Question about Cairns

[Guest]

My family is looking for another dog to be a companion to our 6 year old silky terrier. I've been doing research on Cairns and so far this seems like the ideal breed for our lifestyle. However, my mother has some concerns about "smell". Our silky doesn't have a doggy odor at all, and my mother doesn't like stinky dogs (we have had springer spaniels in the past, and she uses them as an example of "smelly"). Do Cairns have an especially strong scent?

Any info would help, thanks.

[PTBoater]

Mine does when I take him out in the grass and sun all day and don't bathe him for a couple of days. I am willing to bet that the silky terrier would smell too under those conditions...

We bathe our Cairn once a week, sometimes twice depending on outdoor activity, and he sleeps with us. I don't particularly care to share my bed with a stinky dog. :? He is mostly an indoor/air conditioner dog, so he doesn't get smelly. But after 5-6 days without a bath he does start to stink.

But don't we all? :mrgreen:

[Guest]

Yep, we have to wash the silky every time we take him to the beach, hehe. Great, thanks for the info and anything else people can think of would be appreciated.

[bradl]

To me, notwithstanding rolling in dead seagulls or horse poop, most cairns with good harsh coats and healthy skin have either no odor or an agreeable one. Your view may differ. Best method is to find some and start sniffing. A lot can depend on environment. A cairn living in a kennel situation may have a kennel smell that would be different if living in your own household.

[Posey]

The idea of a companion dog sounds good. But a Cairn Terrier is a puppy that requires a lot of attention and love. But they are so precious it is easy to give it to them. They are very playful and love to nip at people, and things. And with our Nicky, it was he would always come at you mouth first and it would be open. He would jump up to nip and play; even if that was not the purpose of his getting attention at that time. It does get on your nerves, terriers are not quiet little creatures. They will chew up things if given half a chance. A lot of chew toys are very necessary. He is now 14 months old and is beginning to settle down some. But he still will grab stuff and run with it and chew it up if he can get to it before we get to him. They have huge teeth for their size-is your Silky Terrier fragile? Nicky is not gentle with anything. He is one rough little fella. He has not been smacked around on at all. And if you would, he would think that you are playing and wag his tail and nip at you. Odor? He is kept clean, sometimes we have gone a month or longer without a "real" bath. But I buy these doggie wipes from the pet store and go over his body with them every week. But then we don't sleep with him he has his own crate for sleeping. Nicky is very possessive over my husband, not so much me. But Heaven help the cat or another dog that gets close to his "daddy". I don't know how possessive your Cairn would be over your family. Would your Silky be willing to "share" any of you with another dog? I would not trade Nick for anything nor give him up if I could help it. But would I go adopt another Cairn. Have to really think on that one, as long as we have Nick.

Posey

[PTBoater]

That is a really good point. My wife and I have thought about a second Cairn, but have decided against it because Sammy seems very "jealous". We also have two cats, and although they tolerate each other, they are EXTREMELY jealous. One cannot pet one without the other coming over and picking a fight. (Actually, the cats are jealous of each other too :? )

I would suspect that it is possible, but difficult, once a dog has been established as "top dog" in a household. I would also imagine that getting two dogs at once would be easier.

[Posey]

It is a brave sould to tackle that. The thought of two Cairn Terrier puppies at once! I think of two Nickys at once and just stare out in space blankly----

Posey

[Guest]

Thanks for all this great feedback!

Nope, our silky isn't the least bit fragile, he can be pretty rough-and-tumble himself. :wink: There are usually at least 1 or 2 people in the house all the time, and a cairn puppy would have everyone's attention. As far as tolerance goes, our silky is great with other dogs (especially puppies) and doesn't get jealous or protective as long as he gets a share of the lovin'.

It's good to hear they won't get too smelly living indoors, I'll pass this info along to my family; a Cairn seems like a great choice at the moment, now its just a matter of finding some for sale. There's a breeder listed on this website about half an hour from our house, so we'll give her a call.

[Mama Kim]

It is a brave sould to tackle that.  The thought of two Cairn Terrier puppies at once!  I think of two Nickys at once and just stare out in space blankly----  

Posey

Posey, so funny!! My husband wanted to get Piper and both her littermates and name them Larryk, Curly and Mo. Can you believe I actually briefly considered this? I can't handle one little puppy, what would I have done with three?

[Posey]

There is not anything any cuter then a fluffy little Cairn puppy. They wag those little tails and your heart can overtake your brain. Would you believe that I look up pictures of Cairn Puppies on the net just to look at them! But one live wire like Nicky, who takes up hour after hour and still doesn't want anything but more time. I know that I can look at Cairn puppies and look some more. No touching to bring one home at this point. Love from afar!

Posey

[bradl]

From observation (and a little experience) I would hazard the guess that, on average, getting two puppies at the same time is much much harder than getting one a year, or preferably two years, apart. The older dog helps train the puppy. (Maybe the more worldly dog helps translate our insane two-foot ideas to 'dog language' for the puppy?)

We found two Cairns to be less than twice the work of one. We found three cairns to be more than three times the work of one.