February 2024 Rescue Report
Judi had been through a lot when she arrived in our care in November. A previous owner had considered surrendering her to Northwest Samoyed Rescue in July, but ended up sending her to a new home that turned out to be with an animal hoarder. The animals were seized, and by the time Judi made it to the shelter, she was severely overweight, manifesting seizures and had growled at the vet. It wasn’t clear that she could be saved. We decided to take a chance.
She got cleaned up, brushed, and treated for fleas. The vet and her foster family worked together to treat her infections and got her seizures under control. The mental shock of her ordeal started to abate, and her personality started to emerge. The “real Judi,” it turns out, loves walks, and hikes and toys and treats and comfy beds and being near her people. She gets along well with her two Samoyed roomates. Her body is starting to catch up with her spirit as she loses weight and gains strength. Judi is just 7 years old and has a lot of life ahead with the right forever home.
Not just any forever home will work. While her seizures are controlled, they are a lifelong condition and require a strict medication regimen to keep under control. She likes dogs and people, but they have to be careful not to surprise her from behind or try to take a treat from her. Her new home will require structure, patience and presence. We think the ideal would be a two (or more) person household, a retirement or work-from-home situation, and a rock-solid option for Judi’s care during trips away. And of course, walks. Lots and lots of walks.
Maeve is a sweet dog who came to us from an apartment environment, where city living wasn’t really her cup of tea. She delights in the great outdoors, and loved running around the large yard at her foster home dashing after birds, squirrels, rabbits – anything that provides a good chase. If she’s already chased everything out of the yard, she’ll start nosing the bushes in the hopes of flushing something out for another round. Fortunately, her chase instinct doesn’t extend to cats, and she gets along well with other dogs as well. She’s particularly loving and affectionate with her humans, and loves to be petted, brushed and fussed over. She is quick to obey basic commands.
The noises of her previous urban environment set off rounds of barking, which could sometimes escalate Even small things could get her wound up, so Maeve is on anti-anxiety medication. When her new family came to meet her, she ran around excitedly and barked a lot, but they understood. It was obvious Maeve liked them and they liked her, and when they left she jumped in the car and wanted to go home.
Koda is a very vocal dog and eager to tell you that he wants to be a part of the family. He loves to sing along with car alarms, guitars, and likes to have conversations about treats, car rides and stuffies, which he knows by name. He loves blueberries, bananas, and treats and takes them with a very soft bite. He’s also a big snuggler and loves to curl up on the couch with his people. He was much loved, but he couldn’t go with his family on a move. We decided Koda would be a good candidate for a direct adoption.
Koda is all about his humans, but not so much about sharing his household with other dogs. He’s not neutered, so once he’s neutered (which was a condition of adoption), his reliability with other dogs will likely improve. He has some separation anxiety, so we looked for a family who was home most of the time. While we were waiting, Koda moved to a great new foster home for a couple weeks. He was adopted on February 3, after 15 days in foster care. Shortly thereafter he had a trip to the ER vet, where he was diagnosed with gastroenteritis. Rescue reimbursed the adopter for costs.
Chalky continues to have severe skin problems. If his cone is off he immediately begins chewing on himself. We are on the waiting list to see a dermatologist, with no real idea how long it will be. We expect another month. We found a vet who does house calls, who came to visit Chalky, Sophie, and our dogs Rowdy and Lily. We can’t have Chalky on Prednisone (the only drug that helps him) for a month before his dermatology visit so we are going to try Apoquel for a while. We already tried Cytopoint, which didn’t work, so we can only hope the Apoquel has some effect on the problems. He already set a record for the longest any foster dog has worn a cone. Chalky is such a great old boy, and so sweet, we want to help him.
We asked the vet to check out Sophie because she was diagnosed with a perianal fistula last year and it never healed properly. The mobile vet’s advice was to get him to a specialist surgeon as soon as we can; it’s another vet we know in Olympia, and we’re waiting for an appointment. Meanwhile we are giving her a laxative to make her life easier. Her cousin, Tessa, is physically healthy but mentally she is so fearful of everyone we haven’t had any luck trying to place her. This month marks six years since Sophie and Tessa arrived. Tessa turned 8 last October, and Sophie will be 8 next month.
