CP Carolina nka Millie after 1st Year of Freedom!

Contributed by Foster Mom and her Forever Mom

CP Carolina nka Millie happy to be Forever Free!

On March 12, 2012, Col. Potter Foster Mom and Dad, Kathy and Barney, drove many miles and watchful hours, bringing a very pregnant member of the CP "Tar Heels" group to the safety of their home.  She nested in her crate to such an extent that they checked Carolina every fifteen minutes or so to make sure she didn’t have any new companions in her crate, and when they got her home, they followed her with a flashlight to make sure she didn’t drop a puppy in the course of doing her business!

She waited, however, settling happily into her Foster Home, playing with as many toys as she could gather, and then on March 15, 2012, she gave birth to six little Ides of March Puppies, lucky to be born into the loving care of Col. Potter instead of a lonely wire crate in a breeding facility.

CP Carolina nka Millie, with 6 Ides of March Puppies, CP Appalachia nka Piper, CP Banks, CP Beaufort nka Bodie, CP Bodie nka Callie, CP Hatteras nka Selkie, CP Mayberry nka Maizy

When her work was done, sweet Carolina retired for good, late in May, having her well deserved spay and dental.  “She weighed 23lbs. when she came in - full of puppies and her buffet bar overflowing. Today when I dropped her off, she weighed a svelte 16.6 lbs.!” said Foster Mom.   “I was shocked she weighed so little as her poor buffet is empty but still a tripping hazard when she runs.  I think she's had a litter every time she's been in season because they're really stretched out.” 

Soon Carolina was working to get back in shape and getting ready for her Forever Home.  “She's just a five year old puppy - everything goes in her mouth!” laughed Foster Mom.  “She's always happy, tail going, and loves to fetch balls and Frisbees with Foster Dad!”

Millie is right at home with brother Tobey!

“Carolina, now ‘Millie’, has been wonderful!” says her Forever Mom.  “She is the best little dog we've ever had - Truly!  We love her sooooo much, and I believe she loves us equally.”

“She had a seizure in October of last year, but not a bad one.  We took her to the vet the next day and he thought we should just keep an eye on her and record everything that happened prior to.  He feels one seizure isn't enough to put her on meds, so we're keeping a close eye on her and, so far, she hasn't had another one.  Keep your fingers crossed!”

“We're going to be fencing in our back yard this Spring, so I can't wait for Millie and Tobey (our 3/4 bulldog/1/4 beagle puppy) to be able to just run around free and play all they want - plus be able to have some of their fur friends come over to play.  We can't wait to go to camp and see how Millie likes the water.”  

Millie is still a real love bug, always happy to cuddle up!

“I just can't say enough wonderful things about Millie.  If I did, this would go on forever!  I love her so much!  I've actually thought about adopting another, however, they would have to be as wonderful as Millie, and I'm not sure that is possible!”

CP Carolina & Tales of her Ides of March Puppies!

Contributed by Foster Mom

CP Carolina with her 6 Ides of March Puppies

Just over a year ago, on March 15, 2012, fourteen little Col. Potter Ides of March Puppies changed our worlds forever, but the story didn’t begin there.

In the Fall of 2011, a wonderful group of Col. Potter Volunteers gathered with their Cairns at a home in North Carolina, enjoying a great day of friendship and sharing, and raising money to donate to Col. Potter to save a small group of Cairns in need.   Thanks to their efforts, three little Cairns dubbed the "Tar Heels" found love and freedom with Col. Potter in the second week of March, 2012.

CP Foster, a handsome breeder male, headed North to Minnesota, while CP Carolina went with Kathy and Barney to Missouri, and CP Salisbury traveled to Arkansas to stay with Lori and Mike, arriving on the 14^th.

Salisbury, of course, started giving birth to her eight live puppies, and one stillborn, before she had even been there 24 hours, but Foster Mom & Dad, Lori & Mike, well experienced in the art of whelping puppies, did an amazing job under very difficult circumstances.

But the long Ides of March day started back in Missouri, where novice whelping assistants, Kathy and Barney, earned their puppy stripes with flying colors!

CP Carolina nka Millie happy to be Forever Free!

A Continuation of the Tar Heels Group

by Foster Mom Kathy H.

3/15/2012

With the adults of this group being named for things in the Tar Heel State of North Carolina, I felt it only fitting that Carolina’s little Tar Heels be given names reflecting that state also.  Kind of giving them a family history.

CP Hatteras nka Selkie

If I visited North Carolina, the first thing on my list of things to see would have to be Hatteras Lighthouse.  I think lighthouses are such a symbol of so many positive things – safety, strength, and hope immediately pop into my head.  I love them and find them almost magical.  So Carolina’s first little girl – the first puppy I’ve ever whelped – is now named Hatteras.  It was a magical moment when she came into this world.  I see her future full of hope and bright sunny days.

Selkie fka CP Hatteras

CP Beaufort nka Bodie

A village full of nautical fun, close to another lighthouse, Cape Lookout, and filled with the folklore of pirates like Blackbeard, is Beaufort.  What little boy wouldn’t dream of the adventures of being a pirate?  So little boy puppy #2 is now Beaufort.

Bodie fka CP Beaufort

CP Bodie nka Callie

Another lighthouse along the Outer Banks of North Carolina is Bodie Island Light.  I’m sure I could spend weeks in that area and never get tired of walking the shoreline, collecting shells and enjoying beautiful sunrises.  Little girl puppy#3 is Bodie.

Callie fka CP Bodie

CP Banks

With all of this talk of lighthouses and pirates and nautical fun, and North Carolina flanked by the Outer Banks along most of its shoreline, one of these puppies should be named Banks! The Banks must be strong and protect the coastal area, so little boy puppy #4 has been given that name.

CP Banks

CP Appalachia nka Piper

But there’s more to North Carolina to explore!  On its western side are mountain ranges and valleys that comprise the Appalachian Mountains.  The beautiful mountain ranges reaching for the sky need the valleys to really be something spectacular.  In art, the beauty in a painting or photo is what the eye sees in the extremes - peaks and valleys of colors – or lack thereof, in the lights and darks.  So much beauty is seen in the mountains throughout the four seasons.  Little girl puppy#6 is named Appalachia for that beauty.

Piper fka CP Appalachia on Adoption Day!

CP Mayberry nka Maizy

And what of little girl puppy #5?  Well, she’s been given a whimsical name because of her fast arrival.  Her birth into her family will always be remembered, as she was born a SHORT and comical eight minutes after her brother Banks.  Barney had just helped me chart and take the photo of him, and he decided to start a load of the dirty laundry that had accrued with the first 4 puppies’ births.  So off he went to the basement with the basket while I was toweling off this newest little boy.  Carolina was restless, as if she was going to whelp again, but I thought it would just be the delivery of the afterbirth of the last puppy.  To my surprise, I watch her give a quick grunt, and out pops another puppy!  My mind was racing as I wasn’t finished cleaning up the boy, but I quickly hopped out of the ex pen and put him in the warmer drawer with his siblings wrapped in his washcloth while I grabbed another washcloth and went to helping Carolina with her latest birth.  I gave a call to Barney a couple of times, but he couldn’t hear me over the washing machine noise with the basement door closed.  So when he emerged, I shouted “record 2:58 before I forget it, and hand me a mineral oil pad for this one”.  He looked at me like the sleep deprivation had finally pushed me over the edge.  He calmly told me he’d recorded the puppy, and it was 2:50, not 2:58, and I’d already cleaned it’s little bum, weighed it, and taken it’s picture…   I said no Barney, this is another one, and he still didn’t believe she’d given birth to another puppy, so I made him COUNT the ones in the warmer!  LOL  That’s when he finally jumped back into action.  It was kind of an Andy Griffith and Barney Fife moment, and we all know they lived in Mayberry, North Carolina.   As in a lot of television, things are made up, and so is Mayberry.  But because of the simple comedy of her quick birth, little girl puppy #5 is named Mayberry.  I can imagine her antics in the future and the smiles she will bring, as will all these sweet little babies.  I’m already in love with all of them and their sweet mother who worked so hard to bring them into this world this morning - it's an honor to have been entrusted with this miracle.

Maizy fka CP Mayberry

Thank you to Col. Potter for giving them the chance to be born in Freedom and know love!

Happy 1^st Birthday!

Love, Foster Mom Kathy & Foster Dad Barney