WASHINGTON ALASKAN MALAMUTE ADOPTION LEAGUE - SAVING THE ALASKAN MALAMUTE

Meet the Goldendale Four:

Braveheart	Skyona
Buddy	Flower

The Foster home for Braveheart, Skyonna and Buddy is in an area that has been particularly hard hit with weather this winter and has periodically been without power and phone. The dogs are doing well, adjusting to having more attention, getting healthier and learning to interact with people again. Braveheart is still very attached to Skyonna, though it appears she may not be as attached to him. We think that Braveheart will need to be with another dog in his new home, but not necessarily Skyonna. She has turned out to be quite the curious and nosy girl, getting into everything. Buddy, who their foster mother now calls Boone, has grown quite attached to his foster mother after the loss of Flower and experiences a lot of separation anxiety when left alone. He will need to be in a home where there is either a dog companion or a person with him all the time. It also seems that Buddy/Boone is what we call a 'wooly' malamute, as if their normal coat isn't furry enough! It appears he may have been shaved at one time and the coat never grew back properly. Now, with better food and care, all the dog's coats are growing back in much better condition and his is showing signs of the longer wooly top coat.

It is with great sadness that we must report the loss of Flower. She was the gentle spirit of the Four, and the most cause for concern as her health was not good from the beginning of our efforts on her behalf. Flower's was the first trip to the vet and after his exam and bloodwork the vet determined that she was in late stage kidney failure, in addition to being extremely emaciated and having a broken leg that had been left to heal without treatment. The vet immediately put her in ICU with IV fluids and antibiotics and she seemed to rally a bit but after four days of treatment Flower passed peacefully in her sleep. Her sweet personality and gentle spirit will be sorely missed.

The remaining Three - Buddy, Skyonna, and Braveheart - are doing well and settling into their new surroundings. Buddy is a bit lost without his life-long kennel mate, but is receiving extra attention from Jony. Jony reports that the dogs are better socialized than we expected which is wonderful news and an indication that they are much more adoptable than originally thought. Buddy and Skyonna will actively seek out attention, with Braveheart tagging after Skyonna and mimicking what she does. Skyonna seems to crave human interaction and is quite vocal in her demands for attention. Braveheart doesn't seem to know how to ask for attention or what to do with it once it's bestowed, and when Jony is petting him he gets excited and "yells" in her face. Buddy is a big Goof, will puppy-bow and seems very playful. He loves to have his ears and head rubbed and is very jealous of any attention given to the other two dogs.

We would like to thank everyone who donated in support of these dogs and who has kept the Four in their thoughts and prayers. Your support has made a new life possible for them.

The Goldendale four have arrived in Oregon and are settled in.

Kim and Michelle are absolute angels and must be exhausted! I know it is a long drive down here to the wilds of Southern Oregon.

I did not feed the four right away as they were still a little woozy from the sedative and being crated all day, however, Braveheart let me know at about 8:30 that he was now wide awake and HUNGRY!

None of the four used the dog houses that were packed with straw for warmth. I do not think they even knew what they were. Flower is the one I was concerned about as she really is so so thin. I went ahead and made a straw nest next to the dog house for her to lay on.

Flower has since discovered she really likes her dog house. She will come out on her porch and greet you, but will dive right back inside. I have bought her a stylin jacket to add some warmth and will send pics.

Thank you to all of you that love malamutes and were willing to give these four another chance.

Jony
Alaskan Malamute Oregon Rescue

These four Mals need to come down off the remote mountain enclosure they have spent their lives in and join us for some TLC. As you can see the accommodations they are use to are not luxurious, so we know we can do better. Even on a tightest of budgets!

Time is of the essence as once the weather turns we will lose our access to them. The area they are in now is a reachable only by 4x4 in the summer and not at all once the winter comes. With the death in the family there is no one up there and these dogs will starve to death over the winter. Of course we are not willing to let that happen, but we need help!

We will gather and purchase the supplies we need to start construction and then coordinate a crew to get them down the mountain and a transport to their new home. Once they are in their new surroundings and have had some love and medical attention we will assess their adoptablity. But either way we are committed to them having their remaining years be the absolute best we can make them.

If you would like to contribute to our efforts please use one of the links below. Any amount, no matter how small will help! For offers of labor, materials or transport please email WAMAL and we will coordinate those separately.

Thank-you for your understanding!

PLEASE: Include some sort of note on if this donation is to be used only for the rescue of the Goldendale dogs, and if WAMAL collects an excess (not expected, but just in case) if those funds can be used to rescue other WAMAL dogs, or if the donation should be refunded to the donor. Please include a current mailing address on your note if you require a refund.