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Quotes
180 quotes
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.When choosing a pup or pups no consideration should be given to any that show signs of nervousness or seem anxious to remain in the background; this attitude should be maintained no matter how the pups may appeal on other points.In reaching maturity pups undergo many physical changes, but very rarely does a shy or retiring pup develop into a bold dog.In East Aberdeenshire quite a great number of Cairns were to be seen and my father bred them in the 60's, but they were then known as Scotch Terriers, and in 1876 to 1883 I possessed one which was the mascot of our local cricket team. He was a light brindle with the true Cairn head, great jaw power, dense hard coat, good bone with beautiful small ears and dark eye, and weighed 14 lb.On the other hand, it seems to me that the members of the Skye Terrier Clubs should not dispute the right of the smaller breed to indicate the place of their origin. I would therefore advocate the adoption of some such name as 'Cairn Skye Terrier' or Cairn Terriers of Skye'.It is possible that oestrum, 'heat', or the 'season' in Cairn bitches may start as early as five months, but six to eight months is much more usual.It is generally accepted that the period of gestation is 63 days, but punctuality is very rare and viable pups have been whelped as early as the 58th and as late as the 70th day after the date of mating.There is an old Lowland Scots saying, 'hunger maks guid kitchen' (hunger is a good sauce), which applies to dogs as well as to humans.Periodically the Cairn casts his coat. In this, as in many other ways, each individual is a law unto himself or herself. Some cast the coat approximately every six months, some only once a year, and others have been known to go two years. A few seem to cast and grow the coat continuously and are never really 'out of coat'. Every bitch casts her coat soon after whelping.