Another Cairn...

[Rebecca]

Hey everyone.

I posted about my new cairn terrier many months ago. Camma is doing really well. We've started taking her to the new dog park recently and she gets along really well with the other dogs. Today she got all muddy in the dog pool. She is very smart and has amazing recall!

As it turns out, I acquired a second cairn from the same situation as Camma. His name is Merlyn and he is very shy a lot of the time and never comes when I call him. We're working on it though.

Unlike Camma, he actually came with AKC papers. I don't plan on showing him, but I heard about something called Earthdog that I think Cairns can compete in, and other AKC events that sounded fun. I am trying to fill out his paperwork but I don't really know what I'm doing. How do I come up with a show name for him? I'm also not exactly sure what colours and markings he has. He is reddish coloured.

Some advice would be much appreciated!

Also, one of Camma for fun!

[hheldorfer]

Unfortunately I can't give you any advice regarding Earthdog other than the fact that it looks like great fun. Many of the forum members have dogs that compete in this event and I'm sure someone can give you advice about the paperwork.

I just wanted to say that Merlyn looks like a very sweet boy. Camma may help to bring him out of his shell. Just give him lots of love and time to get comfortable, and I'll bet he'll blossom into a wonderful companion.

[remltr]

I can't give you any advice regarding earth dog either, but there is a forum here at CairnTalk that has a great deal of info on it. There is even a post explaining earth dog. (in a tongue in cheek sort of way - just watch the video)

Here is the link to the Sporting Cairn http://www.cairnterrier.org/forum/forum/6-the-sporting-cairn/

Also my call on color would be "wheaten" unless they are expecting something more descriptive.

[finncaraid]

Merlyn is a very cute guy! Great face!! Agree, he looks wheaten. Brindle has black hair tips. There's a website that I can't find right now that has Cairn coat colors. Just google it- you'll be amazed at the search results. --------------- Finn & I just tried earthdog a few weeks ago. It was his first time & he had a fabulous time. In this area it's sponsored by training clubs & held 2x a year. They even have practice sessions on a weekend prior to the event. You can find events in your area by going to AKC & searching under earthdog. Basically, there's 3 levels- Junior, Senior & Master. There's also Intro to Quarry for newbies. Finn did Intro. You can enter Intro & Junior at the same trial. And you can do Intro more that once at the trial but there's a fee for each try. At least, that's how they do it here. Wikipedia has a good explanation of the different requirements at each level. And there's a video on YouTube from Animal PlanetTV of a Cairn in a tunnel. I found it by going to YouTube & doing a search on Cairn Terrier. It's the one from the show Breed All About It. We've been to a trial twice (he was too young to enter the first time) & it seems like a lot of beginners were really reluctant to go in the tunnel. We had been practicing at home by improvising tunnels to see how he felt about going thru them. When Finn did it, the tunnel wasn't a problem but he didn't bark when he got to the rats. Don't know how to teach that: he doesn't bark much to begin with. But we'll continue to go 'cause it was a great day: lots of terriers, terrier people & something that seems like a lot of fun for the dogs. You can read about Finn's experience here under "Finn's big weekend" in Cairn Life, back 3 pages. I don't think his was the typical response but it was definitely typical of Finn.

[Rebecca]

Thanks guys. I am still really confused about his colour. His paperwork from the breeder has him listed as a red wheaten, but that's not an option on the AKC form. There is red, red brindle, or wheaten. Someone on here told me that Camma was a wheaten and she is way more yellow/gray than he is.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Fun. In the one pic Camma looks like she is trying to get Merlyn involved in a good "chase me" game. Camma looks like she has settled in nicely and I am sure Merlyn will too. Merlyn is a cute little guys. I think you have a couple of wheatens there. Thanks for the pics!

[MegsMom]

You can just go with the "red" on the registry papers, they know cairns change colors. And you can get Camma a PAL/ILP registry so she can participate in AKC events, too--just check the AKC site for the forms & Instrucs. With what you say about her, she might be a candidate for Obedience trials.

Here's the AKC's cairn color "coding" list, if you want to see it: http://www.akc.org/breeds/cairn_terrier/color_markings.cfm

[Rebecca]

Oh thanks very much! And I agree that Camma would probably do very well with obedience competition. She is very eager to learn new things and loves performing tricks and commands. Merlyn would probably be more of an agility dog I think, as long as his recall improves.

We're going to visit my mother this weekend and these guys are going to visit the beach for the first time. They enjoy the pond at the dog park so hopefully they will have a good time.

[Jeff N Oscar]

http://www.lachleen.dk/uk/Farver.htm

^ pic of the differnt coat colors Your pup is so cute... and wow what a long tail he has!!