The Story of Blue

First Day of Rescue

After a few weeks in Rescue

Now "Thank You Affiliates!"

A Short Message About Puppy Mill Dogs

Blue suffered more than any living creature should have to for Blue spent 7 long years in a Missouri puppy mill. He can count himself lucky, though, he found his way into the arms of caring rescuers. Many Samoyeds aren't as lucky.

Blue will never be the most beautiful Samoyed, the puppy mill did too much damage to him. He is way too small for a Samoyed and his legs are not straight, his ears are notched and he has scars. But even through all this, his Samoyed charm and personality have captivated us all.

What you can do to prevent Puppy Mills

Never buy a dog in a pet store. Make a promise to Blue and all the other Puppy Mill dogs that no dog will ever suffer the way that they did.

Promise that the misery will end. Boycott petstores that sell puppies.

All About Blue
     On September 9, 2005 an email came in to NSR about eight Samoyeds from a puppy mill needing help. Jim Becklund forwarded this to St. Louis Samoyed Rescue, who contacted other groups on their own to see if anyone would be able to help. This same email, or perhaps a different one about the same dogs obviously circulated around and was posted to the NSR Affiliates email list on September 24.

They were part of a puppy mill closure. The shelter holding them required that the rescuer either hold a Missouri AFCA license (a license from the Missouri Dept of Ag.), or if out of the state, hold a similar state license. This email was forwarded to the NSR Affiliates list on September 25.

St. Louis Samoyed Rescue had already told the shelter worker who had contacted them about the situation that they would be unable to help at that time because they still had three dogs they took from a puppy miller in July, all their foster homes were full and their boarding bills were draining their funds rapidly. They mentioned on the list that if anyone else could help, including the NSR board, to please let them know.

Florida responded asking for more information on the dogs to better be able to determine if they would be able to help in some manner. San Francisco also offered to help if it was possible as they, for a change, had more applications than dogs, and asked what NSR might be able to do even though it was a situation not encountered before, but having a grant system in place that was fairly open ended (just need to make sure the funds go to an approved group for a specific purpose which is approved by the NSR board on a c ase by case basis). St. Louis was working on finding someone able to go directly to the shelter to evaluate the dogs.

On the 26th, Sue Kabler reported to the NSR Affiliates about her extensive conversation with the Dept. of Ag. Person who first notified everyone of the situation. The breeder’s license had been revoked, but the Department of Ag had no authority to remove the dogs from the premises, but the Samoyeds needed to be off the property by the 30th or the breeder had every right to do what she pleased to remove the dogs from her property – including giving them/selling them to another breeder. It wasn’t possible to evaluate the dogs prior to any commitment being made as the breeder was only allowing the Ag. Department people on the property. The Dept. of Ag. person felt the 10 year old and 9 year old males wouldn’t be able to be re-socialized as they had been there since birth and were not in good shape. She also felt the 2 four year old females (a biter and an escape artist) would not be adoptable. That left a 5 year old female, two 3 yr old females and one 7 yr old male. The next thing to be decided was who might be able to take in these four if they passed temperament tests in Missouri.

San Francisco committed to taking two, and Arizona committed to taking two, and had contacted Denver Samoyed Rescue who would be willing to help with transport, and possibly might be able to take one if a foster home agreed. St. Louis agreed to find an evaluator as they did know quite a few, and expectations about a “pass” or “fail” was made clear to all. The final decision for any needed euthanasia would be made by the groups that would end up with the dogs. St. Louis applied for a $700 grant from NSR to cover any costs related to helping these dogs. Everything was in place the evening of the 29th.

On the 30th, three St. Louis rescue volunteers, Marilyn, Carolyn & Willa planned to drive about 100 miles with 4 crates, magic markers – one for each dog, collars, leashes & assorted other supplies. The plan was to pick the dogs up at 1:00 and bring them back where Charlotte (one of the evaluators) would meet them at the vet’s where they would receive shots, vaccines & tests, as well as scanning for microchips, and if none are found, they would be chipped. Then they would be taken to the boarding kennel, bathed on Saturday, October 1 and evaluated the following Monday. At this point they were dubbed, “The Fab Four.”

But rescue is never predictable. Everyone on the affiliates list patiently waited word on the day’s events. Late that evening we all read this message from Sue:

    Dear All,

Things didn't go quite the way we planned.

Carolyn, Marilyn and Willa drove to the location of the puppy mill to meet with Matt, the man from the Ag Dept. He arrived with the four dogs, but they weren't all Sammys as we know Sams.Three were of undetermined parentage and somewhere maybe there might have been a Samoyed present. One, Carolyn said, had a head that resembled a pit bull. The three were very small and in no way came close to looking like a Sam. So, they elected to take one, the "7" year old male. The other three were taken to the Columbia Humane Society where they will be vetted, bathed, tested and the effort will be made to adopt them out.

This was a very difficult decision that they made. They asked themselves if they, as Samoyed Rescue, would agree to take the other three from a shelter and adopt them out as Samoyeds or even Samoyed mix with solid Sam characteristics. The answer was no, we wouldn't bring them into Samoyed Rescue because the chances of finding them a good home as Sams or Sams mixes would be very slim. So, they chose to take the male.

Charlotte and I were at the vet to meet Willa and the Sam. His name on the vet records is Blue because that would have been his magic marker color. The staff at the vet's decided that he really looked like a polar bear..hence, Polar Bear.

He's very small, weighs 37.9 lbs. He's very afraid and was shaking. All of this is very normal for the these dogs. He, no doubt, saw more people today than he has seen in life. He had his fecal and HW tests, rabies and all of his shots. He was already micro-chipped. Through all of this he was great, never aggressive or even the hint of fear biting. We spent an hour and a half with him at the vet's in a room by ourselves so he could try and relax. The best news is that he responds to touching and petting. He really like to be massaged on his neck behind his ears. He was also watching us when we moved and looked interested in what we were doing. His heart and lungs are good, but he does have a bad case of urine scorch on all four feet. They're giving him antibiotics for that. His left ear has been sliced by the breeder, probably for ID purposes and his right ear looks like the top tip was removed. He has a few scars on his face but not really bad. His teeth need cleaning badly.

Charlotte took him to the kennels and they were going to bath him this afternoon and let him wind down and relax. He will be temperament tested on Monday. I spent some time with him and he is a sweet boy. The vet thinks he's more like 5 than 7 yrs. I feel he enjoys being touched but doesn't quite know what to make of it. I also have a feeling that he could bond fairly quickly to someone who shows him a lot of patient attention and affection.

The total for the vet visit was $77.12. His boarding is $8.00 per day and bathing is $27.00. He's been shaved all over, but is dirty.

Charlotte is a trainer and does temperament testing and she feels very good about his chances. I know this is not the result we expected, but I think that the decision made by Marilyn, Carolyn and Willa is one that you would have made yourself. There is always a gamble when you are dealing with a dog that has spent it's life in a puppy mill, even if you know for certain that it's a pure bred Samoyed. All puppy mill dogs carry emotional and mental baggage. Fortunately, most of it can be tossed out with gentle, patient, positive handling.

Please let me know your thoughts. Look at his pictures. Please remember that you are seeing him at his very worst. His coat will grow back and the scared look in his eyes will, I think, go away.

Sue

     The decisions made by these gals was not an easy one. All dogs deserve to be helped, but people come to us for Samoyeds, not mixes. Those on the affiliates list agreed that this is the tough part of purebred rescue, and offered tremendous support and thanks to St. Louis for all they had done thus far, and all they were willing to do had all four been purebred Samoyeds, or even “mostly Samoyeds.”

But there was the one boy. Blue. And the journey to his new life had begun. Monday would tell us more as he would have time in the kennel to be around more people, get cleaned up, and then be evaluated. We all waited. We all hoped.

Tuesday morning came with a post from Sue about the evaluation:

     Morning, all,

Yesterday I met with Charlotte, trainer and evaluator, so she could take a close look at Blue after he'd had some time to settle. Charlotte was with me at the vet's last Friday and took Blue to the kennels.

As you can see from the pictures, he's cleaner. What you can't see is that his feet are clearing up very well. I couldn't take any real close ups of him during the evaluation because the sound was distracting.

He was still very wary and scared initially when he came into the room. We were in a large training room with mirrors on three sides and very quiet. We were the only ones in there at first. Charlotte walked him around on lead. He didn't jerk or try to escape,but he's not used to leads or collars. While she was walking him and he was ahead of her, he keep looking around as if to ask "why are you following me?". We sat on the floor and let him wander around by us and he would come up to sniff hands and shoes. Charlotte took the cord on the blinds to raise them for more light and the whole set of blinds came crashing down from the window. It landed very close to Blue. He,of course, was startled and jumped back a few feet. He stopped, looked at it, went forward and sniffed it and walked right by it. I would have expected him to crawl up the wall! He started to relax and Charlotte could touch him everywhere, playing with his tail, checking his teeth, his feet, ears, etc. He was fine. We were with him for about 1 1/2 hrs and he eventually relaxed and put his head on his paws and dozed off.

Charlotte's opinion is that he is able to adapt to a home with patient and loving care.She said that his brain seems to be wired to accept human contact and affection. **Charlotte, I hope I said that right**. He's capable of learning, unlike some puppy mill dogs that have brains and personalities that are too far entrenched in that situation, incapable of change. He's very curious, in fact, he was quite interested in that "other dog" in the mirror. He did exihibit some definite Sam traits in his walk and expressions. He's slightly bow-legged, but his body is very firm and solid. He is small for a Sam. We both think he's more Sam than we thought, but he is not the product of two good Sams. He is sweet, responds to touch and handling.I don't think he'd have any problems with other dogs because he's submissive. Children are, obviously, an unknown.

A collective sigh of relief went through the list. This was incredibly encouraging. Puppy mill dogs often take many months, if not years, to learn the ways of humans and a world safe, fun and enjoyable. In the next couple of days, San Francisco, Denver & Arizona discussed who would best be able to help Blue. They decided on San Francisco, and plans were then made to move Blue from St. Louis to Denver, and then stay at a foster home in Denver until transport could be worked to San Francisco.

    On October 13, we read: Blue's travel plans are all finalized (fingers crossed). He's doing better at approaching people especially for pets. He still won't take treats, either from your hand or left for him. He's been with another Sammy and did fine, his tail even crept up a little.

Sunday, 10/16, Charlotte will take Blue to Columbia, MO to meet Jeannee B at around 10am. Jeannee will take him to Lawrence, KS where she'll transfer him to Linda Kitzman, a friend of Andie Mast who has agreed to bring him back to Denver with her that afternoon. Andie has made arrangements for Blue to stay with a foster family for a few days for R&R. She'll work with Bev to make the arrangements to send him on the rest of his journey.

I know Bev will find just the right home for him. He has a lot of love to give and will bond very well with a kind, gentle family.

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions.

    Sue