After my first Samoyed died in 2005, my living situation did not allow me to get another dog. Last year I moved to a house with a fenced backyard and began searching again for another Samoyed. I thought I’d get a rescue this time. For whatever reason, rescue Sams are hard to come by in Southern California. One I heard about at a shelter was gone by the time I was able to visit. Another which showed up on SoCal Samoyed Rescue was adopted within a day – in between my visits to their website.
My sister (also a Sam owner) mentioned to me that Yvette was running a program to bring unwanted Samoyeds over from Korea. I read up on the Y-not Save a Sam website and checked out their Facebook page. A few updates down was a plea for anyone in the Southern California area who could do an airport pickup that Sunday and foster. Talk about timing! I hastily filled out an application to adopt, and a home inspector from National Samoyed Rescue visited and cleared my home less than 72 hours before Danny was scheduled to arrive.
Danny arrived healing from shoulder surgery (either he was abused or hit by a car while in Korea). I thought he would be timid and scared, but he turned out to be mostly curious. Nothing bothers this dog – he even lets me vacuum the loose hair off of him. He quickly found the box of dog toys my sister had donated and began playing with them as if they were his all along. At the dog park he preferred the company of people instead of other dogs, but soon found a few playmates and got busy getting dirty.
He has been everything I hoped for and more. Playful, affectionate, gets along great with my family and my sister’s Sam. People have a hard time believing when I tell them he’s a rescue. My vet (who is Korean) gets a kick out of the fact that he responds to Korean commands like sit and come here. I am very grateful to Yvette for working so tirelessly to bring these unwanted dogs over and matching them up with a loving home. – Kim Family
