Kiyu

Kiyu was brought to a veterinary clinic to be euthanized because of a leg injury (possibly by being kicked by an inhumane person) and the owners felt that she was not worth the money to get the leg fixed. They believe that she was no longer good "breeding" stock. She was rescued by APAWS and brought to a malamute rescue to find her a permanent, loving home.

Kiyu was adopted by some wonderful people and we recently received this email update on her wonderful new life.

"As you can see, she grew up. Her ears are still large, but a little more in proportion to her body. She is incredibly obedient (for a malamute) and has shocked us. Tricks are still fairly boring to her unless a treat is in hand, but she ALWAYS comes when called regardless. My other mal was utterly unreliable off the leash -- Kiyu can be far off in the distance out of sight (on the safely fenced 20 acres -- she is still a Malamute afterall) and if we call, she comes running -- running, not meandering, not sauntering or walking in our general direction -- running straight to us. She weighs about 80 pounds. Her talking skills are relatively poor, she stays quiet when we talk to her -- but she sings (if you call it that) when she is excited. It sounds a little more like a monkey caught in a bear trap than the familiar woo woo. Her eyes got a little lighter brown as she aged, which makes her a bit more intimidating to strangers (who have no idea that she would lick them to death). She is still not crazy about car trips or leashed outings off our farm -- I can't decide if she thinks we are going to leave her or what. Lots of people on the farm doesn't bother her a bit -- and she LOVES visits from our family's and friend's dogs -- but outside of our farm, she gets clingy and worried. We are working on that slowly -- by taking her to my sister's homes, Christmas tree cutting and other events. We tried for a while to take her with the other two dogs, but as you know both of the others were elderly and can't always hold up to a couple of hours on a walking trail etc. She seemed to do much better with them by her side. Unfortunately, we had to help my other mal, Keya, leave us in early April. Her mobility had declined rapidly in the two months prior and slowly her body systems were failing. Kiyu was a great comfort to me and, I believe, a large part of why our other dog (the now 11, nearly 12, year old Rottweiler Cody) survived the loss of Keya. He is much slower and quiet from old age, and his mobility is declining, but Kiyu keeps him interested and active. She hears things his old ears can't, so her body language alerts him so he can bark. Kiyu LOVES our cats. They follow her around when she is out in the barn yard with me -- it is ridiculous and I need to get pictures. That is about all. She is a happy, health dog. We are delighted that we adopted her. We will certainly do it again -- and probably soon. Cody will not be with us much longer and Kiyu will be lost without the company and a playmate. I check the website from time to time since Keya died, looking to see if I "recognize" one of the faces as our next family member."