The poster was sort of like this, the same words and a nice looking Cairn.

On a poster,  the poster that helped start a week long  influx of Rescue opportunities and questions, early in March, following a year with very few Rescues.

The poster showed up in a small Post Office out near the Delta. I wonder if it was near the Wanted posters.  This poster read ”Have you lost a dog?” , the picture of very nice looking Cairn Terrier  and a contact phone number.  A club member just happened in the PO, saw the poster, took down the number and called me. I called the number and that adventure started.

Well, we will get back to that poster and that dog later.

But first, lets look at all of the Rescue questions and placements that came in during the last few days.

1) Pippin, picked up by another breed group who decided he looked more Cairn than Scottie.
They were eager to pass him on.
We took him in.

2) This e-mail showed up – “Muffin is a very happy, loving, and energetic dog. She is terrific with both people and other dogs, as I mentioned, she has proven impossible for me to completely house train. Perhaps the issue is me, perhaps it is the dog, but either way things are no longer working. I think she would do best with a family that can give her more attention and patience than I can provide…”

3)I got an e-mail from another Cairn owner who had seen a picture of this dog and thought it looked like a Cairn. It included this note from the owner of the dog, Sam ” I was referred to you by xxx.  I have a border terrier mix that I would like to consider re-homing.  I was wondering if you had ideas on how/where to do this – I’m at a loss and want to make sure she gets into the right home.”

4) Another e-mail showed up later in the same week.  ”I am looking for a home for a stray I found (in the rain around Eastridge Mall in San Jose), that seems to be a Cairn or Norwich Terrier.  I’ve attached a picture.  I’ve tried to find his owner and no luck.  He’s about 15-20lbs, not fixed (yet) and seems to be in very good health and has no major (or even minor) behavioral problems, aside for some basic training and maybe some potty-refresher training.  From the condition of his teeth, he’s less than 2 years old, I’m sure.  His teeth are perfect and white with no decay.  I need to place him in a no-kill shelter, as I do not want this dog put down.  He’s truly a kindred spirit and deserves a chance.  I’m desparate and running out of time.  I already have a terrier mix and 2 cats in a 700 sq ft condo and can’t take any more.  Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.”

5) On Friday, I got a call from a shelter out in the Valley, they have a neutered male that is available for Rescue but not for adoption, just yet. No pictures yet.

6) Another e-mail from my Rescue InBox about the same time – “… regarding the puppy my mother would like to find a good home for.  He is a pure bred male, wheaten in color, has had all of his shots and is in good health.  He was born 10-23-09 and was purchased from a woman in El Dorado Hills.  I have been unable to contact her by searching both phone listings and web searches.  Duffy (the puppy) is very aggressive and bites and chews everything but he can also be very playful and affectionate.  My mother has tried various training techniques but has been unsuccessful in correcting the biting and chewing behavior – he is too much for her to handle.  He is partially housebroken, the rainy weather has prevented full training.  She has worked on paper training him as well.  We would appreciate your help in finding him a new home.  I can be reached at …..  My mother has hearing problems so it is best if you call me.  Thanks for your help.”

More on Duffy later…

7) Finally, on Monday, one of our breeders called.  She lives out in the county.  Some neighbor  may have had an issue with the number of dogs she has.  A county person showed up to look around and he said the dogs need to be licensed with the county.  He was quickly informed that all the dogs have always been licensed in the county and should not be an issue.  Well, they are just over due by a couple of weeks.  Normally, this should not be an issue, pay the fee for the new year and renew the license.  But either the pressure from anti-dog groups or the pressure to add  fee income to the General Fund had resulted in a major change in fees for  licensing of dogs in this county.  If the dogs are still in the show ring, the fee is $40/dog, not small change but maybe workable, if you still showing them in the ring.  However, if there is no immediate evidence the dogs are being shown and they are not altered, the fee is $150/dog.  These license  fees are simply too high for this breeder to manage.  Vet fees to alter the dogs would run $150+ for the males and $400+ for the females.  So, she is considering placing three  of her dogs.   Rescue could be a resource for a list of potential adopters.

So thats the background of our work by the second week of March in my small Rescue world.  Seven dogs to deal with or sort out.  Here is the progress as we move through the list, thanks in large part to the club members who stepped up, my Rescue Reserves.

1) Pippin has been placed.

3)A trip to see the #3 dog, Sam,  revealed a dog that may have some Cairn in her but she isn’t a Cairn.  In person she looks less like a Cairn than the picture suggests. I left the owner some options for placing her but she is now having 2nd thoughts.  This time I won’t take her problem for her, she gets to make the decision.

4) The dog in San Jose took a bit of  time. I had one of my Rescue Reserves try to make contact, she tried all weekend, no luck.  With Pippin gone, by Monday we had room  and could take this dog in if necessary.  But first, I wanted someone close to look at him to be sure he is a Cairn. Several calls were made with no response.  Finally this Monday morning, the lady answered my phone call, she was gone for the weekend and left the dog with a friend.  When she came back, she decided to keep the dog.  I reminded her that she could always contact me if there was an issue.  Things change all the time, I guess he is now able to fit in with that terrier mix and 2 cats in a small condo.  I won’t be surprised if I get another phone call in a couple of weeks.

5) The dog at the Valley Shelter, I contacted everyone who was on my list that might be close enough to look at this dog.  Trying to utilize my Rescue Reserves.  As always, the  people who might know better look at miscellaneous little fur balls and still ID suspect dogs as Cairns. (See the note about Buddy below.)  I have learned to be suspicious of dogs I can’t see.  The one person who was close enough to the shelte rjust couldn’t get there in time so we had to wait over the weekend.  Today, a phone call to the shelter confirmed that they  had “placed our little Cairn”.  I have no idea if this was a Cairn or not.  Trying to get some one to look them over before we commit can take several phone calls and a few days. This time it didn’t work but at least we know he has a home even if we don’t know he is a Cairn.

2)Muffin, this is the dog that has been a trying test for her owner.   He couldn’t completely housebreak her.  I asked him to contact the breeders since he said she was AKC registered.  I eventually found out I knew the names the breeders and over the past 5 years, both have died.  The ball is in my court now.  I told him I was working on it but on Friday I got a message of complete frustration. “I took her out for 20 minutes, walked and waited, then as soon as the elevator door closed, she squatted right there and peed on the floor”.  I sent a calming note but resumed my search for an adopter this dog with a little more zeal.  She moved to the top of my list of concerns.  Frustration can give bad results.  After many phone calls, I had two different people who were interested.  Since this would be an owner to owner, I just shared contact information.  Over the weekend I had several calls from one of the people who was interested but couldn’t make  contact.   Muffin now has a new home with  a  lady who experienced  enough to understand that getting a puppy is not realistic for people as they get old, both from the standpoint required training and from the constant hands on attention puppies need.  Not everyone understands that.

Remember the note above from the person who wants to place a puppy her mother has, Duffy?  Well, the e-mail address looked familiar.  I looked back at old rescue requests and sure enough, months before, there it was. I had gotten a request for a rescue dog for this lady’s mother.  I remember not wanting to place the rescue dog I had in house at the time.  The lady was over 80 and I was sure an active dog would have been too much for her.  I didn’t have any older sedentary dogs.  It is too bad that she insisted on getting a puppy.

From the note –…(Duffy)is very aggressive and bites and chews everything but he can also be very playful and affectionate…unsuccessful in correcting the biting and chewing behavior… too much for her to handle….partially housebroken.   I want to scream “He’s a 5 month old puppy”.  He isn’t aggressive, “He’s a 5 month old puppy”.  Puppies chew everything, including fingers.  Of course he isn’t completely house broken, “He’s a 5 month old puppy”.

On to chapter 2 of this Duffy adventure, I had a lady and her daughter come in to look at Pippin while I still had him.  It was clear to her that Pippin would be too much dog for her little Yorkie mix.  So, she took a pass, however I always keep names of potential adopters.  As I moved through my list, making calls for all of the dogs that suddenly invaded my Rescue space, her name came back up.  I called and gave her the contact number of the lady with the puppy.  She was very excited about the possibility.  Then, she was disappointed to learn that the puppy had been placed with a friend.  But wait!  A return phone call  a day later revealed that the new people already had a houseful but were just willing to help out their friend.  Given the information about someone else being really interested in the puppy, they quickly decided to surrender their new puppy to the lady on my list.  She was thrilled, she had to leave town for the weekend but by noon on Monday, I got a call, “I have the puppy!”   Duffy, now McDuff, is in a new home. Great and one more off of my list.

That gets me back to the dog at the top of the posting. Buddy, the subject of the poster. Not the dog in the picture on the poster, that is my dog.  Still,  it is because of the picture of a perfect Cairn that we, CTCNC Cairn Rescue became involved.  Why was a picture of a Cairn in the  poster?  Well, remember the remark I made about people who should know better?  The lady found this little guy under a dumpster in the pouring rain, took him in, got him cleaned up and fed.  After trying unsuccessfully to find an owner, she took him to her vet to get his shots and to neuter him.  She has no plans of keeping him but she knows what he needs.  While there, the vet told her it looked like a Cairn.  If the vet said he looked like a Cairn, he has to be a Cairn.  Not having a photo of this little guy, now named “Buddy“, she got a picture off the Internet and made her poster with it.  It is this picture of a nice looking Cairn that attracted the attention of a club member.

Today, “Buddy” is still with the lady who rescued him and brought him in from the rain but she is looking for someone who wants to adopt this fine little man. If you are interested, just send me a note. If they have children that want a dog to play with, “Buddy” is more than willing to take on that task.    As soon as I hear about any change in his status, I will update this blog.

Finally, that takes us to the last dogs on my list, the three dogs which the breeder wants to place.  I have sent one e-mail out and I have given her a list of possible adopters.  While I am not in the process directly, I will stay in touch to see what happens with these three purebred Cairns.  For now, it looks like two of them have homes lined up. They are not part of Rescue but they are on the list of dogs I follow to placement.

It’s been a short year but we have already surpassed the work done last year.  Of the the Even with all of this, Cairn Rescue had only been directly involved with a couple of dogs, one non-Cairn is looking for a home, and one purebred is on a short list to be placed.  All of the others have homes.  With an open slot today, I just wait for the next e-mail or phone call about a dog, or a poster in a Post Office about a Cairn that need to be placed in a loving home.