"The Best Little Pal in the World"

[Autumn & Lola]

https://shine.yahoo.com/pets/17-dwarf-dog-breeds-142500888.html

 

 

[hheldorfer]

They certainly *are* the best little pals in the world.  Thanks for posting the link!

[Hillscreek]

NIce article - cairns are the best - well scotties and westies are ok too I guess!

[Dempsy's Mom]

Agree.

[Sam I Am]

NIce article - cairns are the best - well scotties and westies are ok too I guess!

Ok that got my attention, I love all three breeds..a special place on my heart for Cairns, because Jock was my best Pal and lovely boy...un replaceable . Scottie's are a wonderful breeds also, similar but also totally different .its true, don't let a Scottie's small stature fool you, there is a pit bull in terrier clothing under that wooly coat. I swear they would give their lives to defend hearth and home and protect their owners.

[Autumn & Lola]

<<One of the cutest and most popular terriers, the West Highland Terrier >>

 

Just saying.

     

[josie&holly]

I posted this article on our UK form and the general reaction to the statement that Cairns are dwarves is one of denial! And I certanly do not thnk they (or Westies) should be classed as a dwarf! They are short legged but they are in proportion and beautiful with it!

Edited March 1, 2014 by josie&holly

[bradl]

That was my immediate reaction too, Josie.  I wrote the following yesterday but then decided not to post unless the dwarf description came up

 

I'm not inclined to accept the classification as a dwarf breed at face value. Largely because the breed standard describes a dog that does not have the characteristic proportions of a dwarf, but more strongly because a dwarfism gene absolutely DOES exist in Cairns and when it is expressed there is no question at all that the affected individual is a dwarf and not a case of "oh, it's just a more extreme case of the standard Cairn."

 

Amongst the warring experts, a description that some breeders will accept is "not a dwarf breed, but tending toward the achondroplastic." Some effort goes into distinguishing between short-legged Scotties and the Cairns which are to have medium length of leg (medium everything, pretty much). "Queen Anne" legs or "fiddle fronts" for example are faulted.  To me that they exist as faults is evidence of achondroplastic "leanings" but different from being a full-on dwarf breed.

[josie&holly]

Thank you Bradl for those comments. It would be good to put that on the UK Forum.

[Idaho Cairns]

Reading the article and seeing how the author uses the term "dwarfism", I will leave you with this thoughtful thought by Shakespeare:

 

Juliet:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

[Autumn & Lola]

Good ol' Bill. He always had a way with words.

[hheldorfer]

Now you've made me curious, Brad.  What would be the characteristics of a true dwarf Cairn?

[bradl]

Appearance-wise dwarf Cairns tend to  have extremely bowed and/or twisted legs dramatically out of proportion to otherwise mostly normally sized bodies, with normal to overlarge heads. Their gait can be roly-poly and labored.  They may also have joint and spinal malformations. 

 

The slight turn-out of feet in an ordinary Cairn may be related in some way, but the effect pales to triviality when considered side-by-side. 

[pkcrossley]

there seems to be two meaning of dwarf here. dwarfism as a matter of genetic conformation is universal to cairns and a very large number of other breeds. dwarves were bred to normal dogs, and bred back to dwarves, and so on till the body shape we now know was consistent. that is the way the breed was developed. there isn't any other way to get short legs in relation to the length of the body, and the large cairn heads and jaws in relation the body. only dwarf genes can do it. there are many genetic triggers of dwarfism and in cairns it does not take achondroplastic form --i think what we are referring to here as "true" dwarves, with what look to us like misshapen bodies and splayed feet-- unless one or another of the dominant achondroplastic genes turn up (they are more common in shih-tzus). the only reason this seems worth mentioning is that because cairns are dwarves they are vulnerable to some spinal and joint problems that we should be cautious about. i thought the article was perfectly correct to call cairns dwarves. they are. but generally healthy and very attractive dwarves.

[Malcolm's Dad]

Woof! Malcolm here. Did someone call me a dwarf? Wanna come over stand in front of me and call me that? I'll teach you to call a Cairn names.

Daddy says he remembers PK describing agnostic Cairns a long time ago. Oops, daddy says that is achondroplastic. Whatever. If someone says something about Cairns they better do it in front of me!

[hheldorfer]

Woof! Malcolm here. Did someone call me a dwarf? Wanna come over stand in front of me and call me that? I'll teach you to call a Cairn names.

Daddy says he remembers PK describing agnostic Cairns a long time ago. Oops, daddy says that is achondroplastic. Whatever. If someone says something about Cairns they better do it in front of me!

Think of it this way, Malcolm:  The dwarfs in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were some pretty tough customers.  And where would Cinderella have been without the dwarfs?