Well, we thought we lost Kiara in the mountain!

[toomanypaws]

We are all home safe from our vacation in North Carolina. The snow melted after the first couple of days which made for driving up the mountain easier. Abbey and Hannah preferred to be on the couch snuggled up together while Kiara wanted nothing more than to be outside. Well, as careful as we were, my dh accidently opened the door thinking I had Kiara babygated safely away from the door. She bolted out so fast, it was almost a blur to me what happened next. She stayed around the cabin at first and slowly started running up the mountain. She always kept just out of our reach and completely ignored our commands to "come". I even tried coaxing her like I found something better than she could find to no avail. As dh climbed up after her, I decided to run up the road to hopefully catch her at the top as dh headed her off that direction. I think it was all a big game to her. It probably took us close to an hr chasing after her and we were so out of breath being we weren't use to the high elevation. A prayer came through when Kiara ran up to a cabin's porch and was afraid to walk back down the stairs. Dh said that she took one look at him, a look at the stairs and then lowered her ears as if to say the game of chase was over and w/ her head down, she reluctantly walked to dh. I met up w/ them on the gravel road as he was carrying her down. I had her leash w/ me and put that on her and set her down only for her hunting mode to begin again trying to pull me every which way. I honestly don't think she feels one bit of remorse for her actions as it was all fun for her to be on an adventure w/ her mommy and daddy. I am so thankful for being able to get her back and not worry about her being out there w/ all the wild animals that are in the mountains. We were just reading in the paper that coyotes are everywhere.

We are planning another trip back to this cabin next October but WITHOUT Kiara! I love her too much to worry about her getting away again. I still can't believe that I love a dog who will not listen to me when free outdoors, so unlike my lab. Even Abbey and Hannah listen better than Kiara.

Just curious, how many of you actually do let you cairns outdoors w/o a leash? I know Hannah would stay w/ me, but to me it's not worth taking a chance after what I've been through w/ Kiara. I'm fortunate to have a large fenced yard where we live that my cairn girls get plenty of exercise in and it's the only place I know Kiara will come to me when called.

[bubba]

Cooper and Yoda are in a fenced yard too. Cooper got out of the fence once and I had to chase him down. When I got tired of that game, I said a few choice words and told him I was done and going home. As I was walking up the hill to the house, I see this blur go past me at ninety miles at hour, through the open gate, through the yard and up the stairs! Guess who was waiting for me at the top!

The only other time Cooper has gotten away from me was up at the lake and that time he was gone for a good three hours. Every once and again, I could hear him running through the underbrush, but he was nowhere to be seen. He finally came back, took one look at me and was off again....can they tell when a human has a muderous look in her eye??? About 45 minutes later, he came back again and I was able to trap him on the deck...thank goodness I had my husband put a gate on it to keep the little two legged ones safe, or he may still be running with the wind.

Yoda, on the otherhand, who is our schnoodle, can be let go and he comes back in a flash. I just wish his brother could learn to do that.

pat.

[Logansmom]

Logan has no desire to ever come when I call him. He got out this past summer at my parents. he decided that chasing a deer into unfamiliar woods was going to be fun. As soon as the "daddy voice" was heard he came slinking back. With me it's all a game. I never, ever let him off the lead but his daddy "trusts" him. I think his daddy needs his head examined! This is a prankster and will use his cute brown eyes to con anyone around for freedom but we love them all!

[Mama Kim]

Piper only listens to her Daddy. It's so frustrasting. He takes her outside, without a leash, all the time. Distractions or not, she will listen to him. I've tried it a few times, and she absolutely will not listen to me. She heads straight across the street to our neighbor's house (thank goodness) because she has 'play dates' with the American Eskimo that lives there. But I do not trust her off leash, unless her Daddy is around.

[hallswel]

We have a fenced back yard and one of the neighborhood kids came in and left the gate open and Rebel and Robi escaped. Robi is a pug and when I called he came, I scooped him up and ran back up the hill to the house to put him up before I went to get Rebel. Rebel thought it was a game and chased me up the hill, I just kept running through the gate and into the house with Rebel nipping at my feet. We now have a lock on the gate.

He is always on a leash. We have gone to the dog park and he will watch the gates and attempts to get out. He wants to run with the big dogs. Needless to say we don't go to the dog park as often as I would like because he has gotten out and if the lab owner had brought her big dog in the gate he would have been gone. I keep the leash on him there so that if he does get out someone could step on the leash.

They are so fast and smart!

[Eliz222]

Scout can go outside, in the backyard, without a leash. She always comes when I call her and she listens to me. Finch doesn't seem to "know" the word COME. She is ALWAYS on a leash!

[kayharley]

I also have a fenced in yard and would never ever think of trusting my two younger Cairns anywhere but in the enclosed area. Even with the fencing, I find myself getting anxious if they duck out of sight behind the stone wall.

Now Winnie, the 11 year old has always been on the mellow side and she'll walk from the garage to the car right beside me without a lease.....now, point in case.

Last month when she had her eye surgery and was "coned", I had her separated from the other two to re-couperate in our downstairs family room. It was very early morning, I was in my robe, slippers, hair sticking out every which way and workboots on while I took Win outside through the garage to do business.

She gets almost to the gate when she spots someone walking up our street and takes off like a rabbit. The poor woman sees this coned-faced dog coming at her with me behind yelling "No!" She didn't stop, hesitate or listen.

Now our street is not a main road so luckily there was no traffic but still......the trust went out the window.

[bradl]

I'm with you. Trust kills an awful lot of dogs

That is not to say there are not some Cairns who are just fine - there are. Some are so old they just can't be bothered to take off anymore. Some may be born with a robo-dog brain and no breed instinct. Others really are that well trained - those are truly exceptional dogs. Others are OK in some environments but not in others.

For example, at the master level of earthdog tests all dogs must hunt, off-lead and with a randomly drawn bracemate of any eligible breed. Even with a well trained dog in a hunting situation it can be nerve-wracking. The thing that allows it to work for some dogs at that level is they are so keen to hunt that the hunt is WHY they would want to take off anyway. By then they know that YOU are where the action (quarry) is, and that you are heading toward a big payoff. Plus there are lots of other interesting dogs in the vicinity to serve as attractors, dozens of dog people to help capture break-aways, and you are typically well out in the country somewhere, far from traffic.

So would we let our two master earthdogs (and one master candidate) off-lead in our neighborhood? Not on your life. Not even for one second. Not between the house and the car on a heel. Not even a peek out an open door. They are actively shooed away from the door or picked up and held.

Trust kills an awful lot of dogs

[Carolinasmom]

Wow, what a scary and exhausting hour! I am glad she finally came back!

When we've taken Carolina to my grandma's in Iowa I have to watch her. Grandma lives out on a farm. Lindy, Carolina's sister can totally be trusted, by herself, however my dear little one loves to wander. My mom can let Lindy out to go to the bathroom but I always go out with our dog. The last time we were there a couple of years ago, we were loading the car to head home. Both dogs were out with us. All of a sudden, I can't find them. I finally see them, probably a quarter mile down the gravel road! They came running back once we started yelling. I was just glad a car or tractor wasn't coming!

[Scully'sMom]

My heart was in my throat when I read the discussion heading. I don't think I'll ever get over thinking I was going to watch Scully get hit by a car on that major road the day I took her to the vet's.

I have no idea why the other Cairn I had never roamed five feet away from the front or back door. When we got Scully and saw how much she loved to run, etc. I honestly thought we had gotten a Cairn with something wrong with her. It wasn't until I found all of you that I realized she's just as normal as every other Cairn.

As is the same with all of you, Scully listens to Dad and not to mom. I always assumed it was the lower tone of his voice. I was reading my DH these posts and he said that he doesn't want to find out, but he thinks that even if she got out and could run she wouldn't listen to him either.

I can't tell you how happy I am that you had a happy ending to your story. Let's hope for a SAFE 2005 for all the Cairns and a stress-free one for their moms and dads. Okay, maybe that last part won't fly.

[Brigette]

I'm glad it all turned out well. I loved the descriptions of her ears down and guilty look. Yoda is never supposed be outside our fence or without a leash, but he has escaped out the front door on accident a few times. He never comes back. One time I found him a few blocks over sitting on the porch of some people outside working in their yard. They gave him water, and I guess he thought he had a new home. At first I was hurt that he so easily could toss aside all that I had done for him and how much I loved him, then I just accepted that its the Cairn nature and nothing personal. Yoda now always wears a collar with his name and address just in case.

[toomanypaws]

Brigette, that's exactly how I feel! I was so shocked that Kiara could totally ignore me, the one that tends to her every need! I'm sure in time she might have made her way back, but there are other cabins in this mountain unoccupied this time of year. I could just envision her pawing at a cabin door and no one there to answer and it made me so upset. I'm just glad we were able to get her back. I'm just going to have to accept the fact that she'll only come to me when she's in our yard and be happy about that.