How clever is your cairn?

[rileysmum]

I am amazed at how quickly Rebel has learnt to do as he is told, we have to constantly remind him of some things, but as soon as my voice changes pitch I can see him remember and stop.

When we are home he has free run of the house, with two exceptions, Tannalees room (to many barbie dolls),and up the stairs (carpet and cats up there),Tannalee should keep her door shut,but I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen him sitting at the door looking in, and when he follows me around doing housework he'll stop at her door and wait, same with the stairs, even if he's chasing the cats he'll stop dead at the bottom of the stairs,I know he can go up and down the stairs because thats when it became a big no.

On command he will sit,come,drop and wont eat untill we say ok,now we are trying to teach him to shake hands

Now, he's not perfect, and it helps that I know where he is 99% of the time,like I said, he chases the cats, but he really just wants to play ,he doesn't like the stay command,I can't give him soft toys, he's already eaten winnie the poo and big bird (it just seems wrong).Oh yeah he jumped in the bath with Tanna,he has a tunnel going under the fish pond. But by far the worst ,most disgusting thing is, he loves his puppy poo he is papper trained and if he goes when we arn't around he will do it on the paper then pick it up and take it to bed Yuk,Yuk,Yuk.

We have only had Rebel for a month so I'm pretty happy with how quickly he's learning(besides potty training).

Anyway for all the naughty stories, there must be equally clever stories so how clever is your cairn?

[bradl]

Let's see, Biscuit once found a loose board in our old decaying wood privacy fence and almost got out. We used some wire fencing to repair and stabilize that section of the fence. Later we looked out the family room window to see her back at the fence, in a different spot, punching each board with her paw, one after the other, trying to find another loose board. We wired up a lot of fence before we finally tore the whole thing down and replaced it.

[kayharley]

All I can say is that sometimes they're smarter than me or at the very least, one step ahead.....scary!

[Cairnmania]

I have one very, very smart Cairn (Abby) .. and one less smart :-) Cairn, Rudi. Brains and brawn.

I have an "invisible" type fence in my back garden. There's also regular fencing, but it is not secure and I cannot make it so because of regulations in my community.

I was away on a business trip for about a week. My darling husband decided he would not bother with the collars for the fence. For Abby that's no problem - for Rudi it is and I've told my husband so, but I was away ... so you know how that goes.

Anyway, about an hour before I was due back home my husband said Abby went and found him in his workshop. She was very agitated and "crying" at him - so much so that he got up and followed her as she ran into the house. He started calling Rudi's name because he didn't see him. Could not find him anywhere. My husband then opened our front door and saw Rudi out in the street! So my husband went out and brought Rudi back home -- AND PUT HIS COLLAR ON! (Boy was I mad at him!) I think Abby is brilliant - she knew her buddy had escaped and actually went and told my husband there was an emergency. A real "Lassie" kind of story I think.

Stacey

[Stephandy]

We went to the park the other day for a Cairn Houston Meet up. We met 3 other Cairns. 2 of them (from the same family) knew how to swim in this shallow pool in the dog park. THeir parents are trying to teach Pepper how to swim, so they would throw the toy in there so Pepper can chase after it. Pepper would go into the water (where it is really shallow) and try to reach out for the toy. after awhile, he knows he will not be able to reach it because now the toy is floating over the "deeper part", he would see which way the toy is floating toward and go to that part of the shallow end and wait for the toy to slowly float to him. People around are more amazed at the fact that he knows the toy would float toward a certain direction rather than learn how to swim...

[Zoey in Maine]

Well, I find it pretty funny that Zoey will bark at the trees, a picture sitting on the shelf, the phoen when it rings, a class with ice in it, and anyone putting on a pair of socks sends her into a tizzy !!!! yet when she is hungry she sits silently by her food bowl pateintly waiting for someone to notice her and even more quietly by the back door when she has to go out !!! Funny what they find important !

One smart thing Zoey has learned to do is hide behind a corner and wait for you to come by and she jumps out at you !!!! As if to say "boooooo" !!!

Cairns are great !

[newcairn]

Hmmmmmm....I have so many that come to mind. But I think overall I find the curious nature of Cairns to be all-around clever, most of them figure out patterns extremely well, and when they want something can acutally use problem-solving skills to get it. There is no smarter breed as far I am concerned.

I live in the large newly developed neighborhood, which has about a 1 mile loop that I walk everyday with Digby. I think the most clever thing he has learned is to walk perfectly without a leash, and to never walk more than 10-20 feet in front of me, and most importantly to stay off of peoples' lawns. He understands he needs to walk where I walk and I find that amazing.

Mine has figured out ways to do many neat things, whether it be cute or devlish. But then manages to consistenly run into the screen door face-first whenever I open the slider, because he HAS to get outside first to chase the squirrel that is always out there. I never tire of seeing that, it is a real hoot, but also makes me wonder.

[MikeC]

I don't know which of them is doing this, whether it is Duffy my Cairn or Mickey my Westie, but one of them has learned to unplug lights, alarm clocks etc. Mind you, whichever one is doing it does not chew the plug or the cord, just removes the plug from the socket. I have a feeling that it might be Mickey so we try to keep an eye on him. I wonder if they know what they are doing and I have a practical joker on my hands?

Mike

[CathyAnn]

Mike...that is too funny !!

We also found a few things unplugged and finally figured out that it was happening when our two were doing their "looney" runs thru the house while chasing each other.

One of the things I miss watching now that we just have Piper.....

Cathy