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Do you folks just accept sometimes?


Dempsy's Mom

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I have a bay window which Dempsy has taken over since he came.  The first issue was his toenails and the wood - so as you can see I put down a rubber mat.  Then about a year ago he decided that he needed to relieve his aggressions on the frame work. :(  Every time someone drives by he needs to take another hunk out of the wood. I have been ignoring this and justifying it because the window is in sad shape anyway.  Then Demps had trouble jumping up.  The wall under the window was in horrible condition from his toenails so I brought in two cement bricks and laid a piece of plywood over the top with a rug covering it.  Dempsy loved it, but it was an eyesoar.
 
I have people staying this coming weekend for graduations.  So I lugged the cement blocks out and bought this pillow - which was to low, so I made a little frame for it to raise it a couple inches.  Plastered and painted under the window.  Bought some wood patch for the wood work - haven't done that yet.  My questions is am I the only one that lets their pooch dominate an area in the house?  He loves this spot so much that I don't have the heart to take it away from him.  Am I nuts?

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Elsie, Max, Meeko & Lori

 

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Nope, I bet we all do it! Kirby loves sitting in top of a loveseat to watch squirrels and ducks on the beach. It has ruined the cushions, they're so squished down and even after adding more filling, they are a mess. Apparently he thinks they're perfect though! That's his spot and he'll spend the whole day there on guard. If we have company. I have to warn them that he will run right over them to get up there and if he sees something that he needs to bark at in another part of the house, he will run right over them again getting down. That 15 lb. little guy feels like a load of bricks jumping on you at full speed!

I figure there are more important things to worry about than a piece of furniture (or window sill).

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Jandy and my Cairns, Kirby & Phinney 
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Oh yes...Pepper sits on top of the couch in the living room "on guard" for squirrels and herons.  Yes, get out of her way if she spots one!  Cover your ears, too!!!  She also has a perch on top of the love seat in the family room so she can watch for squirrels running along the top of the fence.  I had a small rug on top of the couch but it looked horrible, so I have given up.  The Trex deck has toenail scratches on it from her bolting out the sliding door going after the evil squirrels!  Then, of course, she has her fabric frisbee that she flips and tosses all over the family room - sometimes ending up close to that big screen TV or stuck behind a bookshelf.  The flying frisbee is something to behold!!!

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Pepper's Mom

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You should give us a clip of the flying Frisbee.  Sounds fun.  Glad I am not the only one who just shuts an eye once in a while.  I guess dog people understand that there are areas in the house that we need to relinquish and let other family members do what they will.  When push comes to shove we can always make it look a little more presentable than it usually is for visitors. ;)

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Elsie, Max, Meeko & Lori

 

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No you are NOT nuts!!!  We have built two ramps for our pups....one for the couch and one for the bed.

So their bones can last a few more years.  These ramps came about for the older 3 we had and the pups we have now have really taken to them.  So glad they RUN up and down them instead of jumping off the couch or bed!

As for scratching up the walls....that is a HARD one to fix.  My sister-in-law would bang two cookie sheets together when her dogs would get into it.  Just thinking out side the window....and maybe a loud noise from inside would distract Demps long enough to forget about the car going by?

I know....stupid suggestion.  We are fortunate that our Betsy only gets excited about fast cars outside in her fence.  When she sees them inside...it is up the ramp, then down the ramp, then up the ramp, then down the ramp...well ya' know.  We stop her with a trash can and she calms down....kinda have to stop the race to no where.

Our idea of stopping unwanted behavior is through something that we would LIKE them to fix on.....squeaky toy, tug of war, etc.  NO treats!  Loud noise seems to work in this house...thank goodness!

Congrats to the graduation....may you have ONLY GREAT times this coming weekend!!!

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We have two awful-looking chairs on our porch.  Seriously, they both look like they came from the garbage dump after all these years of dog abuse but we can't get rid of them - they are Buffy's and Ziggy's favorite perches. So yeah, we just accept it.  :)

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sounds familiar. i think if you look through the threads here you will find interesting photos of cairn woodworking, from teddy's job on my bathroom cabinet drawers (which haven't been fixed yet) to scotty's gnawing of nikki's rocker legs down to nothing. i guess if you let dempsy destroy everything in the house it would be a little strange. but as for a window sill, a corner, a favorite bit of furniture... people have to understand that if you have a cairn that is not allowed to chew through all the walls and put his nail ruts on every bit of flooring, that is a very disciplined cairn. 

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I have a long oak bench in front of a window which always had a row of plants on.

Angus knocked off the ones in the middle multiple times once he got big enough to jump up there.

Finally I gave up, took the middle plants away somewhere else. Went to Walmart and bought the cutest little mat which I put up there for him to sit on because his nails scratched the already scratched surface even more.

He is so happy. Can announce any vehicles coming up the driveway, neighbor's cats, mommy deer with fawn, crows and anything else that needs to be talked about.

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I had 2 sons so my first home was pretty Cairn proof to begin with. What I mean by that is I like primitive style decorating. Lots of barn wood furniture, if they scratch or chew on it you can't tell. Leather couch and chairs so any type of body fluid wipes up easy. Wood floors, If they scratch or damage it matches my furniture no big deal. haha

 

I am so bad at accommodating my children and fur babies when we started house hunting I had specifics that were nonnegotiable. House had to have french or glass doors so Kelly and Prissy could lay in front of them and watch out the door. 

Large fenced yard, so the dogs could run and play off leash. Trees for shade so that all of us could enjoy the great outdoors in a little more comfort. wood floors that would have minimal damage after my family is through with them. Laundry sink that is big enough to fit a Cairn in. I could go on with the list, but you get the idea. haha

 

I am now thinking of buying someones old barn and replacing sheetrock walls with it. Then I will no longer have to worry about dents and dings or dogs chewing threw.......

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Well of course we are all nuts...loveable nuts who love their dogs beyond reason. To a none dog person no doubt we are crazy, but in my books dogs are family and family has a right to sit anywhere they pretty much please. I sure don't go postal when nieces and nephews come over and get a little crazy why would I about our dogs. Jock always had a seat set up for him at the window , who Rosie now has taken over. The windows are always being wiped down because dog nose prints cover them daily. My DH took out the box spring of the bed to lower it so Rosie can jump off and on without hurting herself. Nuts you bet, but ain't life grand with your favorite dog! :)

Demps is very fortunate to live in a home that cherishes him so much that your first concern is that he can still sit and continue doing his farm manager duties from his lookout.

Edited by Terrier lover
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Until one has loved an animal, a part of  one's soul remains unawakened.  - Anatole France

Adventures with Sam &Rosie

 

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I will work on getting the flying frisbee video....it flew behind the subwoofer yesterday, then under the guest room bed...

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Pepper's Mom

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... people have to understand that if you have a cairn that is not allowed to chew through all the walls and put his nail ruts on every bit of flooring, that is a very disciplined cairn. 

No... That is not a cairn! :lol:

FEAR THE CAIRN!

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Sitting here in the dining room on the computer - and glancing at the wall below the wall of windows. Sheetrock is shredded...that was Allie. Oban chose a different wall...

I most definitely have learned to live with it. Besides, DH isn't much better and truth be known - I am a little clumsy too. Perhaps part of the reason this household loves cairns.

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Didn't mean to imply in the above post that hubby chews walls...his destructive tendencies take other forms...

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Idaho Cairns

We haven't experienced any destructive behavior with our Cairns--no woodwork scratches, torn rugs, furniture, etc.  About all we have as a chore are dirty paw prints on the hardwood floor and nose art on the slider.  We are under the impression that our girls mostly sleep on rugs by the door when we are away.  We are fortunate somehow, the girls don't even destroy their toys--we still have squeaky toys from when each were puppies--which is a problem, the toys have stacked up to an obscene number because we don't have the heart to toss any of them away.

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My goodness Idaho. A cairn - no, two cairns - without the rip and tear gene. How strange.  :o Don't know whether to send condolences or congratulations  :confused1:  :D

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Pepper has never chewed anything up but she sure likes to dig!  The digging has slowed down since we have put in stone patio and excercise fences around the flower beds. 

Pepper's Mom

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Are you crazy?  Well, we have 3 large dog beds for our elderly Lab scattered around the house and the garage(man cave).  When the cat requires a drink of water we have to run the water in the kitchen or bathroom skin...as water in a bowl is just stale and does not taste the same.  When I vacuum I have to pick up all the toys then through them back on the ground again.  We purchased a larger King bed so the Moggie and the Yorkie could take up even more than their fair share of the bed, the Lab's hips are too bad to let up on the bed.  We tried the ramp, but she is not too surefooted. 

 

We have a huge cat climbing structure in the dinning room, I cannot fold the laundry until the Yorkie decides to vacate the clean laundry pile.  Brian and to pour cement pads around the backyard gates so Moggie would not dig her way out....again.  Then there's the carpet outside out bedroom door that when stress, Moggie tries to dig to China. 

 

Crazy? Crazy in love with our furry kids...and yes our Human ones too.

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