for those of you with Cairns and "big" dogs too

[Mollyrocker]

I have a question for those of you who have a Cairn(s) and "big" dogs(ex. Labrador Retriever) as well in the same household, how do they interact? Do they get along but kinda do their own thing or do they love to play together, run around together, etc.?

[sbudd]

I have an 11-year-old Rottweiler and they get along fine. The rottie kinda gets a little crabby now and then, but I guess I would too if I had a tazmanian devil running around me!

[toomanypaws]

Besides my cairns, I have a lab that's indoors. My 2 youngest cairns adore him so much that I do have to babygate them in the kitchen so they'll leave him alone. I'm always afraid of my youngest one getting stepped on by him. My lab will then come and hang his head over the babygate for kisses. My oldest cairn, Kiara runs around w/ the lab, but she does get an attitude and will dare him to mess w/ her.

I also have an aussie. He's a rescue that prefers outdoors but comes into a back enclosed porch at night. When in the backyard, the cairns all love him and he'll try to gently step over my youngest one. Again, my oldest cairn, Kiara will try to be alpha dog, even w/ him but he'll stand up to her. When playing fetch, she tries to run him off. Sometimes I do put the lab back in the house because he tends to stir up trouble and provoke Kiara. He just wants to play, but Kiara seems to want to go for his jugular vein.

[ballast]

Our friends all have labs & retrievers and our Cairns have never had a problem with them. The "group" does some joint events at the beach or the lake house and it is not unusual to have 15 to 20 dogs around for 2 or 3 days. There are usually a few territorial and pecking order issues among them, but they seem to get sorted out ok. When Brodie got tired of being sniffed, he would get under the coffee table and growl at any dog that showed too much attention, but that was a numbers issue. My wife often brings our friends dogs home with her for a few hours so our dog will have someone to play with. Fergus met his first lab a few days ago. I have a few pictures at home of the event. I will put one up later. Camus (the lab) mostly ignored Fergus - but Fergus was in 7th heaven.

[Eliz222]

We don't have a big dog, but my sister in law does and Scout LOVES playing with him! He is a HUGE Golden and is a little overweight. Scout runs around the room and Buck just sort of stands there wagging his tale! Scout thinks she is a large dog, so ever since she was a tiny puppy she has loved playing with Buck. I don't go over there with the dogs anymore since bringing two dogs over to someones house can be a bit too much. We use to walk to her house, which is about .5 miles away.

[bubba]

We don't have a big dog, but our daughter has two pitbulls, one aged four, and her puppy, almost a year. Sadie, who is the four year old, is about the nicest dog I have ever met. True, when they first got her, I was afraid to be around her, but she has turned into the sweetest dog ever. It is her who Cooper was first around. She never once has hurt him, and to this day, when we go to Portland, they play together like long lost friends. I think it is because of how Sadie taught Cooper to play, that he has always been so good w/Yoda. I know that there are people who will disagree about a pitbull being a good dog, but any dog can get the reputation that that breed has acquired. It is because of bad owners and not raising them the way they should be raised, but raising them to fight.

pat.

[ballast]

OK, here are the pictures I promised of Fergus meeting our friend's Lab, Camus

Camus kind of lost interest, but Fergus was fascinated and followed Camus everywhere

[Mollyrocker]

Thanks for your replies..and pics! Keep more coming in you have Cairns and big dogs!

I am asking because we really are seriously thinking of a Cairn as our second dog. Not ready yet, but I am asking alot of questions and reading your forum. I have a 2 year old happy Labrador Retriever.

[Kathryn]

A carin as a "second" dog? I think they much prefer being "first" dogs, no matter what other dogs were in the house when you got them!

We take care of a border collie, Walter, who is also Allie's best friend, whenever his "mom" goes to visit her real grandkids, which is quite often. They are better together than they are apart, because they seem to wear off the cairn/border collie energy on each other. Both believe that back yards were made for chasing balls -- for as long as they can talk you into throwing the darn things! But they also like to cuddle with us, and I think they're more cuddly when they think the other is getting more than his/her share...

My cousin also brings her Swiss mountain dog and dobie in for romps regularly, and Allie really likes the swissie in particular. Once, when we were all down wading at the river, she followed him into the "shallow" water and all of a sudden she found herself swimming!

[Mollyrocker]

"first dog" "second dog", I mean nothing by the term...just want to know how they might interact..they would be loved equally and just want to make sure they have enough in common...different breeds don't necessarily make good housemates..

but by the sounds of it, there likely to be no problem.

My Lab Lucy loves to play with just about any dog up for a game...

[hallswel]

Rebel gets along great with my Mom's collie, We had a older female wolf the first year of Rebel's life and they got along so well. She looked after him like he was her puppy.

With cairn's size doesn't matter they like to run and play and in spirit they are the BIG dog!

[Brigette]

We have a Cairn and a Lab mix who weighs over 100lbs. They get along great. We did at first have to teach our Lab to play easy with Yoda when he was a baby, but the great thing about Cairns is that they are built sturdy and you dont have to worry about them getting seriously hurt during playtime or hurt from being accidentally stepped on like you would a Yorkie or other small dog.

[Brodie's buddy]

I have the 2 cairns inside and outside I have 2 Bernese mnt dogs and a German short hair . They all get along great. The cairns of course think they are just as big as the others! They BEG to go out to the back yard to play with the big dogs. It is soooo cute to watch them take turns chasing each other. (big chase small-switch-small chase big) :-)

[GIDGETSMOM]

Gidget also has a big brother. I have a 8 yr old German Shepherd. He and Gidget play like crazy. Then lay down side by side to nap. I love watching this big goliath play with this little fire ball! It's a hoot.

I do on occasion, outside, have to tell Buddy to be easy, but when he runs real hard at Gidget she will be submissive and lay down and roll over when she sees him approaching her at full speed.

Good luck!

[Guest Guest]

I have a 12 year old lab 90 lbs and a two year old cairn. They get along great. My male lab "Mel" is the alpha dog of the house. This really helps to temper my male cairn "Kudzu". If Kudzu gets riled up Mel will growl and let him know it's time to calm down. They play very well together. Also, we have a lake home in the country and Kudzu runs with about six very large dogs and gets along great with all of them. 3 collies, one rotwieller, 2 boxers, 2 mixed breed. We all leave our dogs out when we are outside and it's amazing how they interact and have their own spaces. Kudzu of course respects no boundry and makes great sport out of having the other dogs chase him out of their yards. The long and short of it is that Kudzu has probably added years to Mel's life. He was winding down at about 10 getting stiff and lazy. Kudzu keeps him moving and they truly seem to like each other's company.

[Bekah]

I'm really glad to read this thread. I work part-time at a store owned by my friend's dad. They have two retriever/shepard (I think) mixes who often stay at the store while we work. The younger dog, Divot, is almost the same age as Liddy and my friend and I would like to get the dogs together. Divot is one of the friendliest dogs I've ever met and Liddy has always liked big dogs (like our neighbor's lab). My concern is that Liddy is MUCH smaller than Divot (who weighs about 100 pounds to Liddy's 15). I'd glad some of you have described Cairns as "sturdy." I've seen this while playing with Liddy and she does act like a big dog most of the time. Now that the weather is getting warmer, hopefully Liddy and Divot can have their playdate. I hope they have fun and I hope to get some good pictures!

[maxwell]

Hello all,

Glad I found this forum, here is a little background on the problem we have been having at our home. Max our 8 year old cairn has been the "main man" in our household for 8 years. Well last weekend was my wifes birthday and she had been workiking on me. all the week before to add to our pet family. My daughter recently purchased a beautiful Great Pyrenees pup named Leah. Well i broke down and purchased her brother from the same litter for her birthday. This is when the problems started with Max, he has never been agressive with anybody, playing ball and tugging on rope toys where always his favorite time. We always joked that he didn't realize he was a dog and thought he was just another human in the house. Well Rocky the Pyr pup at 8 weeks already outweighs Max by 7 pounds and just wants to play with Max, but Max will have nothing to due with Rocky, constantly snarling and snapping at the new puppy. Max has recieved as much or more attention than he ever had, trying to curb this jealousy but nothing seems to help. We now have two of every play toy in the house but Max constantly takes everything from the puppy. He no longer wants to play and his eating habit have definitely changed. I realize there is a getting use to period and wonder if anybody has any experience with this problem or suggest any solutions. Because neither of my boys are going anywhere. Also just to note my daughter owns a very large 8month old 95lb Akita that Max socializes with often and this behavior has never been this bad. Max does exhibit Alpha male tendencies toward the Akita.

Sorry this post was so long, hoping someone may be able to help.