New member to the forum!

[micheleb26]

Hello All! I am new member to these boards. I

[gus]

Hi Michele,

First, congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Hope you have a long and loving marriage. I don't think you can go wrong getting another cairn. IMO I would wait until after the honeymoon to bring another dog into the house. Your life is likely to be a little hectic from now until then and it might be a very stressful situation for a new dog to start off in. Are you sure you want to get another puppy? Have you considered adoption/rescue? There are dozens of dogs out there of all ages just hoping for a good forever home. Most of these are mature, house trained, fully vetted and crate trained. You might take a look at the Colonel Potter Cairn Terrier Rescue Network. They do marvelous work with these little dogs. Good luck.

[bradl]

Definitely wait until after the hubub of starting a new life with your upcoming marriage settles down. A puppy needs an INSANE amount of attention and two can get into mischief one can only dream of.

Many people get multiple dogs at various times and make it work. In an ideal world, I'd recommend waiting until the first Cairn is about two. Longer if you can bear it. Most Cairns are at least beginning to settle down by then and the older dog will be able to teach the new pup some manners in ways that only another dog can. Plus you will have given the first dog the benefit of your full attention and active training. The older dog will be young enough to play actively for many years, and be terrific company for a new puppy.

Another thought to consider now, even though it makes my eyes leak a little to think about our two ten-year-olds, is that even if all goes well, two pups the same age will likely be dying at right about the same time - of old age, one hopes. If you're of the "I never want to NOT have a dog" type, you may want to set up a rotation where you have only one geriatric dog at a time, both to meter out the heartbreak and control the expense of caring for geriatric dogs.

Of course, this kind of thinking seems to lead to at least three dogs: one old, one middle-aged, and one puppy coming along

[Guest girliejr]

Brad, your thinking on the "rotation" system reminds me of some dating advice I received once: "Always have one coming in, one going out, and one in the middle!". Actually, it is good advice for dogs AND men now that I think about it!

I'd wait until after the wedding before I got another dog (puppy or rescue). Do you already have someone lined up to care for your dog while your on your honeymoon? If you are boarding your Cairn, two in boarding for 10 days can be VERY expensive! Just something to think about before you "take the plunge".

Oh, and congrats on your wedding....once things settle down, I'm sure another Cairn is in your future! Have fun!!

[Scully'sMom]

Hi Michele - welcome to the group and best wishes on your upcoming wedding! The fall is such a great time for weddings - ours was in November.

I'm with the crowd in waiting until after the honeymoon and you're all settled. I only have one so I don't have the expertise that the majority of moms and dads here have with multiple Cairns. You're going to have enough on your plate as they say with the wedding/honeymoon plans. Let yourself get used to married life and then jump into the fray with another Cairn. IMHO!

[Anna_525]

Congratulations, and welcome to the board!

I'll just echo everyone's advice - wait till things settle down, then you can give your full attention to the new cairn, plus your current one.

Love to see pics!

[Eliz222]

Congrats on your upcoming marriage! IMO, I would wait until after the honeymoon too...puppies are sooooooooo much work, and you just won't have time to take care of a wee one during your wedding plans.

I have two Cairns and adopted Finch when Scout had just turned two. It's a perfect age to adopt a second one, but now, according to Brad, I'm going to have to get another dog! LOL! See Brad....it's going to be all your fault if I walk in the house with another Cairn!

[toomanypaws]

Hi, congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Like the rest here, I too agree to wait until after the honeymoon to add a puppy to your home. They're alot like a baby, so take the time to enjoy eachother before taking on the responsibilities of a pup. I would think you have enough to think about w/ the preparation of your wedding. Enjoy this time to the fullest. The puppy will be an added blessing after your honeymoon.

I agree w/ Brad that's it's best to space your cairns (or other dogs) out. My first two are almost 2 1/2 yrs apart and my third is only 6 mths younger than my middle cairn. I guess you could call her an "unplanned pregnancy" being she obviously wasn't planned but impossible not to keep. I don't regret one minute having two so close in age, but it will be quite a few years before adding another cairn to our home.

[kayharley]

Hi....glad to have you aboard. I'll echo everyone elses comments that it would be best to wait awhile, at least until after your wedding and you're settled in.

I don't know if you have a breeder yet but it can take awhile to get a puppy from a reputable breeder. If you're anxious to add to your Cairn family now you can always find a breeder and put a deposit down on a pup. He/she may not even be born yet but at least you'll know it will happen in the near future. Most breeders won't let the pups go until 8-10 weeks so the timing might just work out for you.

Brad, your comments about the rotation process is something I've had tucked away in the back of my mind that I can't think about without intense emotion. I'm sure that is why I have an 11 year old, a 2 year old and a 1 year old. To be dogless would be a fate I couldn't bear but they all have such different personalities that one cannot replace another....they are just all so dear to my heart.

Life goes on and on a happier note, we have a new forum member.

[Maggie15]

Hi we're getting married in October too, and we're heading off for a month after, without maggie (she's 5 months old now)!...that'll be hard to do for us, and luckily we have great dog sitters! We knew that it would be hard this year but we also wanted to be on some waiting lists for a cairn as it can take over a year to get one around here from a reputable breeder (and there aren't any non-reputable ones around here that i've seen!!). I would say wait at least until after the wedding so that you can give full attention to the new pup... I also agree with Brad to wait a bit longer at least until you have your current dog trained well and the new pup can learn from the positive example set by the mature dog...

Congratulations!

A and J

[hallswel]

Congrats on the wedding and I would also wait. Rebel was 18 months old when we got Hammurabi and now Hamm is 18 months old and we are getting Sugar.

Brad had a great suggestion!

[Chocklit]

Just to throw in my two cents' worth here...I feel like a bit of a fraud, since neither of my two dogs is a purebred Cairn. But we have had considerable experience with dogs AND weddings (daughter and son), and I would agree that it is better to wait until after the honeymoon - for all the reasons stated in the previous posts! However, I would like to add a word of warning.

For years we had two dogs who were best buddies and constant companions. Shogun, the older dog, allowed Lucky to wash his ears and generally mother him. When he died at age 13, Lucky went into deep mourning, refusing to eat and losing all interest in life. A local animal shelter had a litter of Cairn X pups, and we brought home the sweetest little 6-week old darling, to be a new friend for Lucky. To our horror, Lucky totally rejected the puppy, growling and baring her teeth whenever Penny came near. (Fortunately our little girl was just the right age to "mother" a puppy!) This situation continued for about two weeks; then one day we found Penny, pinned to the ground by a firm paw, having her ears washed by her new best friend!

What we didn't know is that puppies have a special scent that acts as a protective mechanism and "warns off" older dogs. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, and it may not be a problem with your youngster, but I thought I would mention it.