Please welcome McNabb!!

Written by a CP Intakes Coordinator


Into each life changes must come. Unfortunately a wheaten 10 yr old boy no longer fit into his families plans or future. McNabb is a bright eyed well mannered gentleman who wins hearts where ever he goes. At 10 you would think he would be traumatized by the changes but thanks to some very sweet devoted CP volunteers his transition was smooth and uneventful. Col Potter has the best volunteers I have ever had the priviledge of working with.

Without CP's help Mr. McNabb could have ended up at shelter with no hope and no future. This boy deserved better and CP gave it to him. If you havent thought of fostering you are missing out on the McNabbs of the world. Give it a try it is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Look into the eyes of a senior kid like McNabb and say there isn't room for him.

Will you help a cairn today? Buy a $15 chance in the NLOL or volunteer to foster or help CP rescue cairns in need!

Written by CP's VP of Intakes

Today is the last day to participate! Please click here or use the blinking button above.

Monika is on her way back home right now with SIX Cairns who are enjoying the first leg of their journey to FREEDOM!!! There are four adult females, one 5 month old female puppy and one 10 week old male puppy. They have been waiting THREE weeks for this opportunity ... for CP to have the space and resources to take them.

Yesterday Tinker, after waiting months to wean her puppies and enduring horrific conditions including being covered in lice, made it to FREEDOM!

These are the lucky ones ... Recently, we have had to say NO to helping Cairns in need. Col. Potter has our limits just like anyone else and we have hit those limits. We need help from each and every member that is reading this. We need help from people outside of CP as we can't continue to financially support ourselves relying just on our members. What do we need?

We need you to share the news of these SIX new CP family members and Tinker with your entire email address book and ask them to consider buying just ONE New Leash on Life Raffle ticket:

We need everyone to get up out of the bleachers, get off the sidelines and GET IN THE GAME! We need more volunteers on every team in Col. Potter. There's something for everyone no matter what your skill or interest and with whatever time you have available. Complete the Volunteer application:

We need foster homes. We have some of the best foster homes in the world, but they can't keep going at the pace they have been. They need an occasional rest from the constant rotation of fosters in their homes and many with multiple fosters. Become a foster home -- what's one more food dish on the counter and one more crate on the floor?

Let's see that Cairn spirit and attitude! Let's make this NLOL a SELL-OUT!!! Let's find more volunteers to help process the furkids through the CP system so we can continue to help others. Let's give the gift of life -- become a foster home. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let's not let the Cairns down that need us so much .... Thank you ...

The Heart of Col. Potter - the foster home

Written by a CP Foster Mom


Col. Potter foster homes like to say that if you have room for a dish, a bowl and a bed, you have room to take a foster. We just had our long term foster find his forever home and as everyone adjusts to life with ONLY 3 dogs, it becomes apparent to all of us that our fosters don't just live in our homes, they live in our hearts.

Each of our fosters comes with some baggage, maybe an owner surrender because of the economy or a death in the family, a dog who didn't fit in with the new baby, more recently we are happy to be able to transition dogs from commercial breeding facilities to lives as beloved companion animals. Some of these dogs become long term fosters because they have so much to learn after lives spent in cages with little affection or medical care.

Our foster came to us as a very scared little guy and left as a dog that you would be hard pressed to believe that he grew up in a cage. He became easier to be part of our pack than our own dogs at times since we taught him everything he knew, we knew how he would act or react in certain situations. We soon found that he needed to 'practice' nearly everything in a calm, not too many people around set up and then he was ok with doing it.

Like parents who see their children grow to young adulthood, we feel pride at all that our foster accomplished and have hope for his future as a loved little guy with a new home and mom who will watch out for him in the future. A coworker asked me ' how do you teach or train a dog like that ?- I guess you have to have a passion'. I think she's right.

If you would like to foster a cairn and become part of this wonderful opportunity to rehabilitate a cairn, please click here.

Why you CAN foster!

Written by a CP foster and adoptive mom

A couple of weeks ago I sent Winfrey NKA Winnie to her forever home. I have not had time to post to tell you all about it nor have I had time to down load pictures yet but I will post them as soon as I can. Any way, Mike & I decided we would drive Winnie to her forever home it was cheaper for Winnie's new Mom & it gave us a chance to see her new digs & meet her new Mom. Winnie was my heart, the hardest foster I have ever had to give up. But she & Shelby had fought a couple of times & Shelby was being very bad so Shelby was banished to my Mom's house till we adopted Winnie.

I just knew I would find a reason not to like Mary & Winnie would come back home with us. We got there & visited. Winnie really had no interest in Mary and she kept marking the house. I thought oh good Mary is not going to like this she is going to say take her back home with you. Nebbie came along for moral support. When Mike went & got her out of the car, it seemed to settle Winnie down so we had dinner & visited a bit more, fed the girls and Mike & I left to go to the hotel to see how they did overnight. Mary made us a wonderful dinner! Winnie was a little sad but did fine. She only pottied a few times in the house the next morning but was figuring things out.

We all walked along Lake Michigan( Winnie's house is only a couple of blocks away) visited a few more minutes, Winnie had even settled down & was resting on the floor. I almost forgot Winnie has a sister Maeve, another cairn who lost her cairn sister over the Christmas holidays. After we were there a bit Maeve really started to perk up - she was missing having a friend. Then Mike & I said our good byes to everyone. Foster Mom did not even cry till just now(and our last night when I fed her). I really miss her. But I know she will get much more attention & love than I can give her) Winnie is one very lucky girl!

For those of you who say "I just do not know how you can foster". Well I used to think that & yes I have flunked 2 times. The truth is it is HARD very Hard to let these little kids leave you after you have seen them make huge break throughs. Here is how you handle it. For one thing you can't keep every dog you foster. Then you have to look at the fact that not every dog you foster will get along with your pack or you for that matter. Hard to believe your personality will not mesh with every dog who comes through your house but even those you LOVE will ALL your heart! Then the biggest reason you CAN let them go is that you know that another home with less dogs, or just lost the love of their life needs a new one badly and you have the dog with the perfect personality for them.

You send them off with love & tears knowing you are going to get another foster to mold and shape into a loving prince or princess. Besides, fostering is like getting a new puppy all the time and unless you get a puppy to foster you skip the teething & just get all the fun of their new discoveries! Their first toy, a leaf blowing across the yard it is amazing & wondrous. So even though your heart gets tugged at, your heart gets bigger with each foster you let find forever.
So click here to learn more about how you too can foster for CP.

Now I am going to go kiss my forever kids & my foster while you read the other reason you can let your fosters go....The updates from the forever families!


Good morning Nebbie and foster Mom,

I miss you both but am learning lots of new things -- walking on leash, and wrestling with my new mom, and, oh yes, manners with other dogs. They wouldn't let me go to class with Mom yesterday, but next week I can go. My new mom's lap is pretty good, but I miss sitting on foster Mom and Dad's lap. And, Maeve's an ok buddy -- I keep her safe, but she just follows me around and sometimes gets in my way. By the way, I've decided to live here forever, but we might try to visit you this summer.

Love,

Winnie

Note from new mom: We're working diligently on manners and walking. We've had a good number of people over and Winnie's become very comfortable with people visiting. I come to decide that you're right she could very well be the only dog in the house and be happy. We are the best of buds.

Thanks so much for bringing Winnie into our lives,

Please vote once a day for Col. Potter in the Animal Rescue Site's "Shelter Challenge"! Search for Col. Potter in Medina, OH. Feel free to cross-post and please pass this on to your friends and neighbors!

Vote in the Shelter Challenge by clicking the following link: VOTE HERE

Need more detailed instructions? Click the following link: SHOW ME HOW

Stinger says "Fank You Kernell Pottur!"

Contributed by Stinger's foster mom

Dis is Stinger, anna I wanna send a *BIG* FANK YOU to dis Kernell Pottur guy fur gibbing me and my kidz anna all da uddur kidz from da pwase we yousta libbs a brake in life anna gettin us outta dat pwase anna gibben us such gud care anna homez dat lubz us! Dese fosser peeplez here keeps tellin me dat I'm gonna fine a wunnerfull home jes likes my kidz did, anna I don't no why I jes can't stay heer cuz I likez da kidz here, but day sayz dere's a fambly luuking jes fer a gurl likez me to lub, so I gess I'm happee hangin out heer til they findz me. She sez I'm a sweetie, butz I can't stay cuz derez alwayz mor atz da door needin a new beginnin. Ifn, derez mor needin help, I axed her whyz derez not mor pwacez like dis fur dem to go? She tole me dat not all famblees can habz a big pack likez heer, butz I don unnerstandz why cuz we all getz along heer anna we presheate all we getz cuz we node how bad da pwacez waz we cum frum. Us mill kidz jes need a brake! So I jez fink da Kernell needz ta tell all hiz famblee tu fink about heppin us kidz out by lettin sumboddee stayz at der hows a while untill da fambleez lukin fer dem findz em! I fink momma lubz us jes as much as da "house kidz" here cuz she gibz us da same food anna warm bed anna lotz ob lubbin, jes like weer all alike! Didz u no dere waz fiphteen ob us kidz here when me an da kidz came heer durin da CRAP? Now derez jes eleben. So I fink eberboddee needz tu fink about findin a spot anna heppin out jes one extra kid dat needz a brake.

Fosser momma sez deerz sum matchmekkerz out der watchin fer da peeplez dat r lukin fer me to helpz dem no I'm heer in Missuree wif da Barez an Kampur boy waitin tu be found. Dat ladee named Liz R dat helped finded da homez fur my puppeez did da bestest job in da hole wurld - momma sed sew! I wanna sendz her a hi phive anna lotz ub wet kissez cuz I prisheate dat she cared enuff to hep my kidz no whatz itz like tu be lubbed by dat famblee dat waz lukin fur dem - momma sez Liz gotz kidz at hur howse datz had a ruff time in da passed, so she unndertanz how 'portant da rite furever famblee iz!

HEY - If'n she'z dun findin homez fur puppees, maybee she'z lukin fur homez fur us big kidz now! wheeeeeee!

Fankz agen - if u cud seez me u'd seez my tail goin like a whurleeburd cuz I'm so happee.

Stinger, da momma of Shirley Temple nka Ruby, Slush nka Roy, Fizz, anna Swizzle nka Journey

If you can offer a bed and a dish to help another furkid to freedom, please click here to learn more about becoming a foster home. You don't need any experience- just an open heart for a cairn needing to be fostered, CP will provide all the guidance that you need. You can also help
by participating on our behalf in the Shelter Challenge as shown below.




Please vote once a day for Col. Potter in the Animal Rescue Site's "Shelter Challenge"! Search for Col. Potter in Medina, OH. Feel free to cross-post and please pass this on to your friends and neighbors!

Vote in the Shelter Challenge by clicking the following link: VOTE HERE

Need more detailed instructions? Click the following link: SHOW ME HOW

There's No Place like home - does your home need a cairn?

As, Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz kept saying "There is no place like home", There is no place like home".

Well, these kids cannot wear ruby red slippers and they are not able to`click' their heels to make this wish come true. But we humans can.

Some of these cairns, have been living a life of a very bad dream, they have been caught up in that nasty old twister that took Dorothy and Toto away and they are wishing to find that wonderful forever home that just lies over the rainbow for them. Others have been pulled from a loving home that they have always known, but their past family could not continue to give them the love and housing due to many of our current economic situations. They, too, are looking for that new forever home, which waits at the end of the rainbow.

Where is this place called home? It could be at your house, your neighbor's house, a friend's house. We just need you to pass the word.

And what is a home to these kids? A home of love, food and shelter, a loving hand, a gentle touch. Just like when Dorothy awoke from her dream –her family was there to welcome her with a gentle touch and love.

That's the place called "No place like home".

Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network's purpose is to match cairns in need of homes with homes in need of cairns.

Please check our available cairns page to see if your perfect cairn is waiting for you already.

If you cannot adopt one of these loving kids, then possibly you could foster one, or become a guardian angel to one. Thank goodness Dorothy and Toto had their guardian angel, Glenda, the good witch, watching over them.

Everyone wants a home for the holidays and forever.

Let us "click" our heels.