Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Tuesday Tails: And then there were three

By Karen Kato

I'm still finding it hard to believe that only three short years ago we were a single cairn terrier household, "owned" by the love of my life, My Fair Tuckie Bear (Tucker), who became an absolutely pawsome member of our family in 2003, when he was a wee feisty pupster of 12 weeks old. It bears mentioning here that I had always been attracted to this breed, ever since my lifelong affinity to the famous Toto of The Wizard of Oz. As soon as we were in a position to have a dog in our home, he was *the* one with whom I became completely smitten through a puppy mill rescue and, needless to say, he quickly took over our home as the ruler of the roost. He settled in ever so famously with all the resident humans, as well as our felines (who have both since passed).

When Tuckie Bear turned 12 years young in 2015, he was diagnosed with the vicious cancer beast (twice in remission with chemo and surgeries) and began to slow down just a bit, so we decided it was high time he would benefit from a canine companion. We reached out to Col. Potter and along came My Fair Bridgie Bear (Bridgie), formerly known as CP's Sandy T., an eleven-year-old beautiful baby girl with whom I pawsitively fell in love at first sight via the Col. Potter website. We began the lengthy adoption process, flying her from Washington state to Pennsylvania at our cost, accompanied by foster mom extraordinaire, Janet M., to whom I will be forever grateful. Bridgie Bear had suffered from an extreme anxiety disorder, as well as separation anxiety, so I could not justify sending this precious cargo solo, in a dark, noisy, scary, uncontrolled climate environment. Though it was a costly venture, it was one that was well worth it and has never been regretted.

The day Bridgie Bear arrived, we were experiencing a violent thunderstorm. Bridgie was so terrified, pacing, hyperventilating, panting, and shaking and obviously wondering whatever had she got herself into! But my Tuckie Bear immediately took her under his protective care and held onto her to alleviate her massive stressors. It was definitely an instant bonding with the little timid angel, and they became inseparable. This sweet, tiny, docile little lady has filled our lives with so much love, tenderness and affection, we just couldn't imagine our lives without her.

Sad to say, Tuckie Bear crossed over on November 19, 2017. He died in my arms. His necropsy determined he had developed inoperable cancer of the spleen. I was so inconsolable, I actually had to remind myself to breathe. He was my true love, but more importantly, our Bridgie Bear regressed drastically. She became disinterested in food and in playing, refusing to make eye contact, and spent much of her time despondently "pancaked" out on the floor. She just broke my heart. I feared losing her too, as it seemed she was experiencing a failure-to-thrive situation. So we reached out to Col. Potter in an SOS message, to which they immediately responded. They fast-tracked our adoption of another baby, My Fair Barrett Bear  (Barrett Bear) who was fortunately ready for adoption and stole my heart. He arrived just in time to "rescue" my Bridgie Bear from what I feared would be her ultimate demise over the grieving process. And so we began our two-cairn mansion and felt we were complete.

But now wait just a minute! This time Col. Potter reached out to us to inquire about our availability to foster a new furbaby, BeauWeasel (now Barkley Bear) -- how could I ever say no? I was anxious to rise to the occasion as foster mom to this happy, perky, joyful, little lovebug. Well, I guess this was meant to be, because this gorgeous six-year-old boy fit right in. He made it quite clear that he had absolutely no intention whatsoever on leaving our not-so-humble abode. This cuddly, velcro dog is now officially adopted (YEAH!).


Thankfully I hit the jackpot three times with Col. Potter. Three times really is a charm, and well, three's company too!

❤❤❤

Do you have a cairn terrier story to share? Let us know at cpcrnblog@gmail.com.

3 comments:

  1. What a HEARTWARMING, TEAR JERKING STORY, told so beautifully and packed FULL of LOVE!!!!
    Thank you to everyone responsible for sharing this story with us, and particularly to Karen, who apparently feels as I do, that cairns resemble Teddy Bears (which is why I first fell in love with them)!
    Boston Chris

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  2. We lost our Buddie last Feb. She had survived 3 bouts with cancer including having to have her spleen removed and three of her four parathyroids. After a month of excruciating silence in our house we adopted Georgie a sweet 8 week old puppy. She is now 9 months old and I can't imagine my home without a cairn.

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  3. I had the biggest grin on my face mingled with tears and then back to a happy grin! Beautiful story exemplifying why 1 Cairn is just never enough! It also demonstrates the deep love and attachments Cairns are capable of.

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