Does your Cairn allow others to pick him/her up?

[hheldorfer]

Buffy went to see her vet yesterday (for the usual - anal gland expression and nail trimming). While in the waiting room, DH was discussing Cairns with the 2 vet assistants and they said that Buffy is the only Cairn that they'll pick up. As they put it, "Usually we won't even try to pick one up because they seem to want human flesh."

Is this unusual or is it common to have a Cairn who doesn't like to be picked up?

[Hawkeye]

Not true in my case and I have been owned by four cairns over the years. Other people can pick them up. With Radar it may be a little difficult as he is always on the go, but the vet techs can hold him up to their chest with no problems. They give them kisses even. Bailey has no shame, he would curl up with almost anyone.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Demps loves everyone and would love it if everybody he meets would pick him up. He loves attention. So they must have some very grumpy Cairns they deal with.

[josie&holly]

How strange that they label Cairns like that! All the ones I have met are very friendly and happy to be fussed or picked up. Holly will let anyone make a fuss of her including vet.

Sometime because of that I worry that someone could walk off with her if they picked her up and fussed her - but she would not walk on lead with anyone else but me!!

[pindrop]

As John Pinette would say - "nay nay" - not Layla. She also loves the attention and that is from anyone. In fact, the one person who she is skittish about picking her up is ME. She usually runs in the other direction as I try to reach out to pick her up as she thinks I have devious thoughts. Either trying to put her harness on or putting her out on the deck if I am trying to sweep etc. Weird dog - would probably go off with anyone and that is why she is never outside without her leash and my hand through it.

[Meggie]

Interesting the vet staff feels that way!

Hub let's everyone hold him! He goes to three vets depending on where he is (1 in Brooklyn, 1 in Queens, 1 upstate) and they're always excited to see him. They've all commented on how good he is.

Maybe we all just have really well behaved cairns

[Meggie]

Weird dog - would probably go off with anyone and that is why she is never outside without her leash and my hand through it.

One of the MANY reasons we stopped letting Hub off leash as a pup. He'd happily go home with anyone he meets.

[Zekey's Mom]

He'd happily go home with anyone he meets.

That's Zekey. He bonded with me in about a minute when I got him from the shelter, and I think he could easily transfer that love to ANYone. He's such a cupcake.

...they seem to want human flesh

And this is Gavin. He is RARELY picked up by anyone, even me. I have to be really quick about it, and ever watchful of those teeth! It is actually reassuring read about the vet assistants' experience!

[Lynn in TN]

So far Kelly loves everyone and I believe she would let anyone take her home with them. Lately though if she is asleep she doesn't want to be picked up. She really hates it when i get her out of the crate at 5:30 am. LOL I can't blame her on that one. I tend to growl a little myself when I first get up at 5:30am. LOL Once we have been up for about 10 min. We are GREAT!

She loved the vet and the assistant, even after they gave her a shot.

[Dayvo]

In fact, the one person who she is skittish about picking her up is ME. She usually runs in the other direction as I try to reach out to pick her up as she thinks I have devious thoughts. Either trying to put her harness on or putting her out on the deck if I am trying to sweep etc. Weird dog - would probably go off with anyone and that is why she is never outside without her leash and my hand through it.

This is very much like Robby .Anyone we meet can pick him up and fuss over him but I seem to be out to spoil his fun in his eyes.Of coarse if we are visiting someones house he avoids me most of the night going from person to person but when it starts to get late and he gets tried he passes up all his other friends and comes to lay near me.

[Idaho Cairns]

Never at the vets with my two. Bonnie has the most evil snarl when she is picked up at home but never tries to bite, even tho she sounds like she will take your hand off. However, when a stranger picks her up she is fine. I'm sure the vets don't have a lot of experience with Cairns and are using one or two experiences to condemn a whole breed. Cairns are, in my opinion, pretty human friendly.

[bradl]

When we got our first Cairn we were puzzled and vaguely insulted at how surprised the vet acted about the cheerful temperament of our puppy. It became clear his experience of Cairns to that point had not been positive. He most definitely turned around over the next ten years - our dogs all seemed to love him He retired and we sure do miss him.

[pkcrossley]

it only takes a few bad experiences for vets (and others) to generalize. overall i think it is wise. i wouldn't pick up a terrier that i didn't know for sure to completely forgiving. it is intimidating for the dog to be picked up as he is helpless without feet on the ground. it can hurt if there are any sore joints or upset tummy. it is always invasive. and at the vet's it means trouble ahead. if i were a terrier i wouldn't let anybody but my favorite person in the whole world pick me up. when redmon underwent his radiation treatments, it took them two weeks to pick him up and they were wise to wait; he is panicky at the vet's and assumes he is fighting for his life. they crawled around on the floor to deal with his anesthetization.

it's nice that there are sweet cairns who will let themselves be picked up and passed around, but i wouldn't myself consider that a hallmark of the breed (as it might be with toy poodles or shih-tzus). i don't take any umbrage when the vets and techs express a healthy respect for the cairn's over-size teeth and jaws and lightning reflexes.

[Malcolm's Dad]

It must be Malcolm propagating the bad reputation of Cairns. He is the most vicious dog I have ever seen. I don't think this is the norm for Cairns though. Since I've had Malcolm I've met other Cairns and Westies. They were really nice friendly dogs. Oh well, at least I got him to stop biting me.

[hheldorfer]

it only takes a few bad experiences for vets (and others) to generalize. overall i think it is wise. i wouldn't pick up a terrier that i didn't know for sure to completely forgiving. it is intimidating for the dog to be picked up as he is helpless without feet on the ground. it can hurt if there are any sore joints or upset tummy. it is always invasive. and at the vet's it means trouble ahead. if i were a terrier i wouldn't let anybody but my favorite person in the whole world pick me up.

I hadn't thought of it in this way but your explanation of the dog's perspective is enlightening. Buffy doesn't particularly like to picked up by anyone but she tolerates it well as long as it's short-term and there isn't a lot of fussing involved. She loves the girls at the vet's office, though, and I wouldn't have thought twice about it if they hadn't made the comment.

I found it to be quite a compliment for the Buffster!

[Meggie]

That's Zekey. He bonded with me in about a minute when I got him from the shelter, and I think he could easily transfer that love to ANYone. He's such a cupcake.

I attribute Hubble's eagerness to go with strangers to his time stuck in that hellhole pet shop

I think about him sitting there watching people pass him by everyday, getting excited and disappointed time after time, month after month. He even whines if he can see people behind glass in a store we pass, it's so ingrained in him to seek out the attention of others So he's thrilled to see the vet just because the vet is paying him attention!

edit: butchered the quote...whoooops

[TazTalk]

For most of her life, Gypsy would snarl and growl quite visciously when picked up (both with us and strangers). Then she immediate licks your face! We've never really understood this behavior, neither has our vet. But our other two Cairns were not like that.

We have often wondered about this ... it's interesting to hear there are some others out there.

[darkpantherbabe]

Sadie isn't viciously when others try to pick her up. but if she doesn't know you very well, she usually will slink down on her stomach and curl up to prevent being picked up. At the vet office, its me who picks her up to put her on the table then i grab a handful of "cookes" from the "cookie" jar on the table a foot away, and start treating her while the vet does his thing and his tech does her thing. So she's associated them with "good" things .... Kristin picks her up and carry's her around tummy to chest.. While i do the more traditional "scoop"(one arm infront of chest, 1 arm behind rear legs) and she prefere's that over kristin's but doesn't do anything. When my brother comes over, she lets him pick her up because then she gets a treat and she's set back down.

I have had bad experiences with mini poodles and shitzhu's... so i dont personally dont recommend the breeds, but thats just me and i dont judge the entire breed by 10(5 each) dogs....

[beccadiane374]

Hmmm...the only desire Tanner has for human flesh is to cover it in kisses! He loves all people! But like Bonnie, he does have a rather evil snarl when he's sleeping & I pick him up...but no bites...like Gypsy, as soon as I pick him up, I get a kiss. Having said that, I would still be cautious to pick up any unknown dog. I tend to let them come to me & sniff, then I'll happily pet them.

[bradl]

Disclaimer - this is not a recommendation to pick up strange dogs (I generally don't). I'm just reporting out a field observation.

40 Cairns at our recent racing day and most of them participated in chasing a lure down a track and through a hole in a stack of hay bales. We use "catchers" to scoop up the dogs at the finish line, where they are pretty amped up already from chasing the lure. I don't think we had any who could not be safely picked up by any random stranger who volunteered to help catch dogs. Now some of them are pretty devious and hard to catch in the "catch me if you can" sense, but none because they were too foul tempered to be touched.

As always, a dog in pain is a different matter. A dog in pain will be given the benefit of doubt in terms of temperament, and considerable caution in terms of handling. These dogs are so stoic that by the time they reach their breaking point they've endured a lot. I always suspect pain if a dog is uncharacteristically ill-tempered.

Disclaimer - still not recommending picking up strange dogs.

[kjwarnold]

No problems with anyone picking up either of our Cairns, even at the vet or in pain. Kirby assumes that if you pick him up, you want a kiss on the face. However, I would agree with Brad that I wouldn't pick up any strange dog unless I check with the owner first.

[gt_mustang_gal]

Okay, I've gotta share my experience here. LOL Of course, I've complained before about having issues with Cracker biting/nipping. This has NOT improved. But as far as someone picking him up......Cracker tends to run backwards and play "catch me if you can" if someone wants to pick him up. If someone DOES get him, Cracker tends to get really excited and pee on them. It is terribly embarrassing for ME, but I have no idea how to get him to stop doing this.

[Sam I Am]

I wouldn’t classify Jock as vicious, however, he often growls and sometimes he sounds like the Tasmanian devil when we pick him up. I tell him he is bad and it always is followed by lip smacking and kisses. However if we try to pull sticky pine sap from between his toes, which I am sure isn’t pleasant I do muzzle him. Will he bite me… I am not about to try to find out. At the vets he is so scared stiff that they tell me how wonderful he is to handle i.e. taking blood cutting nails, with only one exception… he does not tolerate having his teeth or mouth handled. And I am sure that stems from when he had 6 teeth removed. And it that respect I can so understand that. So again when anything has to be given by liquid into his mouth, the muzzle goes on and we are all happy… including Jock, because he doesn’t have to pretend to be Mr Tough Guy

[Nancy]

No problems with Molly, she also would go with anyone, and the reason she's made to stay close...She only plays "catch me if you can" when we're in a hurry to get out the door..Strangers, friends,Vets and groomer all say she gives a good bath as she is being handled..now if she just wouldn't growl at them, as her tail goes fast enough to pass as a fan, before they pick her up, they'd all feel better about it..

[Jeff N Oscar]

a groomer once made the comment that Cairns are nippy and she was suprised that Jeff was so well behaved.