Where are they now?
Following up with Diva
With this new series "Where are
they now?," CPR will follow up on some of our most
well-known alums. Many of these dogs came to CPR in need
of some major medical care or rehabilitation. They
received what they needed from the CPR community thanks
to the love and care of the CPR staff and to the
generous donors who helped make miracles happen.
 Remember
Diva the standard poodle? It was September of 2010 when
Diva came to CPR from a hoarding situation. While her
past life had been less than ideal, her disposition was
delightful. CPR knew this poodle could bring joy to the
right home but there was work to do first. The big
obstacle to overcome for Diva was her vision--cataracts
were developing quickly and CPR needed to raise money to
give her back her sight. We had raised money before, but
never this much for just one dog. Was it possible?
It was Andree Johnson, a previous adopter and standard
poodle lover, who came up with the idea of putting up
half the funds if CPR could raise the other half. With
her matching donation driving the efforts, what seemed
impossible at first became doable quickly. Within just a
few days, CPR had the money they needed to give Diva her
sight back. What an incredible gift for this dog and
from many who had never even met the friendly standard
girl. In early September of 2011, a year after arriving
at Dreamweaver Farms, Diva had successful cataract
surgery. She could see again.
 When Andree donated to help with
Diva's cataract surgery, she only wanted to help Diva
see so she would have a better chance at being
adopted--by someone else. Andree had already adopted
from CPR--a standard poodle named Gigi. At 9-months old,
Gigi (Molly at CPR) had been grossly neglected and
mistreated in her short life. Gigi had a lot of issues,
but Andree needed a standard to help her standard Louie
recover from the grief of losing his brother and Andree
had a lot of love to give. Since coming to live with
Andree, Gigi had come a long, long way. Much of that was
due to her relationship with Louie, who Andree called
her "gentleman."
After Diva's surgery, Andree was in the area and visited
Dreamweaver Farms to meet Diva. During the long drive
back to DC, Andree couldn't stop thinking that being
with Diva felt right. Could Diva belong with her? It
didn't take long to decide and in October of 2011, Diva
found her new forever home in Washington DC with Andree
and her canine family.
 Renamed Babette, one of the jobs she
took on with her new family was to help ground Gigi--who
never fully recovered from her mistreatment as a puppy.
Louie, at 11, was doing the job admirably but he could
use an assistant. Babette found life as a nurturer and
role model much to her liking and she took the damaged
standard poodle under her wing quickly. Louie approved.
Babette's life is now an active one! When she arrived at
her new home, she sat for hours in front of the long
windows in the house, watching what was going on
outside. Everything caught her attention--and still
does--since she had been without good eyesight for so
long.
 The trio now go for three to four long
walks daily. They accompany Andree everywhere. Everyone
loves Babette; she is so gregarious and loving. Adults
and kids all stop to pet her. Gigi has learned a lot
from Babette and has become so much more sociable thanks
to her. Babette gets along with all dogs, both big and
small.
 At the beach, Babette loves the water
and chases the waves. She adores everybody and is a
great watch-dog. Gigi would bark and disappear but
Babette would be right there. Andree says that, in her
opinion, Babette is a perfect dog.
Babette's
story has a very happy ending, but it could have been
different. She was an older dog at six years old, when
she came to Carolina Poodle Rescue, and
she needed expensive, major surgery. The age of the dog
is the number one deciding factor for many adopters.
They don't consider that happy years together are what
count, not the number of years that they can add up to.
Health is the second question. It is very difficult to
adopt a dog with health issues. Getting those health
issues addressed and resolved is the best way possible
to get these dogs into homes where their winning
personalities can show they were worth it.
Andree says, "These lives should not be thrown away
because they need something. We should get something for
them." We agree. With the help of donors like Andree,
Babette got the surgery that she needed and then a whole
new life!
Remembering Mamie
by Linda C. Owens
 My Mamie was spotted as "Millie," a
blonde toy poodle in a high kill shelter in South
Carolina, this same time in November last year (2012).
Her execution date was set, and it appeared she had no
future. I told Donna Ezzell if she would pull her, I
would foster her. Animal control officers picked her
up as a stray, and she was so matted in poop that she
couldn't walk and she smelled like cigarette smoke.
Donna sent her straight to a vet in Gaffney where I
picked her up a few days later after a bath, grooming,
shots and spaying to take by Dreamweaver Farm to
complete her CPR paper work. When the vet tech brought
her to me, she asked me if we knew that she was blind
and deaf--and had no teeth. The vet estimated her age
at "more than 14 years and likely close to 20." I
gasped a question to myself, "My God, who dumps out a
pet that age?"
I cradled her on the short ride to CPR. Later on that
November day, a year ago, Mamie and I went home to
Lola, my CPR alumnae toy poodle, and my Ellie, The
World's Greatest Corgi, a gift from a former student
whose Corgis had puppies--an "oops" that wouldn't
happen again.
 I renamed her "Mamie" after an aunt, my
mother's sister-in-law who I always saw through my
very young eyes as the most glamorous lady I had ever
seen. Aunt Mamie was my "Jackie Kennedy" long before I
ever understood anything about presidents, politics or
Kennedys.
As My Mamie improved, I discovered that she could hear
and see a bit, and she learned to navigate my house
and the homes I visited frequently--although she
always balked at going up or down any steps. Only with
time would she go in or out an entry door if it had
any rise or fall, no matter how minimal. She learned
my voice and would come when I called her--an act she
stubbornly refused to do for anyone else.
Her nose? Well, smell was Mamie's forte. She loved
anything and everything when it came to food. She
could smell the delivery guy before he got pizza to
the door--and pizza--or anything Italian--seemed her
favorite from the first day I had her.
Her gait was uneven and slow, but even if I was
returning home from brief errands or just going
outside to the mailbox, she happily greeted me with a
hoppy-hop happy dance and gave out a muffled woof as
she bounced up and down with her fore legs. It was as
if the woof itself was so strong that it lifted up her
front half of her body!
 Mamie didn't seem to know what grass
was. She always sought out concrete or asphalt to do
her business, but she clearly was house-trained and
was fine sleeping in her "own" bed, a small round,
soft bed with high sides that she navigated herself
over, with aplomb.
It was a bed that my late beloved Lucy used but had
remained empty for years until Mamie took it over.
Soon, I carried the bed with me from room to room for
Mamie's pleasure because wherever I was became the
room where she wanted to be. At my bedtime, of course,
her favorite place became the space she created
between my legs. After she grew ill at the end of
summer, she moved to lie in my arms all night.
As it turned out, I failed as a foster parent. The
first inquiry about her as a possible adoption of her
came about three weeks after she came home with me. As
quickly as it came, it went away. Later, I found out
that I would have input into any adoption of Mamie,
the grande and elegant dame who I'm sure was a famous
New York City model in some other life. She loved to
"pose" across a pillow better than any pin-up girl you
can imagine.
When the second interest came in early March 2013, I
called Donna crying.
"Oh, you heard about that," the Fairy Dogmother (Donna
Ezzell) said. I sniffed and choked out, "I can't, I
can't." That's about all I could manage to say. Later,
in the following days, I said with conviction, "If you
want her, you'll have to find me and come get her." (I
have a reputation like Willie: On The Road Again.)
Donna laughed. I started bugging Joni Peterson to take
her profile down from the CPR Adoptables as if someone
would sweep down and steal her. Like I would let that
happen.
Mamie was only with me for ten short months--ten
months when I know she was loved and pampered. I know
she had years and years before me. I pray they were
happy and good years for her. She obviously came to me
without bad habits from her past--unless you count her
love of eating.
How she came to be a matted, dirty mess as a stray, I
will never understand or know. Maybe someone went
before her and was already waiting for her at the
Rainbow Bridge. I tend to try to "fill in the gaps"
with more pleasant imaginations of how she lived most
of her years.
But, for a short time, here on Planet Earth, she
touched my life with a remarkable positive
effect, for which I am eternally grateful. Rest
peacefully, my Mamie. I will always miss you here.
Happy Homecomings
Mrs. Marshmallow
by Janice Souza
 Three years ago, I was adopted by the most
beautiful white poodle from Carolina Poodle Rescue. I
had just lost my precious toy poodle, Hershey, and I
wanted another female poodle. Donna Ezzell told me that
she had the right poodle for me. Her name was Mrs.
Marshmallow. I got to CPR and Mrs. Marshmallow was
brought to me.
She ran around the room a bit and finally settled down
by my side. I wasn't convinced just yet that I wanted a
white poodle so I asked to see a couple of black
poodles. When they ran into the room, Mrs. Marshmallow
looked up at me as if to say "What are you doing? I have
decided that I am the one coming home with you."
And she has been giving me that look for the past 3
years. Thank you, Donna for letting me have her that
day. She chose me, and it's absolutely true that you end
up with the one that you're meant to have. She's been a
beautiful addition to our family, and we're so happy
that we are owned by this baby.
Ziva's Happy Tail
by Julie Poitinger and Justin Mills
 In October 2012, my boyfriend (Justin) and
I stopped at CPR one evening. I was looking for another
standard poodle, and Justin was looking for a small dog
who would follow him everywhere since the rest of the
dogs followed me. He also wanted to carry the dog around
with him and for him or her to play tug and fetch toys.
A lot of things to ask for in one dog.
I didn't find any standard poodles that were right for
my family, so I helped Justin search for the dog he
wanted. We looked at and considered a lot of little
dogs. For one reason or another, we didn't find the
right one. We were there for hours. I could have stayed
longer, but it was closing time, and we decided we'd
have to head out on the eight hour drive home without a
new dog.
We were heading out the door without a dog for either
one of us. Justin went out ahead of me to smoke. I
lingered to say bye to Donna Ezzell. While I was
standing in the office, a little black dog sitting on a
stool was trying hard to get my attention. I picked her
up, and she kissed and loved on me. She was squirming
with joy. I called Justin back inside and said, "What
about this one?". He held her for a few minutes and
decided she was the one for him. Farrah (now Ziva) IS
the perfect one for him. She LOVES to tug and play
fetch. She loves to go for rides with him. She follows
him everywhere, but she will go to anyone with kisses
and tail wags.
Lucky for us that Ziva did not let herself go unnoticed.
She was determined to get my attention. I think she had
been at CPR for four months. I don't know why she wasn't
noticed before then. I guess she was waiting for the
family who wanted a dog exactly like her.
We need your stories! Do you have a happy
homecoming that you'd like to share? Please send
it to newsletter@carolinapoodlerescue.org.
Feature Pet of the
Month
Meet Rufus!
 Rufus was originally found as a stray
in Forsyth County. He was then adopted from the
shelter and later returned because he did not do
well with the adopter's boyfriend.
Since Rufus has been at CPR, he has done well with
both men and women. The big challenge that he has
been working to overcome is his weight. When he
arrived he was very overweight but he has been
working hard and has lost 8 pounds! Although he has
a few more to go--his ideal weight is around 15
pounds--he is doing great and feeling so much
better!
With other dogs, Rufus does very well. He gets along
with pretty much everyone he meets. Now that he has
slimmed down and spruced himself up, he's on the
look out for a new home. He'd be a happy little
fellow to come home to!
For more information about Rufus, please visit his
page on the CPR Web site.
Help CPR Receive a
$400 Donation!
 Wisconsin
Pet Care is willing to donate up to $400 to
Carolina Poodle Rescue if at least 400 people vote
for them!
(1) Go to this link:
http://wisn.cityvoter.com/wisconsin-pet-care/biz/640605.
(2) Vote.
(3) In the comments area type, "CPR loves WPC!"
Voting ends December 14th. See below for more
details:
One of our supporters needs your help and will
return the favor in kind. Wisconsin Pet Care is in
a heated contest for BEST OF MILWAUKEE. Last year
they won the prize and want a repeat! (And they
truly are the best pet sitters and dog walkers BY
FAR in our eyes!)
Voting ends December 14th, so please do so right
now! Share with friends and family and post on
your Facebook pages, too. (They want to win and
they want to help CPR!) Here is the link: http://wisn.cityvoter.com/wisconsin-pet-care/biz/640605
You need to sign up which takes 2 minutes,
literally.
WPC thanks you in advance for your kindness!
Join CPR's Facebook Page for Friends &
Family
Why join another
Facebook group? Well, if you love poodles or rescue
dogs in general, if you want to keep in closer touch
with the CPR community and everything that is going
on at the Farm, with the current dogs, with adopted
dogs, and with incoming dogs, then this is the place
to be. We asked some of the members of the CPR
Friends and Family Page why they love being a
part of the page:
CPR is our extended family! We have adopted
five poodles from CPR in the last 6 years. Our
family has volunteered, transported and fostered
together. We are a close family that feels
supported by our extend family. When I speak of
CPR to potential adopters and tell them about our
FB group, I tell them that there is love and
support for each of us that is given by other
beautiful like minded people. Thank you for being
part of our family!--Teresa Teague on Behalf
of the Teague Family
As one who lives too far from the farm to visit
regularly, this keeps me connected with what's
going on.--Diane Wood
It's like visiting with extended family who all
share a common love. I don't have to worry about
being "that crazy poodle lady" on here!--Mary
Winburn
Hope to see you there! https://www.facebook.com/groups/122083703951/
Please Stay in Touch
If you have moved or plan to
move in the near feature, please drop a line to CPR
and let us know! We want don't want to lose touch.
Just send an email with your new mailing address
and/or email address to
cprmail@carolinapoodlerescue.org. We always love
hearing from the CPR community!
And if you have a
story about your CPR dog (or cat), we'd love for you
to share it--happy homecomings, travel adventures,
training achievements, or simply a story that you'd
like to share about your CPR family member. Please
send it to newsletter@carolinapoodlerescue.org.
The
Rainbow Bridge
Dedicated
to those who have passed over.
"Coco Bean"
Patricia
Perushak--Milford, MI |
"Diesel"
Dreamweaver
Farms--Pacolet, SC
|
"Riley"
Anna
Todd and Billy Rutherford--Garner,
NC
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