No harm, no foul!

[Idaho Cairns]

I'm always amazed at the innate intelligence of the Cairn Terrier and their ability to immediately adjust to the situation--their instinct to do the right thing at the right time.  Last Sunday, Sammi was out on a roam of "her" hillside, no doubt keeping current with the various odors of the place when a couple of deer showed up to graze on the sweet mix I put out for their dining pleasure.  This is the first time, in all the years, that one of my Cairns has been outside with the deer feeding and fortunately, I could tell by the deer's behavior that Sammi was approaching the stairs, was able to grab the camera and film the following.  I was a little concerned about what Sammi might do on her own turf since she normally goes into her Cujo routine when she is INSIDE watching the deer feed on her turf but note what she does here--she ignores, she avoids, in physical stance as well as eye contact any acknowledgment of the deer or their proximity (about 12 feet) to her or her space.  Actually, I have seen this same behavior--ignoring, when appropriate, aggressive dogs, or, in a few instances, cats ready to defend themselves.  Bonnie will do the same--it's as if the Cairns say to themselves, "Hey, what's the problem?" and just simply shut out the threat.  It works. 
In any case, just another attempt to document another unique characteristic of these wonderful little dogs.  Yep, another video, hope you enjoy.

 

 

[hheldorfer]

Smart girl!  Thanks for another great video, Chuck!

[Hillscreek]

Love your videos.Wow what a sensible cairn Sammi is. We have whitetails and with Angus it's the cairn scream and then the chase if they are in the yard - if seen when out walking in the fields no scream, just chase. Chases a bit shorter distance now that he has learned he'll never ever catch one.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Hillscreek

[pkcrossley]

she is acknowledging the deer as your pets. my redmon got that like that after a got a pet rabbit. he used to lunge at and if possible chase rabbits in my mother's neighborhood, but after i got a pet rabbit he seemed to regard all rabbits as my pets and would do exactly like you describe --very deliberately walk along without looking at or in any way disturbing them. this is really really hard for them --very civilized people. 

Edited February 27, 2016 by pkcrossley

[_whits_]

I had a Maltese growing up. She was a pet store puppy sent to my dad's vet clinic at 6 weeks old on death's door with terrible kennel cough, with instructions to put her down. My dad brought her home to 10 year-old me and I fed her every 2 hours by hand a mixture of high calorie wet food and glorified sugar water in a dropper just to keep her from going into shock. She was never particularly healthy, and later developed severe periodontal disease (she had about 3 teeth by age 8) and Cushings (leaving her mostly bald by age 10).

At age 13, this plucky little 7lb refuse-to-die-used-to-be-fluffy white bundle took off out of our unexpectedly open front door and chased an entire herd of deer across three large country properties. Every single one of them acted like they were being chased by a herd of wolves instead of my little Autumn. 

To this day, our family all references how we wish we could be as brave as her. Hopefully not as reckless. 

[Lynn in TN]

Awesome video as always. Sammy is super smart! It amazes me too, a Cairns instincts are something else.

[Dempsy's Mom]

So sweet.  Nice video.

[Sam I Am]

Sammy is smart! She no doubt knows instinctively that one to one combat with those sharp hooves would not be in her best interest!