Sam’s Transformation

At first, it looked like Sam’s stay with Homeward Pet would be brief…

Meet Sam! She is a curious, active, and playful Shepherd mix who, these days, enjoys taking road trips and wilderness hikes with her new forever family.

Sam’s story began as a shelter transfer from the Yakima Valley last December. She was an energetic handful who was very mouthy, and tended to playfully grab at clothes, arms, legs, shoes, and her leash.

She was adopted in December, but returned to us a few days before Christmas. Her tendency to grab things with her mouth had resulted in bruises in her new home. It was evident that Sam needed more than just daily play. She displayed behavior that was getting in the way of finding her forever home.

Thankfully, support from donors like you means that we didn’t have to turn Sam away. Our Behavior Team was able to work with Sam on her behavior—for five and a half months.

Homeward Pet’s Behavior & Adoptions Program Manager, Jenny Black, shares what helped Sam the most, training that many other animal shelters do not have the resources to provide: “With the help of daily training sessions, lots of exercise, and anti- anxiety medication, she started to make progress, and we were able to put her back up for adoption when we re-opened to the public in June of 2020.”

All those months of work paid off when Sam met her new forever family: Brandon, Clara, and their dog, Minna.

Brandon and Clara found that Sam quickly fit into their family: “When we adopted Sam, we had plans to go on a road trip, so we were obviously a bit nervous about putting a new dog in a situation like that, but Sam seemed to be adjusting well. She and Minna were getting along great, so we decided to go for it, and it went better than we could’ve imagined.” Minna’s energy matched Sam’s, and the two turned out to be the perfect combination. Today, she’s learned to tell the difference between her own toys and things like shoes and clothing, and Minna’s been showing Sam the ropes at the dog park.

You give us the time necessary to make remarkable transformations like Sam’s possible.

Sam’s journey to her forever home is just one example of how the Homeward Pet continues to match each pet’s resilience with the compassion and generosity of donors like you. Through your gift, Sam—and hundreds of other adoptable pets like her—receive the behavioral, veterinary, and daily care they each need on their journey to a forever home.

Your year-end gift will help the next “Sam” we meet. Your gift will support the continued work of Homeward Pet to save lives and find forever homes.

Your gift ensures that animals arriving this holiday season receive the care they need to find their own happy tails and forever homes.

Just like Sam.

With gratitude,

Nanette McCann

Executive Director