New and excited!

[janeroyal]

Hey everyone! I'm new here to Cairn Talk. I'm currently living in Kaysville, UT and I am hoping to add a Cairn to our family in the near future. Our family just spent several days with some great friends of ours in Topeka, KS and they have 3 cairns - they were a blast and got along so well with our family. We are a very large (8 kiddos) family with ages ranging from 17 - 3 years old. We're looking for a great fun-loving dog to add to our family. An important note is that I have 4 members of my family with allergies and none of them were affected by this little pack. We just had a wonderful time.

I definitely want to avoid the whole puppy mill experience so I will be looking for a reputable breeder. I just wanted to introduce myself and share our great experience with cairns:)

BTW...my name is Stephanie

[Idaho Cairns]

Welcome to the board! You have made a great choice for a pet, these little dogs make great family pets. There are some good breeders down in the Salt Lake-Park City area, you should be able to find a Cairn locally. By the way, this area is great for Cairns, the lack of humidity, the rugged winters are ideal for Cairns.

With eight kids you need a rough and tumble little dog and Cairns are certainly that. We were at my granddaughter's fourth birthday party Monday and there were ten adults and about 20-25 (how do you count that many?) cousins from infants to teenagers, a Bull Mastiff, a tiny chihuahua, and my two Cairns all bouncing around the back yard, in amongst the toys, around the tramp and the Cairns thought they had died and went to heaven, especially when one of the toddlers spilled a dish of ice cream on the plastic jungle jim! My dogs were alternately being loved by the kids, squeezed by the toddlers, and scritched by the adults. There was nary a problem. As you have found out, Cairns are sociable creatures and fit in well with family doings.

[Puddlesmama]

Hi Stephanie..My name is Yvonne and glad to meet you. I am overjoyed to hear the a Cairn will get his/her own kiddies to play with because there is nothing greater than seeing a well rounded Cairn run amuck with lil ones. They are sure to bring some wonderful times for you and yours. Read up on the training of these guys.. The first year is sure to be memorable and enlightening. If you have ever had a dog..Cairns are (to me anyways) the smartest, little misfits you can ever imagine. Plan on getting a few puppy classes and learn how to read them before they read you..If you know what I mean.

[Autumn & Lola]

Hiya Stephanie and welcome.

I am pretty new here too - just a few months here and with my now 15 month old Cairn, who we adopted three months ago. Eight kiddos! Wow! - are you sure you have time for a Cairn? haha I can barely keep up with just one little dog, but then again you'll have plenty of little helpers!

I hope you find the new addition to your family very soon. There is so much excellent info on this forum and lots of knowledgable people. I have learned a lot already about these adorable, fiesty, funny little dogs.

Autumn (me) and Molly

[Shazza]

Welcome and Hello!

[Hawkeye]

Welcome Stephanie...I think you will be very happy with a cairn for your family. We got our first cairn when our kids were 3 and 5 and I have to say Mandy was the best dog for them. She was alway in the center of the fun and when the kids were older she was very good with their friends. She was like a third child.

You will have to keep us posted on your search...

[janeroyal]

Thanks for the welcome from everyone! I'm really not too worried about the time and energy involved in taking care of a Cairn - it will just be like having another baby in our family (at least that's how I'm looking at it)

There are some good breeders down in the Salt Lake-Park City area, you should be able to find a Cairn locally.

How do I go about finding these breeders? Like I said, I am not going to support any type of puppy mill facility so any help regarding the whereabouts of good breeders would be greatly appreciated. Somewhere on the web, I saw that there is a dog show in my area around the mid-September - is this my best bet?

Also, are there different types of "dog shows" you can involve your Cairn in besides conformation shows? Someday I might be interested in this, but not now. Also, I want my Cairn neutered/spayed so conformation shows are out of the question.

One last question, what are your favorite books/websites for training/raising your Cairn?

I appreciate any and all guidance that you guys can offer! It's great to have a place like this where I can get all my questions addressed.

stephanie

[AllAboutPetey]

On the Cairn Terrier Club of America's home page (link at the top of the page) you can click on "find breeders" and a list by state will show up. I contacted the closest breeder to me by e-mail. She called me back and answered my questions about the breed. If the one you contact doesn't have puppies at the time, they may know someone who does. It's a very good resource for finding reputable breeders.

By the way, welcome to the forum!

[janeroyal]

Thanks AllAboutPetey for the information. There is one breeder listed in Utah and I sent her an email. Hopefully, I will hear something form her soon and she will be able to help me in my search. Thanks again.

stephanie

[BeeBladen]

Hello Stephanie! I'm new here too, and am adding a baby Cairn in early September. I am planning on teaching my boy to use his natural instincts in Earthdog trials. Any Cairn, Westie, Dachshund and other terriers can join in, even if they are neutered and/or don't conform. They don't have to have full AKC either. The trials aren't really scored, just a personal score to try to beat every time. (I think you can still get a ribbon??) I'm new to this but sounds fun for you and the pup! I think you can look at the specs at the AKC site http://www.akc.org/events/earthdog/ in case you are interested!

Good luck with the search! Can't wait to see your furbaby!

[janeroyal]

I am in contact with the only CTCA breeder in the state of Utah and I am very excited. No puppies for awhile, but that's okay, I'm a patient soul.

stephanie

[sheila and Misty]

welcome and congratulations ! there must never be a dull moment at your place...sounds fun!

Definately see that the breeder is number one on temperment...its a biggie (but with 3 others Im sure you already know that.

[shellj2323]

Hi Stephanie! You could also look at Colonel Potter Cairn Terrier Rescue. They adopt all over the country and often have puppies.

www.cairnrescue.com

[janeroyal]

www.cairnrescue.com

I will check this out. Thanks so much for the head's up.

stephanie