Orchid Takes a Big Step!

Contributed by her Happy Mom

CP’s sweet Miss Orchid and Hemi (fka CP Hematite)

We adopted Miss Orchid at 10 yrs. old.  She was a Foster that came to us so scared and timid she would rather stay outside, in any kind of weather, than be in the house with us.  We had to lock the doggie door to make her stay in sometimes! 

She hated the washer, dryer, and dishwasher noises - and still does - and runs upstairs to sleep when they are on.  She doesn’t mind the lawnmower any more.  And sometimes if we drop things she doesn’t run or flinch. 

There was never much interest in her, and I did many, many write ups for the Col. Potter’s site for her as she progressed.   After we had her for several months, we realized she had become comfortable with us and decided to adopt her for Christmas 2011.  We just didn’t want to make her have to adjust again. 

As I said, she still doesn’t like certain things, but she comes for loves and kisses and belly rubs from us all on her own!  She will look us in the eye and you know she adores you!  She runs around with a toy in her mouth when I come home from work, squeaking it has fast she can – Moms home, Moms home, Yeah! 

Anyone who has met Orchid would not believe what she accomplished this past weekend!  Keeping in mind that she didn’t play with toys, didn’t engage the others, didn’t want to be touched.  If people visited, she ran upstairs and retreated to her cage.   Well, we were gone over New Years and my birthday, so several of our kids and grandkids came over last weekend.  Five extra people here, but the two Fosters (Marlin and Violet Tallulah) had gone to their wonderful Forever Homes.  To our amazement, Miss Orchid stayed downstairs with all of us!  Joe & I kept looking at each other, astounded that she was still hanging around with all of us!  She was comfortable and happy!  I cried after everyone left and Joe and I could talk about it. 

She gives her kisses freely now, and we just love her!   She is our little cutie and we can’t imagine her not being here!  She has a few other nicknames, “Funny Bunny”, "Ballerina Girl” when she dances for her meals, she almost does pirouettes when meals are being served!

She even allows me to pick her up and put her on our bed when I get ready for work each morning, and give her scritches and belly rubs.  She doesn’t always sleep under my dresser at night, sometimes just on the doggie blankets on the floor next to me (Next goal: on the bed with the rest of us, LOL!). 

Thank you Col. Potter for helping us all find each other!

Geri & Joe

Celebrating Hemi's 2nd Gotcha Day!!

Our Sweet Prince Hemi’s (CP’S Hematite) 2 year “Gottcha Day” is 2/22/12. We will never forget the day!

For February, here in Everett, WA, it was was a nice, sunny day. I could hardly sleep the night before! I was sooo excited! We already had our Empress Gypsy - she’s the ruler under her Mom and Hell Boy Bogie, who, if there is trouble to be found, he will find it! We had had both Gypsy and Bogie since they were puppies and they had two litters. So our puppy “fixes” had been more than satisfied!

We found Col. Potter on the internet. We have always supported animal rescue and thought it was time to do more than just donate money. Gypsy is a wheaten and Bogie is a red wheaten. Our hearts were set on a dark brindle.

We started our search in October 2009 with Col. Potter. We went through the the process of completing the application, the reference check and home safety visit (HSV) and wondered if we would ever be approved?! Finally we were! Then the real work began!

We saw several Cairn’s on the website we were interested in and with the help of our MatchMaker, Kathy B, we found Hemi! His Foster Mom, Lynn B, did a wonderful job with him. He has brought us great joy and is perfect!

We have become more involved with Col. Potter since the time we brought him to his forever home. We now help with the reference checks, an occasional HSV (not many in the Seattle area as yet) and Fostering.

We have 3 fosters under our belts (we flunked, once so far). Hemi has helped with every foster. He is kind to them (sometimes too kind because he lets them steal his toys and we think he’d let them eat his food if we allowed it)! Hemi brings smiles and light to our lives. We can’t imagine our lives without him! He is so sweet, loves everyone and we thank Col. Potter and everyone involved for bringing him to our home!

Many people might think Col. Potter's adoption process is too long, too involved but each step helps guarantee than when the right home is found, the forever home knows their new best friend is home forever!

Our Post Adoption Coordinator, Sandy B, was supportive and there for us if needed. Col. Potter is one of the best rescue groups out there and we hope to continue to help with their success! Thank you all so very much, we couldn’t have done any of this without all of you!

Geri and Joe P
Everett, WA

Hemi's Family Celebrates and Continues the Blessing

Tomorrow will be Hemi's 1year adoption day. We are so happy and thankful to have him! He is a joy and the sweetest Cairn ever as are his brother, Bogie and his sister, Gypsy.

We can't thank Col. Potter and all the wonderful Volunteers that helped us along the way.

We just handed our first foster, Miss. Barbara C over to her new parents and I was feeling a bit sad. Then I remembered how happy we were when we picked Hemi up from the airport on 2/22/10. His Foster Mom had to trust that he was going to a good new home and that we would love him as much as she did. So I've wiped away the tears and put a smile on my face and gave Hemi a big hug and a kiss and he gave me one back!

Thank you all, so very, very much!
Geri & Joe P