our first cairn

[rileysmum]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping you guys can give me some guidance as I search for our perfect dog!

After much research I've finally decided a cairn terrier is the dog for us, my two kids aged 7 & 10 wanted a poodle, and my husband wanted a dingo!, so it was up to me to find the right dog.

It has to be good with kids,a good watch dog(as my husband works on boats and is often away),it needs to be a dog dog (a bit tuff),but cute,not smelly or shed to much(as it will be inside alot).

The list of requirements for the perpect dog went on and on, I thought I would never find a dog we all agreed on,and then I found the cairn terrier, before I had even seen a photo(had no idea what a cairn looked like) I was sure this was it,then we saw the pictures, found out it was ToTo and we're hooked.

The thing is I've never known anyone who has owned a cairn so I've never met one ,I found a breeder [Edited to avoid promoting specific breeders] and she has 2 litters due, one soon the other at the end of August, so it will still be a while till we get our puppy.

So my first decision is male or female? we really don't mind,do you think there are any distinct differences, besides size?is house training easier with either sex?one or the other more affectionate?What sex would you get,why?

The other thing is colour, we will love it no matter what colour, but I really love the darker shades,is there any way to get an idea of the colour ie.by looking at the mother or is it the luck of the draw?

Sorry to go on, but I have so many questions(most I won't answer till I get my own puppy).

Thankyou for any help.Deborah

[Teri9672]

I think you came to the right place.... LOL

I have only had female dogs my entire life, so I cannot really compair the two. I have heard that usually male neutered dogs are more affectionate than females.

I can say that most terriers are a little harder to potty train and Cairns can be very stubborn (at least both of my females are).

I think your best bet is to read all the posts here.

As far as color, you never know what you're going to end up with. All puppies atrat out with a darker coat. They can change several different colors over the years. I also love the dark cairns and I hope my newest addition keeps her darker coat.

I'm sure you'll get lots of info here

[Cairns2]

Hi Deborah, welcome to the forum. I have owned 3 Cairns, 2 males and 1 female.

The boys are truly sweet, the female a bit more independent but also sweet. I found both sexes to be a challenge with house training and obedience training. They want to rule the roost so you have to be firm and consistent.

Cairns are great watch dogs - they will bark to warn that someone is around but they are not guard dogs and would rather let the person in to play with them. I do not have children but our former neighbor had twins and Eric loved to play with them. The little girl used to push him around in her doll carriage. He took it all in stride. As for color, your breeder can advise on that. Cairns tend to change color as they mature and with each stripping of the coat. Best of luck in your choice and we'll look forward to seeing some pictures in the future! - Cynthia

[wheezie23]

Hi Deborah and welcome to the forum! This is definitely the place to come for information while doing your research. I commend you on being so thorough. Oh, that other cairn owners (and any breed dog owners) had done a thorough research before bringing that cute puppy home. I think there would be less pure breed dogs at the pound. Anyway, off my soap box!

I have had a female cairn, and now two male cairns. I can tell you that my female was much more independent than the males. She did what she wanted on *her* terms, not mine. She didn't give kisses much and did not like to be petted when she slept. She was easier than the boys to housebreak, but she was still difficult. It took six months before I felt that she was truly housebroken. With both sexes, I highly recommend crate training. Zoe did not trust my kids (8 and 6). She was very aloof with them and avoided them for the most part.

My boys are much more affectionate. They give kisses (to my dh) all day long. They are more obedient than Zoe was and are definitely food motivated. They were difficult to housebreak, though. They like to sleep right next to us, but they're not lap dogs. They don't mind being petted when they're napping. They LOVE my children. They play with them all the time. As long as your kids never, ever tease them (they remember and hold a grudge) and treat them with respect and kindness, I think they are great with children.

As far as being good watchdogs, they are excellent at sounding an alarm if a stray dog, cat or human comes into the yard. But like a previous poster said, they will more likely lick them than bite them.

One thing as well and this is very important: They cannot be trusted off leash. If you do not have a fenced in yard, have them on a leash or tie out whenever they go outside. Their prey drive is very strong and they will chase, whether it's a squirrel across the street, a leaf blowing in the yard, or a car.

Sorry for being so long-winded. I love this breed! I hope that whatever decision you make has been thoroughly researched and is a perfect match for your family. Please come back and tell us what you decided on!

Thela

[toomanypaws]

Hi Deborah, I've always been partial to male dogs, but my female cairns have added new paw prints on my heart. While my 4 yr old is somewhat independent, she still loves to be on the couch w/ someone. My two younger ones simply love to be held and are both very affectionate. My youngest loves to be carried around in a baby position. She would love nothing better than for me to do all of my housework w/ one hand. I honestly can't imagine a dog more affectionate than she is.

[Scully'sMom]

Hi Deborah!

You got some terrific advice here - as you always will. I don't have much to add. My previous Cairn was a female that I had for 14 years. Scully is 2 and is a female. We always had female dogs so I know absolutely NOTHING about the males.

Cairns are SO great with kids. My main thing that I would emphasize is don't EVER let them out without a leash or sneak out. They will just run with the wind and at least with mine, she has a mind of her own and "COME" just isn't in her vocabulary.

Come to think of it, I would like to ask a question myself of those of you with male dogs. My next door neighbor has a Bichon Frise (sp?) who is about 2-3 years old. He marks all over the place in her house. Is that a common thing with boys?

[wags]

Scully's Mom,

When Wes visits his "cousin," we noticed he marked in her house. But then we discovered he only marked where she peed. The last time he visited, he didn't pee anywhere, but he wanted access to the porch in the worst way. That's because she has little "accidents" there.

[wheezie23]

In response to the marking question, I have not had a problem at all with my boys. Of course, they're all neutered. Scruffy was 9 months and intact when we adopted him. He did mark once or twice on the door frame until I had him neutered. After that, never a problem. I highly recommend getting them neutered if you do not have show dogs!

Thela

[Eliz222]

We can't take Scout to any of our friends houses because she marks with both her pee and poo! When we take her on walks, she had to "pee" at about every other house...my DD just commented last night on the amount of "pee" that Scout holds for each house! LOL! I wonder what makes some dogs mark and others not? Finch does not mark outside or inside other homes.

[Marmielin]

My first Cairn, a male, lived to be 17 and marked his whole life . I had to have my dining room drapes cut off at one point because he had used them as his bathroom so much. He was neutered at 6 months, and that did not help the problem. We moved several times during his lifetime, and each time he marked the new house. We loved him, and my dh would never admit how bad he was, but I knew. This time I insisted on a female, and although it took many many months to train her, now that she is housebroken we have no problems. She is very loving and has bonded with us beautifully. I do wish she were more of a lap dog, but she isn't. She does like kisses and love when it is her idea, but not as much as I would like. She prefers to sit on the back of the sofa above one of our heads, but not on our laps . She is very patient and loves to play with my grandchildren. By the way, my dh took Tink out to an open field last night to let her run off leash (I wasn't there). She ran immediately towards the road and he thought she was going to be hit. I had warned him repeatedly, but he had to experience it for himself before he became a believer. He told me this morning she is lucky to be alive, and response was "no, YOU are lucky to be alive." So, as others have stated, do not trust them!

Lindab

[Cairns2]

Shoe, that was very interesting how Scout marks on walks. Emma does this too and the first time it happened I went to my vet's office thinking she had a urinary tract infection! She only does this when we walk away from the house. On our street she is fine but in town she pees at least 5-6 times, just drops to mark her presence. Eric has incredible holding power. He can store it up and pee at will on a walk. We call him the Super Soaker! - Cynthia

[Guest mrskti]

It's been awhile since Ellie has peed in the house (that I can find) but i swear to God, she was on her raft in the pool and peed in the pool!!! heck even the little boys that swim here get out and pee through the fence!! Not ellie though....geeesh.

[Brody'sMom]

We have a male and a female. Both were fairly easy to potty train (why do I think I'm going to pay for being brave enough to type that?), but we got Brody at 4 months (from the breeder, she was trying to decide if he was show quality) and Mia at 5 months (also from the breeder, she was surrendered back to the breeder due to a personal hardship of her first owner) so most of the hard work was done. Brody is more affectionate, but Mia still give kisses and loves to have her belly rubbed. Brody was easier to train as far as obedience and learned to come the first time we called him. We do drop his leash for swims in the park, but we are in an area where he really can't get away (not an open beach). Even though he is very reliable about coming when called in the yard, I'd still never trust him off leash around anything chasable. Mia is completely unreliable about coming when called, she does so in the house, but almost never in the yard. She is also a complete escape artist. We've had a few escapes, we are lucky that we back onto woods with a lot of interesting holes and things that interest her more than the road.