Chaos at Paw Paw's house

[KShep]

My husband and I were invited for dinner at my father-in-law's house today. After pottying on the carpet, running a muck, and jumping on everything and everyone, the doorbell rings and my husband's grandmother lets herself in. Ripley takes this opportunity to run outside and onto a busy street.

My father-in-law, nearly knocking down his 78 year old mother in the process, runs outside and chases Ripley through the yard, streets, and flowerbed. All the while, Ripley thinks we are both playing her favorite game "you can't get me, na na na boo boo!" Luckily, we caught up to her. Never ever EVER again! I need a strong drink!

I was absolutely mortified! What a little devil.

[Nena]

Sounds like quite an outing. not a dull moment when a cairn is involved. Don't feel bad you are not alone with the mortifying moments. When Nena was smaller, about 1 year, she was a runner and always had to worry about her getting away. We went to my brothers for a visit, just built a beautiful new home!!!! and Nena poos on his front carpet. And then when out for a walk my neice let go of the leash and off she ran. I was inside not knowing what was going on and my husband, brother (in flip flops) and niece were running thru the yard into the woods chasing her. Ofcourse she thought it was great and ran back and forth just out of reach of all of them. Finally my brother leaped for her leash and caught her. They all came back in the house my neice was getting a scolding from my brother for letting Nena go and they were all sweating and upset. I was totally unaware of the problem, thank God I was or I would have been out there screaming and running to.

We all had a laugh later and I still take Nena there when we visit and they love her and she is part of the family. She is well behaved and never has accidents anymore. And we never let the kids take her leash even though they ask every time we are there. I just remind them "what happened the last time we did that, and they remember and laugh".

I am glad that Ripley was safe and hope you and your family can laugh about it next time.

I agree and will join you for that drink!!!!

[Dempsy's Mom]

Well, Ripley was the life of the party. .... Glad all is well - Ripley had a great time if nothing else.

[hheldorfer]

Whew! That could have ended very badly, but thank heavens Ripley (and everyone else) is OK. Have a drink for me, too.

[KerryJayne]

Crikey that was certainly an outing :-( glad all ended well tho !

[KShep]

It was horrible. I was in such a panic! My hands shook for about 20 minutes after the fact. I hope it's something we can all laugh about in the future. But every time I think about it, I cringe.

[KShep]

My husbands family is Cajun- hence the "paw paw"

[josie&holly]

Oh dear, so glad you caught Ripley but what a way for her to get a welcome!

[pkcrossley]

within the range of typical --when she's older, you will have somewhat fewer days of shock and awe. everybody wants a toto after watching 'the wizard of oz,' but did they really watch the movie? toto tried to bite ms gulch and ultimately causes dorothy to run away. he steals the magician's hotdog and risks getting them bounced out of his camp. dorothy is fussing over him when she gets bonked by the window and drifts off to wonderland. he nearly gives away the trio trying to sneak into the witch's castle. he jumps out of the balloon basket and causes dorothy to miss her trip back home. one little bundle of chaos. cairns run their own world in their own way. when you put their world in yours, you have worlds in collision. beware!

[Hawkeye]

Glad to hear it all ended well and Ripley is safe again. I know how terrifying it can be when they get away from us. Radar took off on me twice and I too ran after him like a maniac only to have my neighbor grab him. My heart was pounding I was so upset. The second time I didn't chase him, but instead got down on my knees and called him back to me in a playful manner and IT WORKED!! I found I cannot chase him b/c he thinks this is all a fun game.

I will join you for that drink!

[Islander]

I guess everyone who has raised a Cairn has similar tales of woe. Yes, lesson #1: Never chase a Cairn! I found that running fast in the opposite direction has better results, especially if I whoop and holler idiotically.

Ripley will settle down...in a couple of years!

[Lynn in TN]

everybody wants a toto after watching 'the wizard of oz,' but did they really watch the movie? toto tried to bite ms gulch and ultimately causes dorothy to run away. he steals the magician's hotdog and risks getting them bounced out of his camp. dorothy is fussing over him when she gets bonked by the window and drifts off to wonderland. he nearly gives away the trio trying to sneak into the witch's castle. he jumps out of the balloon basket and causes dorothy to miss her trip back home. one little bundle of chaos. cairns run their own world in their own way. when you put their world in yours, you have worlds in collision. beware!

Those were always my favorite parts of the movie. LOL Toto at her cutest!

To KShep

I'm glad Ripley is safe at home like Toto on The Wizard of Oz. You will laugh about it in a few years at all the havoc Ripley caused and lived through!

[hheldorfer]

I guess everyone who has raised a Cairn has similar tales of woe. Yes, lesson #1: Never chase a Cairn! I found that running fast in the opposite direction has better results, especially if I whoop and holler idiotically.

Absolutely true! A Cairn prefers to be the chaser, not the chasee.

The few times that Buffy made a break for freedom we learned that she'll stop for anyone other than us. She could be running full tilt and, if she saw someone walking down the street or working in their yard, she'd make a beeline for them and flip on her back to request a belly rub. Pathetic.

[janis]

Your story reminded me of a couple of times at my parent's house. They live next door. Kirby loves it there. One time he tried to jump up in the chair with my dad. Dad started yelling (he has a little dementia) "get him off me!" and pushed him, Kirby let loose with Pee, all over dad. Another time he went merrily down the hall and chewed up some stuff on the nightstand. His name was mud there for a little while. The nice thing about dementia - dad forgot the incident! I think we all could use a drink!

[KShep]

within the range of typical --when she's older, you will have somewhat fewer days of shock and awe. everybody wants a toto after watching 'the wizard of oz,' but did they really watch the movie? toto tried to bite ms gulch and ultimately causes dorothy to run away. he steals the magician's hotdog and risks getting them bounced out of his camp. dorothy is fussing over him when she gets bonked by the window and drifts off to wonderland. he nearly gives away the trio trying to sneak into the witch's castle. he jumps out of the balloon basket and causes dorothy to miss her trip back home. one little bundle of chaos. cairns run their own world in their own way. when you put their world in yours, you have worlds in collision. beware!

Hilarious. All so obvious, but until you pointed it out, I never realized what a menace he actually was!

Yes! I let her chase me back into the house when she is in the yard. Why didn't I think of that? Shaking the treat jar doesn't work anymore. So it's either be chased, or the sound of kibble hitting her metal dish. That gets her attention. If I am doing dishes in the other room she will run in every 2 minutes to check and see what the clinking is about. She must be thinking "Hey! I think that was my dish!!! "

True about strangers too. The other time she got out, she ran to a teenager neighbor to say hello. I simply said "Hey! Can you help me get my dog?" Lol. Interesting way to get to know your neighbors!

[finncaraid]

Can just picture the chaos & Ripley as happy as she can be. Know from experience it wasn't amusing while it was happening but thank goodness it turned into a future-funny memory. I firmly believe a Higher Power is the only thing keeping these little rascals from complete disaster. We, also, have made the mistake of chasing Finn a few times. Now I just tell him he's liberated & walk rapidly away. Of course, he's got to overtake me by a few feet & then he waits, tail wagging, big smile on his face. It's difficult being around a dog with such an outrageous sense of humor. But the up side is, no matter how bad the day's been, he always makes me laugh.