Zara is a beautiful 100lb, 12 year old, spayed female red Malamute who is looking for a new retirement home. An approved adopter of Zara will have to pick her up in the lower mainland of BC she can not be shipped or flown.

Zara has a variety of senior issues including being blind (since April 08) worn old hips & teeth, lumps, skin tags plus is on daily thyroid medication for the rest of her life. Due to a heart murmur she is not a candidate for any surgery or flying. Don’t let any of that old age stuff fool you; she is still a real fun firecracker!

Her foster momma has this to say about Zara:

"Zara – she is one amazing girl. So confident, and so sweet. She is also so unbelievable smooshable!! Poor thing, I am forever mauling her. Her eyes turned out to be fine (other than being blind), and the specialist never charged anything for her. They donate all their time for free to REAL rescues. I have finally figured out how to put up the baby gates so she can’t slink under or crawl over them. She is happy and confident and really, really sweet. Great with the cats too. Like really great. She has decided recently to take great offence to people that speed when we are out walking. She grumbles like mad and would happily try and run them down if she got off leash. It totally cracks me up. She also barks at dogs on the sidewalk when we are driving in the car. It is freaky. She must have one hell of a nose!!!! She is so brave it blows me away. She loves being outside and just plunges ahead. She would definitely be happiest if she had acreage she could run on. She is very confident with her blindness and is into everything. Apparently, while I was at work one day, the neighbour saw her climb onto the chair in the living room and check out the top of the cat tree (6 feet up). Nothing really slows her down and if you didn't know, you would never guess that she was blind. She is so crazy brave, it floors me. I had the door open for a minute today and she was out it like a flash, going for a wander. Took her about half a sec to figure out how to open the sliding doors too. I came back from walking Tuk and the Bean and she was hanging out in the yard. I think she is fearless.

To my mind, she deserves a home with a very weak, low level boy that she can totally boss around. I think it is quite important that she has another dog in the house with her. She likes them (after she warms up to them and ensures that there is going to be no jumping on her). Mainly important though because she follows their sounds so she knows where she is going. Almost like echolocation. They seem to make her much more confident. Always supervised though. I would also stress the importance of routine.

She adores being talked too, and being scratched. She LOVES tennis balls and I have gone through probably 20 now. She squashes them, then chews them like gum. She also loves going through the toy box and I get up in the mornings to mountains of toys spread everywhere. She would do best in a home where she got fussed over, where there was a solid routine (she LOVES routine) and she got loads of outside time, both on leash and off (safe areas only, as she looooves to just charge blindly ahead - no pun intended.)

She is silly, affectionate, good with kids and cats. Doesn't like the dogs so much, but can be easily managed in the house with other dogs (though personally I wouldn't leave her alone with another dog unsupervised - they are currently baby gated apart). She is also very smart, curious and outgoing. You wouldn't know she's blind the way she moves around.

She is happy as a clam in the car and could easily do the drive East. In terms of rehoming, she does adapt unbelievably quickly, though she is clearly sad. She knows the house and is in and out, up and down the stairs like she's lived here forever."

Key bits:

• Great with people, cats and other calm dogs once she gets used to them.
• Pulls like a demon on leash and is reactive on leash with other dogs.
• Will guard food from people if it’s especially tasty, but is easily pulled off.
• Will guard food from other dogs for sure, if it’s tasty, is fine getting shouldered aside for kibble.
• Is blind – therefore should be with older kids who will play carefully and avoid her teeth.
• Adores food and can find any anywhere.
• Would much prefer to sleep beside the bed and at your feet
• Likes to swim, fetch and run in the park – will run after other dogs, loud cars, so should be in a fenced enclosure off leash.
• Gets hot in the house and would prefer it much cooler. (-:
• Favourite new toys are stuffies, which she kills with great glee, pouncing and throwing them.

If you have any questions about Zara, please contact Christie at:
Christie@malamuterescue.com

If you have room in your heart for this lovely red firecracker, please complete an application form at:
http://www.malamuterescue.com/rescuedb/app/adoptapp.php