky/Samoyed” in the Portland area, still with his owner. It’s difficult to tell if this is a Samoyed whose owner doesn’t know the difference, or indeed a mix. At the time of this writing we haven’t made contact yet.

Chalky was found as a stray in the Sultan area in early July, and was taken in by a woman in the area. She took him to her vet, where they found a microchip, but the vet reported not being able to connect with the owner of the chip, either by phone or email. He was in bad shape, with hair loss all over his body and a belly that was licked to the point the skin had turned almost black. Her vet ran a lot of tests, and determined the urgent problem was a staph infection. He went on an antibiotic, plus a thyroid supplement, but he was slow to respond. We contacted her then, but she wasn’t ready to surrender him. She wrote to us again at the end of August, asking about sending him here, and we started looking for a possible foster home. We knew it would be a hospice-type foster and he likely wouldn’t move again. Although we told our team we probably wouldn’t be able to take more dogs, Chalky ended up coming here. We have, unfortunately, a lot of experience with senior and hospice dogs in rescue.

On September 17, Tom and Erin transported Chalky south to us. He is a sweet old man who didn’t deserve being abandoned by his owner. The woman who found him tried very hard, but without Samoyed experience she didn’t know what to expect. Since coming here he has been able to live inside, and spends most of his time snoozing close to one of us. By luck, we had a vet appointment scheduled for the day after he got here, originally for Balto, who had been adopted. They ran more tests, without many new results, and we scheduled a follow-up two weeks later. His antibiotic was changed, and they cultured his skin to determine the best antibiotic. In the meantime, we put a cone on him so he couldn’t lick, and his skin began getting better. The culture came back showing Doxycycline would work best, so we switched to it, along with a Gentamycin spray to work on the fungal problem. Chalky is improving but probably has a way to go before his skin is better and his poor tail has hair. He has a lot of life left in him. When he comes out in the morning, he is literally prancing. The day of this writing, we added Prednisone to his meds and we’ll see how much it helps.

Quinn is still with Melissa and Terry. He is such a delightful dog that she says she would keep him there except for one problem. He just hates other males. Quinn and their boy Boomer have been in at least five fights, with each prompting new measures to keep them apart. Quinn is spending more time in a crate than anyone likes, and there is a door between them most of the time. It’s not easy to live that way. We have been trying to schedule home visits for applicants who don’t have other male dogs, but it’s slow going. Quinn would fit in wonderfully as an only dog or if there is only a female already there.

Tessa and Sophie have been here more than five and a half years. Kathy is able to approach them, and they seem to enjoy being petted by her, but only by her. In all this time, the only way I can get close is when they are confined. Their “safe place” is a shower in our bathroom. When they need sometime and I need to be close, we wait until they are there and close the door. Sophie accepts it, but Tessa shakes when I am too close. Kathy and I will have to downsize in the coming years, and we don’t have an option for the two girls. They need a home with no men, plus a super-secure yard. After they got here, we poured a concrete curb under our fence in the vulnerable spots, and we have an electric fence we can turn on if they begin testing things. If anyone knows a home that meets the necessities, we would sure love to hear from them.