Fear the Cairn? Mine's skittish.

[Toto-lee Cairn]

I chuckle every time I see fear the Cairn on this forum.  My Toto's bark is far worse than any bite (I have yet to see).

I noticed when he was a puppy, he was afraid of things -- a bug, some small creature like a lizard, a sound yet experienced, etc. -- but contributed it to his being a young puppy.  I figured that with time, and life's experiences, it would change.  It did to some extent, but he is what I would call skittish.

We have deer that wander through the yard, eating us out of house-and-home.  Toto will bark at them, from being the window, and if I venture into the yard, he'll follow me, but doesn't give chase (I am grateful for that!).  Once, he positioned himself, ahead of me, and just let loose.  Yeah, he was b-a-d . . . it lasted, his jumping up-and-down,  raising Cairn, until the deer lowered its head, stamped its feet, and made the sound they do (sort of a loud hmpff) .  Toto ran behind me as if to say, "Oh, yeah! My Mama!"  I figured it was the size of the deer.

Until. . .

One night, headed out of the garage for a last potty before bed, he espied a medium-sized toad on the drive, and went to investigate.  He actually put his nose on the toad, and when it hopped, Toto 'bought came out of his skin.  I had to direct the toad into the bushes before I could get Toto to go out into the yard.  

Note: I am not a skittish person.  I don't scream when I see a snake, and I usually watch the wildlife we have, more out of curiosity.  Neither my husband nor his dog, are scaredy-cats.

I am not sure where exactly this comes from, and even less about how to reassure him.  I also think he sees things that go-bump- in- the- dark, as he'll raise the devil, or refuse to follow me into a room (and we don't live in an older, possibly haunted house).

Anyone else have a Toto akin to mine?

 

 

[Sam I Am]

Sam is fearless. Which in some circumstances probably is not a good idea. He ignores thunder (which I am grateful for) he figures any dog that shows any kind of aggressive body language regardless of size is a dog that in his mind needs to be tuned up and he is an amazing watch dog as he raises the alarm to any strange noises, which I am glad for also. Even though he is only 20 pounds he would take on a stranger entering when not invited I am pretty sure. Our Scottie Rosie on the other hand if you offer a belly rub you are a friend forever.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Sam I Am

[Islander]

Gus is not usually skittish, but a couple of years ago he was badly stung by a bee in my friend’s backyard. Although he didn’t have any allergic reaction, the sting was in his mouth and clearly very painful. He ran inside and when I brought him out and sat him on my lap he was shaking, and just wanted to go back inside. He refused to go into - not just that backyard, but any backyard except his own - for the rest of the summer. Fortunately he seemed to forget about the trauma by the next spring.

PS The hamster has gone home but Gus can’t believe it and continues to check out the spare bedroom.

[Sam I Am]

7 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

PS The hamster has gone home but Gus can’t believe it and continues to check out the spare bedroom.

Glad Cashew survived his visit with Gus...you were so right, don’t name Furry small pets after food.

[sanford]

12 hours ago, Toto-lee Cairn said:

I noticed when he was a puppy, he was afraid of things -- a bug, some small creature like a lizard, a sound yet experienced, etc....

... Toto ran behind me as if to say, "Oh, yeah! My Mama!"  I figured it was the size of the deer...

...He actually put his nose on the toad, and when it hopped, Toto 'bought came out of his skin. 

.... I also think he sees things that go-bump- in- the- dark, as he'll raise the devil, or refuse to follow me into a room (and we don't live in an older, possibly haunted house).

Anyone else have a Toto akin to mine?

I never had a cairn akin to yours, as you say, so I can't comment from experience, but some years ago Ruffy and I worked with a trainer (on a different issue) and she would bring her own calm, laid-back Lab on our walks with Ruffy, the idea being that the calm demeanor of the Lab would be a reassuring presence for Ruffy and he might learn from the non-reactive example of the Lab.

I have no idea if such a pairing up is practical for you. It would be a long shot, but I think the premise is intriguing...after all, the dogs in the dog park always seem to mirror each other's behaviors, so who knows? 

P.S. Although I understand your concerns, the issues with the deer and the toad seemed like common, appropriate reactions, related to normal survival instincts re the "unfamiliar," but of course I wasn't there to see for myself. The room he doesn't want to enter might have something atmospheric going on that we can't detect -- an odor, a shape, a shadow, etc. (Even the low vibration of a boiler or washing machine, if there was one in the basement below the room). Placing his food and/or water bowls in the room or on the threshold might bring him around.

Edited August 18, 2021 by sanford
spelling

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Toto-Lee, I've never had a terrier who was afraid of much except thunder or gunshots.  Charlie, my current Cairn, has yet to be tested  with wildlife, but Max, my Manchester (half blind with cataracts and totally toothless) "treed" a racoon on our deck railing three times last summer, this year I've shut him off the deck at night to prevent a repeat.  Johnny, my current Scottie, used to be petrified by thunder and gunshot, but is getting a bit less sensitive by observing his Uncle Max and Uncle Charlie totally ignore those sounds.  Johnny is, however, totally keen to go after the deer that frequent the woods around us, but my fences prevent that, thankfully.   Years ago, my whole pack would have staring matches with singleton coyotes on the other side of the fence, I'd watch them stand, silent, and you could almost see the thought bubble above all their heads, saying "Come on in and try it, buddy!"  Between my foundation stud dog, his grandson, and three generations of my girls, that would have been all she wrote for that coyote, he'd have been torn limb from limb.  There is strength in numbers, maybe you need a couple more Cairns? 

Edited August 18, 2021 by CamilleatGaelforce

[Sam I Am]

Scottie’s are not to be tangled with when their tails go straight up and over their backs. A sign of a Scottie ready to head into battle...even Rosie, our Scottie who is sweetness itself , can get her Scottish temper ramped up at the sight of a dog near her property. Sam the Cairn knows well when to back off when he bugs her to much...she has very large teeth. 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Indeed they do, Sam!  Funny story, many years ago I was walking the whole gang in Avery Park in Corvallis, and we were waylaid by a passel of small children wanting to pet the dogs.  We are all standing there and the dogs are soaking up the adoration, and an older lady walks up and observes "what nice little dogs you have".  I thanked her and added "they aren't really little dogs, they are big dogs with short legs".  She remarked that they were smaller than her toy poodle, I asked how much that dog weighed, and told her my Bucky weighed 3 times as much, and that Scotties were bred to kill badgers.  I asked Buck to sit, and pulled up his lips, exposing his canines.  The poor woman actually took a step back and said, I kid you not, "My, what big teeth he has!"  It took every shred of willpower I had not to say "The better to eat you with, my dear!"  

[Toto-lee Cairn]

I didn't mean to give the impression that Toto's being a bit of a scaredy-cat bothered me.  It doesn't.  Like I said, I chuckle thinking of him and his reaction to things, versus the slogan here, fear the Cairn.  Actually, because I can't easily give chase, myself, I am glad is he is not the ferocious-I'll-kick-your-bum type of terrier.  He reminds me of the little boy in a fight who resorts to, "Oh, yeah?  Well, my Dad can beat up your Dad!"  Just substitute me into the picture.

George and I get tickled when he puffs his chest out, and acts like a big bad wolf.  A simple 'boo' would send him scurrying.  I just find it odd for a terrier to back down in such a manner.

Toto looks to me to intervene when George disciplines him, running behind me if he hears Dad start with , "Toto, blah blah blah," like a child pleading with its Mom to call off Dad.  I think the little fellow knows he has me wrapped around his paw (all four of them), and was determined to come home with me when, as a 13-week-old puppy, our meet-and-greet he got away with nipping the tip of my nose.  Ah, love!, at first bite.

[Toto-lee Cairn]

7 minutes ago, CamilleatGaelforce said:

. . .  walking the whole gang . . . 

Absolutely loved the image!  

Neither George nor I can walk our two, together.  If I have them both, or George does, they want to run circles around us, and if we choose to walk our dog, each of us, with each of them on a leash, then it becomes a contest as to which dog gets to be 'first' in the parade.  'Heel' lasts for about five minutes, and then it's a contest again.

As dog parents, we easily get C's and lower.

The funniest thing is that Rupert, the Weimaraner, came to us 'expertly trained,' and he knows and performs beautifully, when he is one-on-one with one of us.  Put the whole family together, and it can be a circus.

 

 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

At one point I was walking ten (10) Scotties by myself, my 7 and 3 fosters.  Two of the fosters were larger than average, the Viking Boys, Eric the Red and Snorri Snarlson, at 32 and 28 pounds of muscle and bone, the other was little Sausage McMegan, aka Queen Megan McMuffin, who had, at best, about 1.5" of ground clearance between her keel and the ground, as her legs were, from elbow to ground, maybe 4"?   That poor little girl took ten steps to my one, bless her, she came to me peeing pure blood with a bladder full of sand and gravel, which was removed surgically the very next day, and I had her for a year before her EPI became diagnosable, and got treated, and she got adopted.  In at age 7, adopted at 8, lived to be 14 (way old for a Scottie) and died peacefully in her sleep on the couch next to her owner on Movie Night.   She was one special little gal!  Back then, I was adept at undoing the ancient craft of Scottish Leash Braiding, when the combined 6' leashes got down to 3.5 to 4 feet un-braided, we'd all stop, I'd untangle, then on we'd go!

Edited August 18, 2021 by CamilleatGaelforce

[Kathryn]

I so admire those who can walk all their dogs together -- we cannot even walk two at the same time. Steve takes the dogs on separate walks because he considers his two daily tours through the neighborhood training time, and the dogs must go through their commands to earn their treats and eventual breakfast or dinner. (I always wonder what folks walking near him think when he abruptly does an about-turn and heads in the opposite direction with military precision...)  I take them on walks so we can enjoy the scenery (though I have not been doing this over the summer as I have been in the stiff body brace for 12 weeks now).  I enjoy the walk by looking, the boys enjoy by sniffing...I give them time to investigate.

As for scaredy-dogs -- my boy Oban has been known to kill rabbits in the backyard, but I have learned that he is something of a wuss.  Last summer I was visiting with a neighbor whose chickens were roaming her yard (yes, I live in the city, and yes people do keep chickens). Oban had been eying a large black hen and suddenly pulled the leash out of my hand and took chase.  That chicken stood her ground and gave him the eye - he stopped cold, turned and came back to me. Obviously he prefers prey that is afraid of him.  My neighbor was rolling on the ground in laughter over her "killer chicken..." 

By the way, my brace starts coming off for short periods over the next two weeks and by September 1 I should be brace-free and participating in aqua-therapy. The doctor informs me I have lost about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in height... 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Kathryn, I wish you the best of luck in getting your body brace off and doing aquatherapy!  And I love the story of Oban and the Killer Chicken!   My little brother was flogged by a goose as a child, and after that both of us avoided all forms of live fowl.  I prefer my chicken Kentucky fried to this day!

[bradl]

4 hours ago, CamilleatGaelforce said:

Back then, I was adept at undoing the ancient craft of Scottish Leash Braiding, when the combined 6' leashes got down to 3.5 to 4 feet un-braided, we'd all stop, I'd untangle, then on we'd go!

This memory sent me on a mission to the archives. Found in an old shoebox, @CamilleatGaelforce with a mini version of the braid. Perhaps you remember this earthdog test; I believe the site was Monmouth. 

Notable is the date — Peggy and I spent our first wedding anniversary standing around a hole in the ground. Romantic, eh? It was also a "get aquainted" outing for our first Cairn and future master earthdog, Barley.

[Kathryn]

2 hours ago, CamilleatGaelforce said:

Kathryn, I wish you the best of luck in getting your body brace off and doing aquatherapy!  And I love the story of Oban and the Killer Chicken!   My little brother was flogged by a goose as a child, and after that both of us avoided all forms of live fowl.  I prefer my chicken Kentucky fried to this day!

Golly, I had a similar experience with fowl when I was young.  My grandma had a rooster that took after me whenever we visited, chasing me and pecking my legs   -- I hated that thing.  I would not get out of the car when we pulled into her yard if it was around.  Then one Sunday she served us stewed chicken and dumplings -- and told me it was that bird I hated. And I still ate it...

[Toto-lee Cairn]

These are all delightful stories.  Thank you!

I am still learning how to do things -- on a computer, on a cell phone -- but I think I'm hopeless.  When I was still teaching, I had lots of tech savvy HS students, eager to help.  I'd have quite a bankroll for every time one of them would say, 'Oh, Mrs. M!  That is sooooo e-a-s-y.,' and they'd tell me how to fix, do, *whatever*.

I only share this because while I want to respond to each and every story, and comment, and suggestion, it takes me forever, right now, to figure out how to do it.

I am trying to focus on taking photos of my little playmate so I can enter the photo contests, and share what Rupert, the Weimaraner, and Toto look, and act, like.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the posts.

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Brad, didn't you bring a nearly full grown Barley down to our house to introduce her to our practice tunnel in 1994, when Maggie was still alive?  She died in early July of '95.   That does look like Bucky, the day he earned his first JE leg, after having his CG since 1988.  I'll never forget that dog's bay, and his sheer instinctual hunting ability; Lucy may have been my best trial dog, but Bucky would have put meat in the pot every single day.

[bradl]

We could hear Bucky from near a mile away! Barley was born in November '94. We did indeed make a pilgrimage to your place where you very kindly introduced our wee pup Barley to ED. I also remember you standing on the hatch to keep Lucy's  sledgehammer skull from knocking the trap door open while she demonstrated furious work.