Hello from Freedom Flyer IV, Macaw (now Izzy, our gentle Southern Belle)Izzy's (fka MACAW) one-month "gotcha day" will be this Friday 3/13, so I thought this would be a good time to do my first post here. She is our first Cairn. Izzy, one of the Freedom-Flyer IV puppy mill rescues, is 4.5 years old, female grey brindle. My husband Bubba and I live in Clinton, South Carolina. My husband is 63 and retired; I am 58 and still working.
We have an RV 5th wheel and plan to take Izzy with us camping once the weather gets better when we visit Hilton Head and other campgrounds. We live in the country on 200 acres. Izzy is indoors except for 2-3 daily walks on leash, however, as our yard is not fenced.
Our 7 yr old cat OREO and Izzy adore each other, so I thought this would be the perfect photo for this post. Who says cairns and cats don’t mix?!?
Izzy does great walking on a leash and loves her crate which she sleeps in at night (next to my side of the bed). She doesn't seem to want to use the crate during the day, but if we have to leave her alone for a short while we put her in her crate until we get back and she doesn't seem to mind. Potty training has gone great, only one accident (& I think this was a stress reaction after her first bath last weekend; she pooped on the sofa while we were napping – I also wonder if I might have let out a snore and scared the poop out of her!).
We lost our beloved Prissy 7/3/08 after 16 years (Shih Tzu) and our other cat
Tigger died of a sudden brain-stroke on 8/13/08, so we were hit with a double-whammy last year in just two month's time. Both of these pets were very precious to us and we are still grieving their loss but Izzy is busy working to fill that empty space in our hearts.
Izzy is progressing, but is still very skittish and easily spooked. She does not bark, wag or even hold up her tail, does not play with toys, and is just now accepting treats (she adores cheese!). We want sooooo badly to help IZZY and really want to do everything right and give her a wonderful life and the best forever home possible. Looking forward to seeing what changes we see in the 2nd month and hope the progress continues!
Most recently, I gave Izzy a few bites of cheese (da dog lubs da cheese!!) then while I "had" her attention, I showed her the long stuffingless fox toy. Wasn't expecting much, as she hasn't played with any of her toys yet. Well, after a few taunts, she started chasing the fox around as I was slowly swinging it around her head. I let her catch it and she started playing with it on her own. After a few minutes, she stopped and rested her head on it. So I acted like I was gonna steal it and she started playing again, started making it squeek all by herself. And here's the big surprise. She grabbed it by the tail and dragged it behind her and went into her crate (she never goes into her crate during the day) to play fox. How cool is THAT?!?!?
Thank you, Col. Potter's Network – what an awesome team of folks and a wonderful thing you are doing for these furkids! A special thanks to Izzy's awesome Foster Parents John and Wendy W (hope we can get together this summer and RV!!) , our very-patient Matchmaker Liz R, our Post-Adoption Coordinator Mary N, our HSI's Edythe and Kristen who we really enjoyed meeting and hope to see again soon, as well as Cathy A, Joanne S, Donna B, and all the other many,many wonderful folks who worked to make this possible for us!
Group-Hug from Susan, Bubba, Oreo, and Izzy-Macaw!
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