About to be a new mom!

[gt_mustang_gal]

Hi everyone! I found this forum a while back when I was trying to decide what breed to get. Since we've decided on a Cairn, I guess it's time to introduce myself. So here's our story....

My husband and I cannot have kids, so we rescued a Westie (Toot) and he was our spoiled rotten furbaby. Sadly, we lost him very suddenly at the young age of 6 to chronic kidney failure. Rather than accepting his fate and putting him down, I devoted several months of my life to giving him IVs and medications from home so he wouldn't be in pain and could pass peacefully in our home. After we lost him, I was devastated for several months (to the point of a breakdown) until everyone kept telling me that Toot wouldn't want me to be sad. They also said Toot would want us to bring another baby into the house and give them as good of a life as he had. So, then became the issue of whether we get another Westie or get a Cairn. They sound so much alike that we decided to go with a Cairn this time. It took a while to find a good breeder, but I was finally successful. Ironically, I was reading through the posts here one day and recognized the background of the picture that "Lynn in TN" posted. We are getting our puppies from the same breeder! I am getting a boy instead of a girl though. We received the call earlier that he will be ready to pick up this weekend. So, I wanted to share my good news with everyone! Also, I might have some questions because this will be our FIRST PUPPY. Toot was 6 months old when we rescued him and was already housebroken. I'm kinda nervous!

I haven't had a chance to choose which puppy will be mine, but I'm attaching a picture of the boys. I know that the second one from the left (on top) has already been chosen. Anyone have opinions? I'm leaning towards the one on the far left just based on looks alone. Of course, it will depend on their personalities when we get there. :-)

Kristi

[Nena]

So sorry to read about Toot passing so young. It is always so difficult to lose one of our precious pets but even harder when they are still so young. I know from experience that it is so difficult to let go. I also don't have children and lost our old girl and it took us so many years to be able to get another. But, now I wish we had done it sooner and so glad that you are able to bring your new puppy home this weekend! How exciting for you. They are all adorable will be hard to choose. I imagine he will chose you.

Welcome to the forum, you will find a wealth of info on taking care of your precious new baby.

[Lynn in TN]

I am so happy to hear it! I love my puppy!!! I have seen them. They are so much cuter in person. You are going to love them.

They are smart! Mine is very stubborn. She is a blessing to my house.

I'm so sorry about the loss of Toot. I know how it feels to loose one.

I'm sorry that you can't have children. I truly am at a loss for words.

Let me know how it goes with your Cairn you'll have to tell me if there is much difference between the 2. I have only had mixed breeds.

This is my first Cairn. I already want another.

[pindrop]

Hi Kristi and welcome to the forum - and it is a wealth of information. I have a 9 month old female named Layla. I too lost my Westie, Molly, last July 3rd at 8 1/2 years and was also devastated at our loss. I knew I would have loved to have had another but I was concerned that we would compare her to our new furbaby so I chose a Cairn. Although she can be a real hell raiser at times, she is starting to settle down somewhat. (I'm whispering this - cause as soon as I say anything, she acts the opposite.)

Your new puppy will bring you tons of joy and fill your home with laughter once again. I'm sorry about the loss of your Westie but know you will enjoy owning a new puppy. In choosing ours, the breeder suggested we spend as much time as we could getting the know the personalities of each of the litter and to some extent, let the puppy choose us.

Hope you have everything at the ready - cause once they arrive you will not have a moment of peace. Let us know if you have any questions and we'll do our best to advise you appropriately. Good luck and everyone will echo this - we love puppy pictures. Can't wait to hear of your new adventure.

[hheldorfer]

I'm so happy for you! The pups all look adorable and I don't envy you for having to make the choice between them. We'll be waiting (not very) patiently for more news and photos.

[Tuesday]

Welcome! I am so sorry about the loss of your Toot.

We, too, don't have children and when we lost our Lab 3 years ago it was devastating. We were moving from AR to FL and were in the process of downsizing, so we downsized our dog too! We had researched the breed and knew we wanted a Cairn. Our precious boy, Murphy, is now 3 years old, and put life and happiness back into our home. I never thought I would love another dog like I did our Lab, but one day about two weeks after we brought Murphy home, he was lying on my chest getting ready to fall asleep and he looked at me with those eyes and I fell instantly love.

Keep us posted!!!

[Idaho Cairns]

You know Kristi, I believe the spirit of a departed pet inhabits your home and soul and when you bring a new pup into your life, that spirit, in whole or in part, enters the little one in some form. It has to do, I think with the unconditional love we share with these wonderful animals and it gives us many more years to both care for, love, and say goodbye to the previous dog--so Toot will still be with you. I have often wondered why folks who lose their beloved dogs fail, out of longing or fear of more pain, to take on another pet--that wonderful link gets broken it seems to me.

So now we will have a brother and sister growing up on the Forum together! I'm excited for you and for us. Lynn tells us that her Darby actually picked them when they came to visit--perhaps that will happen to you when you go to pick up your little one.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Kristi - so sorry for your loss of Toot.

So happy that you are getting a new puppy. They are all so cute - enjoy the anticipation. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Hawkeye]

Welcome Kristi - I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your precious Toot. We also lost our westie recently and share in your grief. I think you have made a wise decision in getting another pet to full your home with laughter and joy again.

We look forward to hearing about your selection process this weekend. Another suggestion is to ask the breeder what their personalities are like (to see what fits with your life style) and interacting with them I think you will find the right one. And as we all say, we love baby pictures.

Good luck this weekend!

[Jayme]

Welcome to the forums! You'll love your new little friend! I've got a one year old male and he just fits in perfectly. My son calls him "Bubs" (that's what we call him, short for bubba or brother). I like the one in the middle by looks alone but talk to the breeder and let your new son choose you also. Good luck and have fun. And also, a crate is a MUST!

[Jeff N Oscar]

I like the one all the way on the other side.... our far right, the one on the breeder left arm. His head looks narrow and that makes me think it will be a more petite dog, my preference.

What is the normal amount in a Cairn litter? Are these all from the same litter? Were there girls too? Just curious.

[remltr]

You know Kristi, I believe the spirit of a departed pet inhabits your home and soul and when you bring a new pup into your life, that spirit, in whole or in part, enters the little one in some form. It has to do, I think with the unconditional love we share with these wonderful animals and it gives us many more years to both care for, love, and say goodbye to the previous dog--so Toot will still be with you. I have often wondered why folks who lose their beloved dogs fail, out of longing or fear of more pain, to take on another pet--that wonderful link gets broken it seems to me.

Idaho, you are so dead bang on about this. I think my former dog Ginger has blended her spirit with Sassy, even though Sassy was almost 5 years old when I got her. They make such a great pair in one little body.

[gt_mustang_gal]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

Idaho - I definitely believe in what you said. Your post made me cry...really moved me. Thanks for sharing!

Jeff - I have no idea what a normal litter amount is. I know there were 2 girls because Lynn in TN got one of them. I told the breeder I was interested in a boy and she said there were 5 boys in the litter. I'm not sure if they're from the same parents or not??? The breeder described the one you mentioned on the far right as the loudest, most hyper, and thinks he is the toughest (but he is the runt).

Well, we are going to see the puppies in the morning so I should have an update on here tomorrow afternoon! I took today off work and spent nearly all day shopping for all the necessities. I HOPE I didn't forget anything for him. I'm going to go try to get a full nights sleep since I imagine that won't happen for a while. HA!

[Sue G]

I'm sorry to hear about Toot. I lost my Border Collie Brody a year before I went looking for, and found Oz. You are in for a real treat raising an adorable little Cairn puppy! Oz was one when I got him, so I missed out on some of the fun (and sometimes frustrating) puppy stuff!

Which one? My goodness! Thay are all adorable! I'd have incorporate the eenie-meenie-minie-mo selection process!

[gt_mustang_gal]

He picked us!!! The first one on the left. His face is absolutely precious and it was love at first sight. He wanted to snuggle with us while the others were REALLY hyper and didn't even realize we were there. The two hour ride home was interesting because he was scared of every bump we would hit and he kept trying to climb up on top of my head. I took some pics of him on the ride home and will post them in a few minutes. By the way, his name is Cracker. He has not had a single accident in the house. He whines when he needs to go out and somehow automatically knows to go in the grass. I'm seriously amazed since he's only 8 weeks old! We used the crate last night and he did cry/scream/howl for about 30 minutes until he gave up and fell asleep. He woke me up whining every 2 hours to go out. He did his business, I praised him, and then right back to the crate to sleep. He seems to want to be held more than he wants to play with all of his toys, but the Kongs are his favorite. The only problems so far are that 1) he wants to stand in his bowls when he eats or drinks, and 2) he wants to tug on the curtains in the living room. LOL But I LOVE HIM!

[KerryJayne]

Oh he is so gorgeous and he will come out of his shell very quick as I know with the hyper little girl that has finally just fallen asleep on my knee after hours of play :-) enjoy they are such a fantastic little dog :-)

[Lynn in TN]

I am so excited for you! I just love them all. I kinda wish I had bought 4. Then I would have one all to myself.LOL

I am glad he did well. I can't wait to see pictures of him.

Keep us posted!

Kelly is playing in her water also. She just has the best time with her water bowl.

[Sam I Am]

What a lovely wee boy! You will have so much support on this web site. We all share the joys, the love, the laughter and pain of owning these wonderful dogs

[Jeff N Oscar]

The breeder described the one you mentioned on the far right as the loudest, most hyper, and thinks he is the toughest (but he is the runt).

HA well that makes sense, cause Jeff is pretty hyper... so I am probably drawn to that type.

Perfect that the one you liked is the one that choose you!!!

Best wishes for an easy transition and a great experience.

[pindrop]

I'm so happy for you too. I can still remember the morning we went to pick up Layla - although we had been seeing them every two weeks from 10 days onward and I was leaning in two directions. There were five in the litter I had to choose from but as I wanted a girl and there were three of them, I had narrowed it down to two. Now that is all water under the bridge but there are times I wonder how my other little girl has made out.

Insofar as the water bowl, Layla did the exact same thing - got her feet into it and tipped it over. We switched to a side plate and only put in what it could hold so that was our answer to the problem. In less than a week, we switched back to a bowl. Crating, I believe, is the best thing for potty training - especially if there is only enough room for them to turn around as they don't like to do their business where they sleep. I know the noises they can make that first night - but hopefully things have quieted down somewhat since. Love the name Cracker and I'm sure he will more than live up to it.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the little guy.