New hello from an old terrier owner

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Since I now find myself as the guardian of a second Cairn Terrier, I thought I ought to join this forum.  My first Cairn was an old lady I adopted from Heartland Humane in Corvallis, OR, back in November of 2016, she was around 15 at the time, and we had her 18 months.  Little did I know she would leave a Cairn-shaped hole in our home, but she did, and while it took some time, we recently found a 13 year old fella at Willamette Humane in Salem, OR, and he came home with us three weeks ago Saturday.  Charlie has decided that 13 year old Max the Manchester (Embark DNA tested 100%, Greenhill Humane alumnus) is his brother, bypassing 9 year old Johnny the Scottie as too silly and puppy-like to be worth the honor.  I never imagined having three neutered boys who all get along so well, let alone that my home would NOT become the opening planetary location of "Pee Wars: Episode One", but so far, so good.  Doggie doors help, I think.  And I've rambled on long enough, but I look forward to reading and offering help whenever I can!  I'll try to post a photo of the "Three Amigos" as soon as I can.

[bradl]

Welcome and great to see you with another Cairn Camille. Charlie isn't just in a good place, he's in the *best* place. 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Thank you, Brad!  I hope I have Charlie at least as long as Cinder graced our home, and hopefully even longer.  He's a shaggy little black brindle, and from the feel has been clippered his whole life, so, since he has no skin issues, like Cinder did, I'll probably continue that.  He's already crawled under every piece of furniture he can fit under, so I am hoping he takes to earthdog tunnels as readily, if so he can teach Max how to fold up and crawl, and I'll have a couple of good earthdog prospects.  Right now he's about as wide as he is tall, so we'll work on that, though he's an absolute expert at the "aren't I the CUTEST thing?" look when parked under our table at meals.  How DOES one resist those black button eyes?

[pkcrossley]

bless you. it is easy to see how 18 months (or 18 days) would leave a cairn-shaped hole. Charlie has everything he ever wanted and congratulations on getting back on the cairn train. hope you all have a glorious time.

[Hillscreek]

Lucky Charlie, Lucky you!

 

[Sam I Am]

Such a good feel story

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Thank you, pkcrossley, Hillscreek and Sam I Am, for the warm welcome!  Charlie's story is a sad one, but I hope to make up for it a little in his final years with me.  He was bought from a pet store in Portland, Oregon, along with his brother, Percy, by the couple who surrendered him to the shelter last December.   They lost their home last year, perhaps in the wildfires, I was not told the details by the shelter staff.  They were couch-surfing, and could no longer find a place to stay if they had the dogs with them, so they surrendered them.  Sadly, Percy's health was so bad that the shelter euthanized him.  So Charlie lost his home, his brother, and his humans all at once in 2020.  He was adopted, then returned to the shelter a few weeks later for "urinary incontinence", so the shelter did a full work-up on him, and no problems were found, so he was put back up for adoption.  That's when I decided to step in.  I called and made an appointment to take Johnny and Max with me to meet Charlie, and after much tail-wagging and following each other around the "meeting yard" to mark on top of each others' marks, the shelter staff was satisfied that all three of them were compatible, so I filled out the paperwork, paid the adoption fee, and home we came.  That first evening Charlie had one accident in the house, but since then he's been fine, and seems to like the freedom of the doggie doors, on these nice early spring days I will find him standing or laying in the sun, staring down the hill at the neighbor's goings-on, letting the wind bring him the news from the Coast Range forests.  And he likes sleeping on the pillow next to mine in bed, he seems to find the Tempurpedic mattress as comfortable for his old joints as I do.  Odds are he will need arthritis meds at some point, he has virtually no angulation and two luxating patellas, although he does not seem to luxate when he's gaiting, or even when running, but the vet could move them manually during his exam.  These are a couple of the reasons I want to take off his extra weight, his conformation is so bad he needs all the help he can get, poor little guy!  He didn't deserve the cards dealt to him in this life, no dog deserves such challenges, honestly, but he's doing his best with what he's got, and I hope to make these final miles on his road as comfortable, happy, and full of love as I can.

[Kathryn]

Whatever Charlie faced before, he has landed in the right place now! Sounds like you were made for him, and obviously since you had a cairn-size hole, he was made for you.  Looks like the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

And old dogs are the best, really! Such soul...

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Thank you, Kathryn.  I agree with you about loving old dogs, no matter how long or short our time with them is, they are so very worth it!

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Here's that promised photo, it's the best one I have of Charlie, even though Max and Johnny are not looking at the camera.

[Sam I Am]

Handsome trio...love the wheaten  Scottie . Our Scottie is jet black...now with some grey  hair

Charlie looks very content.

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Thank you, Sam I Am.  That was the first night in his new home, he settled in right away.  And Johnny thanks you for recognizing his color, I have had brindles, blacks and wheatens, all three, over the years.  My first show dog was a dark red wheaten, his topcoat was actually almost Norwich/Norfolk red, with a golden undercoat.  He didn't look as dark as the Nor's because he didn't have black tipping and a red undercoat, but his handler was really glad to finish him in four weekends of showing, he told me he'd have had to let Bucky blow coat and start all over if he hadn't finished, as he couldn't roll his coat, he was too dark a red to roll without it looking patchy.  And I wish I could have caught Max looking at the camera, I swear, I wonder every day why I don't get a message from the Afterlife because Cleopatra is missing her lap dog and wants him back!  He looks like he could have stepped off the wall of tomb inside a pyramid.  That Whippet cross in the 1800's altered the terrier head just enough to make the Old English Black&Tan bend towards Pharoah/Ibizan Hound instead.

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Charlemagne Da Dog, aka Charles Barkley, aka Charlie Gnarly Marley Barley Cairn, aka Speed Bump.  He's presented me with several challenges since he came home in February, that's for sure!  First he started gaining weight rapidly, and heat-seeking, so off to the vet, sure enough, he's hypothyroid.  The extra weight on his joints began making him incapable of walking more than a few steps without limping, and the vet could tell those shoulders and front legs were painful, so daily Galliprant it is, sparing his liver while relieving his pain.  Then, a couple of months later, he started having lots of gut cramping with loose stool, so we tested for everything, nothing showed up re: parasites, infections or infestations, but the smell gave me a hint, so we started pancreatic enzymes, and sure enough, the problems cleared up, so he's got Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency.  Thankfully there are now pancreatic enzyme supplements that are more reasonably priced than Viokase V, the supplement I had to use on one of the Rescue Scotties I fostered years ago, so keeping him healthy won't bankrupt me.  Poor old guy, he's been burdened with more health problems than I could have imagined, but he's worth it.  Damnable puppy mills!

[pkcrossley]

these stories of older, unfortunate dogs finding love, understanding and support give me such hope for humanity. thank you somuch for taking good care of this handsome, deserving guy. 

[Hillscreek]

People taking care of older needy cairns and others, like you are doing are to be praised. Thank you for being one of them.

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Thank you, pkcrossley and Hillscreek.  Charlie is a charming little scamp, which is good because he is certainly not perfect.  He does mark in the house, and he's started a fight with his toothless older brother, which I had to break up, and then he went for me, but he was certainly shocked to find out I was not an easy mark, not with 35+ years of Scottie ownership and more than a decade of rescue fostering the same under my belt.  I do think he'd be happier as the only boy dog in a house, or maybe even as an only dog, but I'm FOR SURE not going to take him back to the shelter, he'll just have to accept that he has to live by the rules, which include no picking on the toothless one, and "if you pee on a dog bed, out it goes, and eventually you sleep on the cold, hard floor".  I am sure Colonel Potter Rescue could find him a better home, but I hope I don't have to ask them to, I do love the little brat-boy.

[sanford]

Years ago, I adopted Carrington when he was at the (advanced) age of 10. He lived to almost 17, in good health until his last year. I never felt I had an "old" dog. He always kept me on my toes... and on the run. Somehow the word "senior" never seemed to apply to him. I've told his story here before: His original owner died and her adult sons did not want him and kept him isolated and confined to an enclosed porch until they decided to have the vet euthanize him. The vet took Carrington and contacted Col. Potter Cairn Rescue, which is how I came to find him.

It's not overstating it to say that Carrington changed my life. We became joined at the hip as he went everywhere with me. He was my first-ever dog and taught me everything there was to know about the breed. He happened to be an excellent example of "Cairn", both physically and temperamentally and it's thanks to what I learned from this "old" dog that I was later up to the challenge of taking on 3-year old Ruffy, who became joined to my other hip!

On the shelf of my dog books is one titled "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs."... (I knew that)!

[pkcrossley]

hear hear