Nikki's back and tail after being brushed

I like to part the hair on his back to see the deep red color under his top coat. It's silky soft right up against his skin. He doesn't like to let me brush his tail but when he does, I'm always amazed at how long the fur gets on it. I have cut his tail hair down to fuzz and it grew back to full length within a year.

I noticed that he had some flaky skin and bumps on his hips and hindquarters this past fall (2013) so this spring I am going to hand strip him. Daily brushing and light hand stripping (pulling maybe a dozen loose hairs a day) is keeping his skin in good condition for now.

Thanks for sharing so much information, Cairn Talk members! I'm learning more about cairns than I did when I did when I was researching the breed ten years ago.