Does anyone else ever get so moved by the progress their rescue malamute shows?

Been thinking about this a lot lately. Before we found Malick’s heart issue and having to deal with his previous home’s issues – it was a struggle. He was an undernourished, resource guarding, fear aggressive, people wary, house eating monster with several bites on his record.

But we put in the time. We left no stone unturned to find and correct his physical ailments. We worked with trainers on his behavioral issues. We patiently showed him we were forever and we wouldn’t give up.

We now have a happy, people loving, outing confident, well behaved beautiful boy.

Just want to remind everyone that it’s not always easy having a rescue. But if you put in the work you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.

Fonzi was “love in the rough” As in–yes, some triggering that came from some random, seemingly innocuous response to a Fonzi behavior, but we (adopters) paid attention and learned what not to do (I have an example). And yes, adopters gave him a routine and LOTS of exercise, and he embellished on the routine and now has lady friends that he insists on visiting/flirting with during his walks. He’s come a long way, and it was in large part because his adopters are willing to take the time and have the insight/patience to get “learn” who He is, what HE needs/wants, and work with that. They never looked back, only worked for the Fonz.

From his Adopters: 
One year ago today Fonz bounded into our lives, and we, into his. 
He’s happy and hilarious and spooky smart and we love him…..
He’s learned to swim in the ocean…….chasing low-flying seagulls.  He has a girlfriend.  She’s much older than he is, and they play together.  She lives a mile or so away, and her owners say they haven’t seen her like this for years……like a puppy.  If she’s not outside when Michael and Fonzi walk by……..Fonz stops, and plants himself till she’s let outside.  He has another girlfriend just up the hill from us.  Sometimes she just wants to sit and be nuzzled.  (she’s much smaller than he is).  But her owner comes out to put Fonzi whenever she sees him………..and as his walks are kinda predictable, that’s most days.  
Most folk out here have dogs, some of which are ill-mannered yappers.  Even when the big ones bellow out barks, all he does is glance at them. In his mind I suspect he’s saying, “Dumb dog”.  Their barking doesn’t rattle him in the least. 
His girlfriend’s owner says if Michael and I drop dead, he wants the Fonz.  
In other words, he’s a goof, and a social butterfly, adorable and sweet.  You can’t have him back…..

She had a life before us. Somehow she was a stray and left to her own devices … she still looks for food in any crumpled paper she finds. On a very bad day in her young little life she was in an accident that crushed the back stifle joint of her leg. She was found and taken to a shelter but there were no funds for surgery or treatment. She waited week after week becoming ill with infection from the untreated break. By some amazing grace WAMAL found her and rescued her. She has gone from being hurt on the street to being the three-legged furry love of our family. Thank you so much WAMAL!

Just wanted to share these pictures of Luna, our mal-shepherd furbaby, who we adopted about two months ago from WAMAL. She is doing really well. She just did a 3.6 mile hike and enjoyed the view of the vibrant Diablo Lake.

Thanks to hubby Stan for this lovely capture, two days ago. Tana turns 4 years old, today the 24th of August. A huge thanks to Wamal’s work, that joined us with this special, sweet girl 1 1/2 yrs ago..

Kevin and I are still smitten with him!  Kai has now met all three of our grandchildren.  Our 13 year old grandson grew up with Kaiya and still misses her so.  He was a bit unsure at first, but Kai would have none of that!  Cameron warmed up to him after a few.  Jade, our almost four year old granddaughter, immediately started to cry tears of joy as soon as she met Kai.  Kai loved her up and Jade thoroughly enjoyed it!  Our ten month old granddaughter didn’t care much because, you know, she’s only ten months old.  Kai follows the girls all over the house. Kai had his first nail trim with us.  He did great until the dremel was turned on.  He immediately, in one smooth movement, backed up on to the outdoor couch and wrapped himself around Kevin.  After we stopped laughing, we decided that the nail buffing will have to wait until next time. 
We have gone on many walks and Kai hasn’t pulled much at all. Kai and Moto play all the time!  So much so that sometimes we have to take them outside before they break something in the house!  Kai has fit right in with our family and we are loving him to pieces!! Our lives and hearts are full!

Chewy has been a great addition to the family and adjusted very well.

Chewy visits the lake: We wanted to see how Chewy does in outdoor parks and near water bodies. We thought he would not like water and lunge at other dogs in the park but to our surprise he was not afraid to go in water and have a little splash and cool himself.

Chewy and Bruce: We were told that Chewy would be aggressive to other dogs especially of his size but we introduced him to our neighbors dog (Bruce) and he did quite well. They now call each other across the fence and have become best buddies:).

Chewy loves kids: Chewy loves kids and is very friendly with them. Every morning my 8 year old daughter loves to get slobbered by his licking and kissing and some times Chewy will give a nice hug or nap on you:)

The dogs have more than just “settled in,” they’ve become totally integral parts of our family. At first their reactions were somewhat tentative, and that may have been slightly exacerbated when our old lab-mix, Raven, passed about a week after they came home with us. But I think that they very quickly came to understand that they were in a safe place, how loved they were, and that this was absolutely going to be their Fur-ever home.

They’ve settled into their daily routine here quite nicely – to the extent that they’re now coming to us to remind us that it’s time to go for evening walkies. It’s also been fascinating to watch their individual personalities gradually emerge as they became increasingly comfortable with their new home: Neeko’s a big goofy cuddle monster (who’s surprisingly far more interested in getting pats and brushed than he is in getting treats), while Koko’s a bit of a diva who seems to delight in ignoring you until she demands your full attention. Generally speaking, they’re about as wonderful a pair of pups as we could ever have hoped for!

The pair are rapidly becoming accustomed to the house, learning boundaries, and generally fitting in nicely. Turns out that Koko is a bit of a howler (not a problem, but unexpected as none of the reports mentioned that), while Neeko just can’t seem get enough cuddles and spends most of the day going from one human to the next demanding attention. Great additions to our family!

Sadly, our beloved Raven — passed away quietly on the Thursday after we brought the pair home with us. We are, of course, grieving for her, but to be honest if one had to script the perfect end for a perfect dog, she had it — a day of happy play with her new friends, lots of pats and cuddles with her family, treats and favorite food for supper… and then she just passed away quietly in her sleep, no pain or discomfort.
Neeko & Koko have been a delight and seem to have already settled in with an implicit understanding that this will be their new forever home. We’re so happy to have them in our family now, and their presence has helped ease our pain from losing Raven as well.

Hi my name is Bobby and I wanted to share a story with WAMAL. This big boy is Kanoosh. He was left tied to a trailhead in Snohomish County and he made his way to WAMAL. My Dad and I adopted this 18-month-old crazy dog in 2013. He was so awesome! He howled all the time…..he is a talker. My Dad and him were inseparable. They were best of friends living in Ocean Shores, WA. My Dad passed away in 2016 and my wife actually saw tears in Noosh’s eyes. We were at a loss because Noosh was staying in this family no matter what, but our snag was that I had a male Malamute named Dakota as well and we all knew that was going to be a problem. My Mom said she would take Noosh. We ended up having to fly him to Indiana where he is now getting the love. My oldest brother has been Noosh’s best friend—they go everywhere together. He takes almost better care of him than my Dad if that were even possible!
I just wanted to share an amazing story how 1 dog has changed so many lives. He is very much still alive and he is living the most unbelievable life ever. Thank you for the awesome work WAMAL does…Mals are amazing!!

After recently losing our big fluffy husky, we knew we needed a new fluff ball to fill the house. After hearing what a calm, sweet, goofy boy Chili was, we knew he fit the bill!
In the week prior to meeting Chili, his foster mom and I had about 50 email exchanges—she shared everything she knew about the pup and gave us so many tips to have a successful transition home! When we finally got to meet in person, Chili happily laid in front of us and enjoyed some of his favorite belly rubs. We were in love!
Since arriving home we have encountered challenges we weren’t quite familiar with—primarily resource guarding and guarding of areas of the house. These behavioral issues were fairly stressful at first, however we have received so much support from WAMAL and other trainers that we now feel comfortable working through the problems.
Chili’s big smile and friendly personality makes him the talk of anywhere we go. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “I can’t believe he’s a rescue!” This goober is truly one of the sweetest, cutest, and one of the hungriest boys I’ve ever met.
Despite giving us a little run for our money at times, we could not be happier with Chili joining our family!

Good morning,
It’s me, Leia, but I get called by my first and middle name mostly, Leia No. I’m really goofy and always trying to get my brothers to play with me. I am fully vaccinated, and I am getting spayed on July 10th. My mom says she can’t wait, whatever that means!
I love digging, jumping onto everything and giving kisses. I love walks, but I get car sick going for a ride. My brothers think going for a ride is so cool, I just get nauseated. But we are working on it.
My humans just started my invisible fence training which I find hysterical. My dumb brothers buy into it, but I am bold and fearless, and I laugh at their attempts to keep me back from the fence line. I did hear my humans say it’s a good thing the trainer is coming back out a few more times.
At puppy class I was more interested in ignoring my humans so I could stare at all the other puppies in class. Now I have to do video chat training by myself and my humans have to give super high value treats for my cooperation.
I throw epic tantrums when I first go into my crate and my favorite place to lay is the coffee table. It’s a throne fit for a princess. You will see a picture of me laying there! I also am showing you a picture of the baby gate the humans use to keep us in the living room….jokes on them, I jump over that and laugh at my brothers just standing there waiting for the gate to magically open!!!
My mom is a WAMAL volunteer and I have been doing a good job reminding her of important skills necessary for training strong willed, confident, goofy dogs. She loves WAMAL and I am keeping her on her toes, and she understands the need for good volunteers, fosters, and adopters. She says “oh Lord, give me more patience than Leia has”!
I hope all my litter mates and their families are healthy and happy. We love updates and wish you the best during these crazy times!
Stay Safe,
Leia and Family

Hi WAMAL,
Thank you for taking such good care of me, nursing me through losing boy parts and helping me grow strong and healthy. I love my new people. They take me on walks in the park where I get to say hi to other dogs out walking their people. I have a big yard to run around in, and the gentle slope makes my ball roll really good and the soft dirt is nice on my bones. I miss you but I like it here a lot and am grateful you found me good people.
Love,
Yukon

1 year ago this past Monday (20 April) I brought Blue home for his adoption trial. I had planned on getting a 2nd dog & naming it Blue because of the velociraptor named Blue in Jurassic World (I grew up on Jurassic park movies & they’re probably my favourite movies not to mention their memes comparing puppies to them are very accurate lol). So when I saw Blue on here I figured it was a sign. It took me a while to decide if I could handle 2 Malamute/husky mixes, but he was still available so I guess it was meant to be. There’s nothing I’ve wanted more in life than to have 2  huskies or malamutes, 1 red & 1 black, & possibly 1 with different colored eyes. & it happened! Thank you to his amazing foster parents Mikaila & Mike. I love this boys smooshy fluffy face & his adorable black snoot! Happy adoption birthday Blue! I didn’t need 2 weeks to know you were going to be part of my tiny family.

Here are some pictures of Nuka from our quarantine days. He has readily adopted us as part of his pack and we couldn’t be happier!