Adding a second Cairn to the household

[hheldorfer]

My DH and I have decided to take the plunge and try to add another Cairn to the household. Buffy (female) is almost 2 years old now and we think she would enjoy having a brother. (Not to mention the fact that we've fallen in love with these little comedians!) We have contacted two Cairn rescue organizations - one through this site - and we're hoping we can find a good match. Buffy socializes very well with other dogs at the dog park and loves to play and chase. We have tried to think of all the issues involved - possibility of jealousy on the part of Buffy, etc. - but I was hoping that some of you would share your insights/stories. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated!

[Brianne_Kathrine]

Two dogs is a wonderful way to go in my opinion. Dogs are pack animals and they really enjoy the companionship and company that a second dog provides.

I adopted my Cairn Terrier male in early 2007. When Benny was about 2 years old I decided to give him a little sister. I actually got a female Westie. Benny has some mental challenges and issues and having Sally has actually helped him quite a bit.

Have you also considered a Westie as your second dog? My mom and both have a Cairn and a Westie and the two dogs make a good match. I know a few other people who have a Cairn/Westie mix. Westies are fun little dogs with similar personalities to Cairns, but a little less stubborn than the Cairn. Just an idea I thought I would throw out there. I love my little Westie Sally...she is so much fun and everyone loves her wherever I go.

Expect Buffy to be jealous for a about a week. There are things you can do to help make sure Buffy knows she is still number one in your eyes:

* Always greet Buffy first when you come in the house.

* Always give Buffy her food dish first when you feed them.

* Make sure you set aside time to do things with just Buffy...such as take just her with you when you run up to the pet store for more dog food.

* Overall just make sure that Buffy still feels like she is number one in your life.

Good luck with your search. You will be most satisfied with the second dog. I feared that it would be too difficult to manage two dogs, but they are not much more of a challenge when you have a second one.

Brianne

[hheldorfer]

Thanks so much for the tips! I wouldn't have thought about giving Buffy priority when feeding - good idea. I'm certainly open to a Westie or Westie/Cairn mix. My goal is simply to find a dog with similar temperment and size to better the chances of compatability. Keep your fingers crossed!

[Brianne_Kathrine]

If you are open to a Westie, I would highly recommend checking out the breed. As I stated, from my experiences I have found Westies to have a little less of a stubborn personality. They also seem to be a little more affectionate than Cairns.

[Idaho Cairns]

We have always had two female Cairns in our home and it has never been a problem. We have brought puppies into the home with dogs that have varied in age from twelve years old to three years old and frankly, I believe the older dogs have enjoyed the puppies as much as we have. There has never been a show of jealousy or food dominance but then our Cairns have always been pretty mellow dogs.

I would recommend having two (heck good thing I don't have farm--I'd have a dozen!) in the house--we believe the dogs do better in pairs. Cairns are such intelligent little creatures that we believe the companionship keeps them occupied and takes the stress of entertaining off the humans to a certain extent.

As I have mentioned in other posts, our experience is that the puppies model off the older dogs in terms of behavior so if you have a well trained and pleasant older dog, one way to continue or assure the behavior over time, is to bring a puppy into the home, let that modeling take place and it just gives you an opportunity to enjoy the same personality traits (within broad parameters) over a longer period of time.

I think you will do yourself and your current dog a huge favor by bringing in a pup--our experience with doing so has been wonderful.

[Hawkeye]

We have a westie and a cairn and love both of the breeds. I don't think you can go wrong with either one and I agree that it is nice companionship for Buffy. I noticed you mention a "brother"...have you decided on a male. I think the male is a good choice. We have a male and female and it works really nice. I have found in my case that the male is a lover. He is my lap dog, he's also the cairn.

I do agree...you can't have just one! Good Luck!

[kjwarnold]

I think you'll love having two! We got Kirby when Packy was 4 and it's just been a real joy. Although Kirb was crate trained when we got him, Packy was a big help finishing up the training. And it was so nice having another dog to entertain the puppy. Packy met Kirby away from our home a couple of times before we actually brought Kirby home. We gave Packy extra attention to ensure that he didn't feel left out.

These two LOVE each other and play together every day. They have their own rules and pecking order, and we pretty much left them to sort that out themselves. It's worked out great and I'm so happy we have two.

[Nena]

Mine female cairn is 2 1/2 years old and we also have been kicking around getting another. Love this breed. The local shelter had one that was 2 but she went right away. I have been checking petfinder and they have cairns in my area but the seem to be adopted right away. I am not so thrilled to adopt a puppy I prefer to get one that need a home 3 or older, not sure I want to get one in mid winter with potty training. But think think like you i will love having another cairn.

We are thinking of another female, I am not sure if males would mark the house.

[Idaho Cairns]

Mine female cairn is 2 1/2 years old and we also have been kicking around getting another. Love this breed. The local shelter had one that was 2 but she went right away. I have been checking petfinder and they have cairns in my area but the seem to be adopted right away. I am not so thrilled to adopt a puppy I prefer to get one that need a home 3 or older, not sure I want to get one in mid winter with potty training. But think think like you i will love having another cairn.

We are thinking of another female, I am not sure if males would mark the house.

Have no fear--we also brought a pretty prickly female rescue into our home with an older female Cairn and after a short adjustment period where we worked with the rescue on food guarding issues, the two got along just fine. Actually the problem with the rescue was undiagnosed diabetes and once that was under control, she was a wonderful companion for us and our older dog.

If you can locate an adult female it should be fine--as mentioned earlier, we have always kept two females together without any problem and, like you, prefer female dogs. There are a couple of Cairn rescue organizations--do a web search.

It really is a matter of doubling your pleasure when it comes to these wonderful little dogs.

[hheldorfer]

Idahocairns - I've found several Cairn rescue organizations and have sent an application to one, in addition to personally contacting the CTCA rescue in our area. One site - can't remember which one now - was quite insistent on fenced yards. We don't have a fenced yard; we always take Buffy out to do her business on a leash. In addition, we have a long tie-out that I use when I'm going to be outside gardening. We never allow her outside unattended. We walk her 3-4 times per day and DH (who is home most of the day) takes her to the dog park several times a week - every day when the weather is good.

I'm hoping the fenced yard thing isn't going to hurt us. Believe me, we've looked at it from every angle and there's simply no way to fence this yard in a way that would look decent and not force me to sacrifice my garden.

Thanks again for all your advice and encouragement!

[Nena]

I agree about the fence, we also never let ours out unattended, so a fenced yard in not needed. I don't think she would know what to do if we just let her out and one of us was not with her (ha ha) that is how attached she is to us. Anyway we do use a long leash because let most she takes off.

We are pretty sure we want a female to thanks for the encouragement about a second cairn. And I hope you find the perfect dog to add to your family. Much success.

[Idaho Cairns]

Yes some of the rescue groups do have that requirement but I would simply file the application with the suggestion that if they have any reservations about you as an owner that they rely on the personal recommendations you have provided and the home inspection. We used one Cairn rescue organization that had the requirement and we still got a dog even tho we don't have a fence. I'm not sure anything is carved in stone when it comes to these rescue groups--their focus is the best possible placement for Cairns but I think most are reasonable.

Just make your case as strongly as possible and keep trying.

[cairnrescueleague]

We don't require a fenced yard as long as the applicant understands that cairns adopted from us can never be off leash unless they're in a securely fenced area.

[Brianne_Kathrine]

I have a fenced in yard, but my dogs are never out there unattended. It is nice to be able to play in the backyard with my dogs, but I do not think a fence is a necessity.

My Cairn is a male and my Westie is a female. Of the two, my male Cairn is the cuddler, but my female Westie is more attached to me. Sally even sits in the shower with me because she does not want me out of her sight.

[Aurora5000]

Chase and Gus say Go for it.

[hheldorfer]

Thanks for the thumbs up, Chase & Gus!

We have a good lead on a male Cairn/Silky mix and filled out the application last night. He looks like a sweetie and his foster mom has good things to say about him. We're also still looking at various adoption sites and are hoping to have a boy in our house early in January. I hope it's worth filling out all the l-o-n-g application forms!