Foster #3

I know, I skipped foster #2.  He came to us a rather chunky boy, very quiet, not interactive.  Everyone in the household but me fell in love with him.  Within two weeks, I was over ruled and Winslow became a part of our zoo.  Winnie the Pooh and I have worked out our kinks and I'm nuts about him now and love when he jumps back in bed after his early morning walkies and gives me big kisses.

So, Paul and I have become official Col. Potter "foster flunkies."  We couldn't be happier.

Then a call came in November about a little boy Cairn, 2 years old, whose elderly owner couldn't keep him.  Now we have foster #3, a very tiny Cairn who is the spitting image & personality of our dear Sainted Riley, our very first Cairn, who went to Rainbow Bridge in 2006 at the unbelievable age of 22.  This little fellow, known as Tadich, has his own issues but to see him is to love him.  I think we are in deep do-do with this one!   Again, he fits in beautifully but our two other boy Cairns are rather jealous, especially 1 year old Boo Radley. The new foster is actually very amusing since he looks like a Radley mini-me.  Even though he is just under 3 years old and loves to play with toys and some with Radley, he is not quite active enough to give Radley the workout he wants.  Still, Bad Rad loves this little guy, as we all do. Besides, Boo Radley has his two zooming girl Cairn friends, Joey & Amtrak, to wear him out!

Fitting right in

Overall, Jules hasn't displayed much interest in toys, except on 2 occasions.  The first was when the adorable 5-year-old neighbor girl visited.  Jules obviously adores children and happily fetched balls and tried to "kill"  (vigorous terrier shaking) a toy bone tossed to him. 

The other time Jules likes to play is when the special tug of war toy is presented to him by my Cairn puppy, Boo Radley.  They are quite fierce and pretty evenly matched with Jules' bulk and Rad's agility.  I did catch on video about 30 seconds of them having a great tug match:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7I94tq3UFA 

I'm not seeing any problem behavior so far, just a very normal, very sweet, snuggly homeless Cairn.  I am confident this wonderful boy will be adopted very quickly!

Foster Cairn #2 arrives

Friday evening, 4/16,  I drove down to Phoenix and picked up our second foster.  Jules is an owner surrender to a shelter that then arranged for Col Potter Cairn Rescue Network to take him.

Jules is a blonde wheaten, a big Cairn at nearly 25 pounds, although he is 3-4 pounds overweight.  He was surrendered for being difficult to control.  LOL!  What Cairn isn't???  They are wonderful, intelligent, impish creatures, perennial toddlers.  We'll see. 

Jules was good as gold on the trip home (over 2 hours), calm when he got out of his poor sodden crate once in the safety of a room of our house.  He did a little investigation and seemed quite sedate but maybe very tired from his long trip.  Buddy Holly the cat, is our character judge.  She immediately hopped over the ex-pen onto the top of the crate.  Jules ignored her;  Buddy Holly did a few experimental overtures and continued to be ignored.  He passed the cat test; Holly jumped back out and all was good.

This little boy went willing into his crate and we jumped into bed.  Jules did "sing" for about 10 minutes after we locked him back in his great but it was actually quite musical and very funny.  I tried to do a video with sound recording but it was suboptimal.  Jules then fell asleep and we had to wake him up the next morning!

He's quite the handsome fellow.  There is some hair thinning and loss on his rear third but is most likely a gluten allergy, so he will be getting the gluten free high quality food I feed my own Cairns.  We'll see if he turns out to be the reported BAD BOY!  There are sure no signs of it so far.

I'll be home for Christmas....

...if only in my dreams.

Sorry, Bing, but Skywalker isn't dreaming.  He is home for Christmas!

December 17, 2009 is now Skywalker's "Gotcha Day," the day he went to his forever home.

We got up very early that day, not difficult at all for me since I had been preparing for Skywalker for his new home the night before, trembling the whole time, dreading the parting, and then barely slept.  He got a bath and looked more handsome and shiny-coated than ever.  And quite adorable wrapped up in a fleece blankie post-bath.  All the animals seemed to know that a change was pending and they were all quite solemn after a rambunctious day of running in the snow and having "the greatest day ever."  Skywalker had no idea though just how great his life was about to come.

The employees at Alaska Air Cargo in Phoenix were very kind, letting me keep Skywalker out of the crate with me until right before he was to be loaded on the plane.  Naturally, Skywalker was very well behaved and charming so that one of the employees threatened to keep him.  That feeling was nothing compared to mine.  I shook like a leaf and kept whispering to Walker that we still had time to make our escape.  How could I be so stupid to let a wonderful dog like this, once he had been in my life, to leave my life?  Then, I started my foster mantra:  "This is a world-class dog who has been adopted by a lovely family who can offer him even more than me.  If he stays with me, another needy rescue Cairn will be robbed of a foster home to prepare him for his forever family.  It is the cycle.  I must be unselfish."

And, so, I was (barely) able to let Skywalker go.  When he was loaded into the crate on the forklift, he looked at me in panic, scratched the crate door, then laid down and stuck his nose through the wires.  Oh, Skywalker, that started the tears.

Talking to new Dad some hours later reassured me of Skywalker's safe arrival and his immediate confidence, coming out of his crate to greet the family cat and check out his new home.  Wow!  I knew he could do it.

The next day, Skywalker's Dad added icing to the cake by emailing and sending photos!

Skywalker, our beloved first foster, you have left HUGE footprints on all of our hearts.  We are so happy for your new great life.

Meeting a former Col Potter Foster

Today, my foster Skywalker and I stopped by to see friends who just adopted from Col Potter two days ago.  Joey, the former CP foster Jenna, has hit the doggy lottery!

Ms. Joey is already adored completely, has lost no time ruling the roost, freely bestows big kisses on visitors, and is well aware she is about the most precious little Cairn princess on the planet! 

Joey mastered the doggy door immediately, is very active but behaved, and went snowshoeing the very first day in the adjacent National Forest.  (OK, I really don't think Joey snowshoed, just one of her new people, but I bet Joey could snowshoe; she gives the impression of being extremely capable!)


After performing her hostess duties to Skywalker and me, Joey demonstrated how adorable  & important she is by standing on her back paws, little wagging tail straight up,  to look out the windows to survey her Queendom.  She moved next to her throne on the back of the sofa so she could enjoy the mountain views and keep a close eye on the horse next door.  She hasn't met the resident horses yet but I'll bet they will all be friends (and Joey will let them know she is the new boss).

Big thanks to Joey's foster home, the CP volunteers and contributors for making it possible to take this little Cairn into rescue.  And huge thanks to the wonderful couple who gave Joey her forever home!  

Want a dog like Joey?  Go visit the Available Cairns at the Col Potter web site and pick out your little sweetie!

Skywalker is a love bug

For a couple of days, Skywalker has been shy of even me.  Maybe an outgrowth of us all being cooped up in the house due to the blizzard.  Puppy Radley has been a wild man, my patience has run short, and there have been several harsh commands directed at Radley.  Skywalker is usually right there and, of course, he thinks the words are meant for him, too.  But Radley can be SO SO exasperating.  After Newt, I swore I would never get another puppy, only older dogs.  Why oh why did I fall off the wagon again?  Must be those silly looking little Cairn puppies that just make me all woozy with love!

Flagstaff was a bone-chilling -10^o this morning.  Skywalker and Radley didn't seem to care but bad mom still hasn't found fleece jackets that fit them and I was afraid for them to be out too long.  I called them back in and started a fire in the woodstove.  With it being so cold, it figured the fire was hard to start this morning.  The patience was tried as I squatted and squatted in front of the stove, knees screaming.  And then there was the persistent nudge nudge nudge on my back.  Skywalker was there and he got a quick skritch.  Back to the fire.  Nudge nudge nudge.  Skritch.  Fire. Nudge.  Well, I finally caught on.  I sat down on the floor, Skywalker crowded into my lap, cautiously keeping the back legs on the floor, and we had a regular love fest.  Then Bad Rad, the jealous monster, crowded in, pushing out Walker.  Rad got pushed out, Walker pulled in, etc etc.  I growled out Rad and he backed off for a minute or so.  Then he started nipping Walker on the back legs.  That ended the love session but Rad kept torturing Walker with rough play.  Out comes the spray bottle, here comes the time out.

The rest of the morning, Skywalker has been so sweet to me, nudging me, putting his paws on my knees, wagging his tail furiously.  This boy needs a home without a jealous monster, without 6 other animals competing for attention.  He wants animal companionship, too, but this zoo is just overwhelming him.

Handsome young Cairn in need of loving home needing handsome young Cairn!

Get your application in to Col Potter today because we have lots of little Cairns like this hoping to go "Home for the Holidays."

Skywalker is ready to find his special home

It breaks my heart but also makes it soar.  Skywalker is ready to find his forever home.  He loves us, we love him, but he needs his own special home and we need to be ready to take in a more needy foster dog.

Skywalker went to a boarding kennel for two nights, along with resident Cairns, Radley and Miss Parker.  His special needs were made known and when I came to pick him up, Skywalker was best friends with the male kennel owner!  He had also captured the heart of the female kennel owner.  Oh, yeah.  They said Radley and Parker were good, too! 

Going home, Skywalker didn't have to ride in his crate and, boy, he was one happy dog!  Riding in cars is good!  Since then, he has been much more confident.  If he is let into the yard, he comes in without hesitation when called, sure he will get outside again.

Such bittersweet (for me) strides in adopting to his new life of freedom.  I hope someone adopts him before my love gets too deep.