The Calliope Clan!
Betty. Another just plain old girl, Betty. Beagle and Collie or Sheltie mix, our Betty was born on May 1, 1997. Arrived at Calliope: August, 1997.
In August we visited the shelter again; after all, we had an empty crate, having lost Beau in January of that year. Well, this little girl was on her back grinning at us, and we thought...Hmmm, something wrong with her, let's check. When we asked about "the little girl beagle mix on the end", they said "Oh, you mean SMILEY". There wasn't anything wrong with her, she just smiled a lot.
Well, we had to wait a couple days for her, as she had just been picked up off the street and needed to be quarantined. Three days later we went back to the Lackawanna Shelter and brought our little girl home. This dog is like nothing else in the world.
She is our sunshine and our hearts. She always has a "baby" (or stuffed toy) in her mouth, sometimes as many as she can carry (she's had up to five at once). She's most often found on her back, and gives everyone 150% of herself. Everyone that meets Betty, loves Betty, and she them. Everyone wants to take her home. She is a little nervous (guess you could say neurotic), but the best girl in the world. We would not trade her for anything. Oh, and she's still smiling!
Betty's favorite things; Babies, lots and lots of babies, eating (she is part Beagle after all), belly rubs, kisses, eating, and all the petting she can get.
Ginger Gold Genevieve (Elegante' Wysiwyg Shayne X Wysiwyg's Thinga Mabob) July 2, 1997. Arrived at Calliope: November, 1999.
Ginger's lineage is nothing to be proud of, but she is a star. Ginger had been used as a little puppy manufacturer and had several litters of puppies before she was two years old. Although she had a thoughtful start, she ended up in a place where the care she was given was way less than what anyone would consider good. She escaped her captors only to be run over by a car. Once that happened, Ginger could no longer have puppies, so the breeder did not want her anymore.
She came to us through a friend in November 1999 (along with Daisey from the rescues page). She was unable to run, could not do steps, and barely put her one rear foot on the ground (her injuries were severe). Once we had a chance to go over her inch by inch, we found a very large (bigger dog) bite wound on her back, that had healed a bit. Our vet and our groomer determined that this "bite" occurred sometime before her encounter with the Chevy!
That's her past. Her future.....BRIGHT! Within a month Ginger was running free, doing stairs and the sofa. She is the most petite Cairn we have ever seen, and although that is a physical trait; inside she is the biggest dog she thinks she could be. She loves everyone, and everyone loves her. She has overcome all of her injuries and with very few faults, is our little star.
Ginger's favorite things; Barking (at everything), biscuits, scratches, Sophie, barking, hunting, hunting, hunting, the lawnmower, the vacuum cleaner, anything that's bigger or louder than she is, hunting, oh and barking.>
Wookie - April 5, 2000. Arrived at Calliope: October, 2002.
"The dog in cage 34". That's what he was called. This first picture here, seen by a Cairn rescuer in Ohio over the Internet, sent her off to the shelter to check this "~2 year old "terrier mix" out, according to our rescue standards. Could this be a Cairn so scared that his ears are down?
Hmmmm? Well, NO, he's about 30 pounds too heavy and 2 feet too tall!
After being picked up as a stray, he was kept at the shelter for four days in the chance his owners were looking for and would claim him. On that fifth day, he had only that day to be adopted. Bonnie went to the shelter, saw he wasn't a Cairn, found out he only had four more hours to live, and had to take him. He was a mess; matted, fleas, parasites, you name it. They cleaned him up, vetted him, loved him, evaluated him, and knew they had made the absolute right decision. However, Bonnie and Alan had a problem...in a few days they would be getting a very psychologically damaged Cairn to foster and could not keep this boy, their little Cairn, Elf, and the new dog (all males). Bonnie sent out an e-alert to us folk in Cairn rescue, for someone to help her with him (she had named him Wookie, as you can see by the second photo, he looked like Chewie from "Star Wars" fame, and that's what it was to be, a Wookie). Brian and I said we would help and arranged for transport and hook up in Buffalo, NY. All went off without a hitch (boy is that a loooong ride!), and Wookie came to be fostered by us.
We had just lost our Piper, and placed our foster Cairn Binx, and really needed a little diversion....enter Wookie. We really weren't planning on him staying here, and knew that with our resources we would find him a great forever home. Well, WE ARE HIS FOREVER HOME. He is the most wonderful dog ever, and has settled in and will spend his hopefully long, long life, here at Calliope. We have determined he is a terrier mix all right, a cross of Soft Coated Wheaten and perhaps Golden Retriever. He is about 40 pounds of love, doesn't shed, somewhat obedience trained, house trained, and a perfect gentleman...whenever I walk in or walk out of a room, he stands up (even if it is just to follow me to the kitchen!!!!). Everyone that meets him, hugs him, and he lets them. He's a real gem and we are very lucky to have him in our lives. Our philosophy has been of late "if they can fit through the doggie door, they can make it here".
Wookie's favorite things:napping on his ottoman, napping, getting hugged and petted, napping, chasing Sophie, napping, riding in the car, napping....
This is Missy. Missy's picture (the first one here) appeared on the Luzerne SPCA web site, and we went to check her out. Needless to say, she came home with us.
The next couple pictures are from her "initiation" at Calliope. Including the smile she gave her new Dad, just because she could. And a picture of her with her new sister, Ginger. Born on Valentines Day, 2001; she arrived at Calliope on February 22, 2003, and she won't be leaving. We have decided she is a mix of Cairn and perhaps Schipperke, a lovely black with silver brindle. She is sweet, wonderful, and totally adjusted to life with the Clan. She is house and crate trained, she does tricks and obeys (huh?!?! is she really part Cairn?), and is a gentle sweet soul. It is evident that she's had at least one litter of puppies, although we know not when. We want to have a chance to love her a lot for a very long time. She has instigated play here again. We haven't had real doggy play since Winnie left us and then Piper and Mimzie. It is such a joy, we smile all the time. She has this sweet little tendency when she climbs up to give you love, she gives you a hug, by putting her paws around your neck and nestleing her head under your chin. You simply must love her!
Missy's favorite things: Ginger, playing with tennis balls, going through the doggy door (she thinks it's cool), treats, playing tug-o-war with Wookie (what a sight!), and hugging and kissing her humans.
Miri's Journey - 1,350 Miles to Freedom
For many rescued Cairns, the yellow brick road that leads to their forever home is not an easy one. Some struggle with health problems and others face trust issues. The road for CPCRN newcomer, Miri (formerly known as LENA) was even more difficult because she was fighting not only for her own future, but also for the lives of her five as-yet unborn pups. Miri traveled 1,350 miles from the horrible conditions of a life in a puppy mill in Carthage, MO,
Miri (then Lena) as she was pulled from the puppy mill
to Portsmouth, VA via Little Rock, AR. When she arrived at her foster home in Portsmouth, it was estimated that she was at Day 45 of a typically 63-day pregnancy. Although she was trembling and weak, it was hoped that her difficulties were due to her pregnancy and her long trip to her foster home. However, it soon became evident that something was very wrong.
Miri was finding it almost impossible to go potty, and on what was only Day 48 of the pregnancy, it also looked as if she was going to have her puppies within the week. She was taken to the vet, who discovered that she had a large bladder stone that was shutting down her system. Her calcium levels were also dangerously low. He determined that it was unlikely she would be able to deliver the puppies. The only option was to do surgery immediately.
Within hours, the vets entire team was involved in the effort to save her and her five puppies. After a C-section delivery, she was spayed and her bladder stone was removed. Since all of her lower front teeth in the front were missing and her back teeth were green, the vet decided to scrape her remaining teeth while she was till sedated. But her teeth were in such bad condition that one after another, they just fell out of her mouth. She lost a total of 6 additional teeth, including an abscessed molar that must have caused her incredible pain when eating.
Miri and her five pups were given the thumbs-up to go home, but there were concerns about her firstborn son. Although all the preemies were about half the size of full-term Cairn puppies, weighing only about 2.5 to 3 ounces each, little Leif was even smaller than his tiny siblings. After three days of bravely struggling to survive, Leif, whose name means "Dearly Loved," crossed the Rainbow Bridge, despite the efforts of his heartbroken foster parents.
Miri at rest with her four surviving babies
Miri's MIRACLE babies.
Meanwhile, Miri and her remaining son and three daughters continued to improve daily under the loving care they received. She was a model mom, despite everything she had been through. Although still noticeably weak, she was able to feed all four puppies on her own. She was taking calcium supplements and was being nourished with soft foods; she was beginning to regain her strength now that she didn't have to struggle to chew food. Miri so enjoyed her newfound life of comfort and showered her foster parents with grateful affection. For an 8 year old dog, this journey had not been an easy one, but she continued bravely on, leading her four puppies toward a happy life in a forever home.
Miri posing for her "passport" picture for her forever Mom and Dad.
That forever home just happened to be ours. Calliope welcomed Miri with open arms (and paws) on Sunday, May 14; 2006, fittingly this was Mother's Day. One of Miri's girl pups went home with us that weekend as well, to Patty Landmesser and her other CP girl, Piper Belle. Zoe (fka Helga) is truly a testament to her mother. The other puppies; Gerta, Max (fka Hjammer), who have already gone to their forever homes, and Petra who will go on Memorial Day weekend, are all testaments to Miri (and Ann and Wayne, their foster mom and dad) as well.
Miri is a joy, with more love to give than anything. She is just loving being free of the cage she was in for 8 years (her entire life), being bred at every season, and when she was ill, dumped with a full litter of puppies. Her most horrific decision these days is to decide whether she wants to be in the back yard, the front yard, play with Missy and Wookie, or by herself, or her ultimate favorite thing to do; just cuddle with her human forever parents. This little girl who surely would have died a horrible death, while trying to deliver her puppies, must have known in her heart, that she was destined for a greater life.
"This is quite nice, am I going to stay?"
So many people in Colonel Potter supported this little girl, and helped her recovery. Ann and Wayne Stainback could never be compensated for all they've done for her, giving her the start she needed to forever. The Vet staff at Ann and Wayne's clinic, and of course, the Colonel himself, who is smiling from the Rainbow Bridge.
Yes Miri, THIS is your forever.
We love you so much!.
Lucy’s Trail to Forever
After spending 5 ½ years, her whole life up until that time, in a Missouri puppy mill, delivering litter after litter of baby Cairn puppies, a dog who was named Drexel by Colonel Potter, was brought into our organization in June 2006. She came in with a group called the “School’s Out Kids”. (There was Cornell, Purdue, Tulane, Princeton…you get the picture.)
Drexel, right out of the mill in MO (same state, different mill as Miri)
She was lovingly fostered in Connecticut, and brought into the good graces of how a good house Cairn behaves, but she didn’t really need a lot of teaching as she is such the perfect lady. She was transported by, among others, dear friend Auntie Patty, to her forever home, and on her way, stopped here in August 2006. We were very lucky to meet her and loved her right away.
Drexel, during her “layover” at Calliope … … and selecting a favorite spot in a quiet corner right away
So, she was adopted into what should have been her forever home. However, as it sometimes happens (rarely in our rescue but sometimes), the adoptive home was not what it should have been and they returned her to Colonel Potter Cairn Terrier Rescue, stating some issues or problems with her behavior.
Now named Sugar, this is her calendar picture
When she came back to Colonel Potter, her name was changed to Honeybee, and she went safely back to her original foster mommy, Mo, in Connecticut. Trust me whatever “issues” there were, it was NOT the dog!
Now she’s Honeybee, and adjusting back in at her foster home
When we learned that she came “home”, we thought we’d give her a chance here at Calliope if we would be approved to adopt her. We WERE approved to adopt her, and Honeybee became our Lucy. She arrived here, a direct SPECIAL delivery from her foster mommy, on December 9, 2006.
Instant family; that’s the best way we can describe it. She is still gentle, still sweet, and still very shy; but she is a wonderful girl. She’s learning something new every day, and I venture to say that her sixth birthday on November 26, with “Mommy-Mo” was most likely her most happiest ever.
I envision her soon coming into her whole self, and truly enjoying life here. As is our goal with any new fur baby we bring in, all we truly want is to know that they are happy…she’s already showing us that she is. There are only good things in store for you Lucy Lou, and we plan on giving you every single one of them.
Our Darling Lucy, at rest in her FOREVER home; free to be whoever she wants to be.
We loved you instantly and we love you still…It’s all up from here little girl!
ROCKY
CP's Rock Solid at Calliope - just a bit of a Cairn dog. Rescued with some other "family members" from a Puppy Mill in MO. Rocky was born on 9/16/07 and came to live with us here at Calliope on 12/1/07. He is the little boy we've been waiting for since we lost our Buddy in 2005. After some "getting to know him", we are sure that Buddy did, in fact, send him here. He looks like him, talks like him and has SO many of Buddy's wonderful characteristics. We are truly so lucky to have found him. OR, did he find us?
Some pictures of a group of Cairns that were rescued, were sent to our rescue group, and something about his picture (the first one here), just kept me going back to it. I'm not sure if it was the 'uni-brow' or just his coloring . don't really know. But I shared it with Brian and he said, "do you think we could foster him"? Well, my thoughts are if we would foster him we may as well adopt him because there is just something about him, you know we'll have to keep him. So, we started the wheels in motion, were approved to foster-to-adopt. Which means that after 20 days, if he is what we expected, we just adopt him and he'd never have to be moved again. So we did. On December 20, 2007, Rocky became ours, and we became his.
His first day home with his rescue bandana. ONE full day later, his ears came up. He knew he was home.
He is still just a baby, so we don't have a full story on him yet, but we can tell.he is the best. Missy is in heaven, as she finally has someone who can keep up with her games of chase. He loves her. Ginger and Miri think they're hot baloney because they can put him in his place. They play with him, but then act the "mommy" and end it when they're done. He pesters Lucy endlessly. We think it's because she resembles what his mommy might have looked like, and she does NOT put him in his place.
He is a large puppy, so he's going to be a big boy. That's fine with us.any size, he FITS!
Welcome Rocky, Rocket-man, Stair Master, Rockmoninohf - yes, nicknames abound already!!!
Welcome to the Calliope Clan!!!
Mom, Dad, Sophie, Betty, Ginger, Miri, Wookie, and Missy