Protesting

[Brianne_Kathrine]

There is a house a block away from mine with a yellow lab named Bailey. Benny loves to play with Bailey. (Sally could care less.) Whenever we walk by Bailey's house Benny checks to see if she is there. If she is then her owners will often bring her out to play.

Well today Bailey was not home but Benny was convinced that she was. He layed down in the middle of the road and rolled on his back. When I tried to get him to roll back over so we could keep walking...he started howling and barking as load as he could. I was needless to ay...very embarassed. It was quite the scene.

Cairns are the most stubborn dogs ever. Is it possible to ever win with these little hard heads?

[Dempsy's Mom]

They are so sweet. The more they are intolerable the more you love them. Cute story.

[Malcolm's Dad]

lol, its the old roll over and rub the tummy routine. They know how to get what they want.

[josie&holly]

On our walks round where I live we quite often meet a couple who have three little dogs [a shi tzu, Parsons Jack Russel and a CairnxWestie - all rescues] and Holly always greets each of them, and gets return sniffs. So when we walk past their house she always looks for them and pulls me up their garden path to see if they are there! If there is no response she sits down and looks at me as if to say - well what have you done with my friends! and it takes me a a bit of biscuit to get her moving on!

[hheldorfer]

Buffy had a similar brief affair with Bullet, a large mixed breed who lived a few doors down from us. She'd drag me down his driveway every morning to see if he was in the fenced back yard. Bullet passed away about six months later and Buffy mourned by sitting down in front of the house and whimpering.

She's picky about her friends but certainly loyal when she finds one!

[Hawkeye]

Aww...It sounds like Benny is love-struck.

[Kathryn]

Here's one good reason for letting dogs have their doggie friends: when Allie slipped out the fence at night a few years ago (and try finding a black brindle in the dark!), we looked all night for her with no luck. But at 6:30 in the morning she showed up down the street in Walter the Border Collie's yard, waiting for him to come out and play. You can't imagine two more happy people when we got that phone call saying she was in the yard playing with Walt!

[Brianne_Kathrine]

Kathryn,

I agree. I am not as worried about Benny getting out of the yard. I am positive that if he were to get loose, he would head straight for Bailey's house. He is definately smitten with Bailey. He's always had a 'thing' for yellow labs.

[Tracy A.]

Count yourself lucky, Mett will roll onto his back in protest nearly every walk at some point. Bratt joins in too...

[Brianne_Kathrine]

Tracy,

I'm not that lucky. Benny rolls over in protest every single walk as well. Its just that most times he does not howl like he did yesterday. When he rolls over on his back, Sally gets annoyed because she wants to keep going, so she starts to yip and attack Benny to get him going again. Sally is always putting Benny in his place.

[josie&holly]

Holly does not rollover in protest on walks - she just sits or usually lies down.......... I am sure folk round here think I am ill treating her when I drag her on our way!

[jodi0553]

Haha, I love this thread! I'm always wondering what my neighbors must think when Currey decides to park his butt in the middle of the road mid-walk and I just continue walking, dragging him while he tries to firmly plant all four paws on the pavement! He only goes belly up when there is snow or ice on the path, so I guess I'm lucky most of the year.

On the topic of canine love affairs, for the first 1.5 years of Currey's life, I had a job where I could take him to work every day. Currey was usually tethered to my office door so he could hang out in the hallway or my office and he had a clear view of the main hall to the front door, about 100 feet away. In my office building, one of the other resident canines (there were three at the time) got taken out to the front lawn to play several times a day. Well, Currey LOVED Benny. When he saw Benny going out to play he'd start making the most hideous loud yelping/whimpering sound that was described by one woman clear at the end of the hall as "cairn in a blender". It was so loud that one of the first times it happened, the resident of the office below me came running upstairs to see if he was injured! It was SO embarrassing!

[hheldorfer]

"Cairn in a blender"?? Perfect description! I've heard that sound too. You'd think they were fighting off a pack of wolves!

[hheldorfer]

. . . and how about The Look that you get from strangers when you're standing in the middle of the street arguing with your dog? "Buffy!" "BUFFY!" "BUFFY!!"

"Mommy has to go to work!"

"PLEASE move your &*#?!@#*&%%? NOW!"

"I PROMISE we'll go for a longer walk tonight!"

[Brianne_Kathrine]

HAHA, when Benny decides that the walk has not been long enough he lays down in the driveway and refuses to budge. I've tried to reason with him many times before...but it does not work.

Fortunately for all of us...Cairn Terriers are small enough that they can be picked up and carried inside. Benny's been carried inside at the end of walks many times in his life.

[Tracy A.]

"Cairn in a blender"?? Perfect description! I've heard that sound too. You'd think they were fighting off a pack of wolves!

And it's close counterpart the Cairn Death Screech

[Brianne_Kathrine]

You mean that Benny is not the only Cairn who does the death screech????

[hheldorfer]

You mean that Benny is not the only Cairn who does the death screech????

Not by a long shot. When Buffy first arrived I can't tell you the number of times I dropped the laundry and made a mad dash up the stairs to see what was causing such an awful racket!

[Oliver's Mom]

Holly does not rollover in protest on walks - she just sits or usually lies down.......... I am sure folk round here think I am ill treating her when I drag her on our way!

I have often wondered as I am pulling a suddenly heavy cairn along what people must think. Then I think to myself if they think I am crazy for dragging a little dog around they must never have owned a cairn Then I silently hope that all of them do/have and understand my frustration!!

[josie&holly]

I am so glad that other people have this happen too!! I kept thinking is it only me that has a dog that does not want to walk!!