New Cairn game?

[Hagar]

Renny is a neutered male who will be 1 year old on the 19th of this month. Is the following behavior common in Cairns? If it is, I'd consider it evidence that a Cairn is capable of actually thinking something through, and not just running on "instinct".

Over the last Month or so, he has devised a new "game". Whenever I'm trying to read the paper, watch TV, or otherwise not devoting my full attention to him, he will "Hide" a toy, usually a well chewed "slimy" piece of rawhide bone, sometimes a squeaky ball. After he has it hidden, he will bark or otherwise get my attention so that I have to get up and "Find" whatever he has hidden. After I find it and give it back to him, he will play with it for a bit in order to "Reslime" it, and then hide it again and "ask" me to find it again. If I "find" the wrong item, he simply drops it and I have to find the one he wants. He will keep this up for a half hour or so.

At first he'd "Hide" the item in plain sight, usually wedged into a corner or between the cushions on the couch or chair or something similar and I actually thought that maybe he simply couldn't get it out. Now he is getting more creative and pushing it under the back of the recliner, behind a waste basket, or somewhere else where it is out of sight, sometimes he even hides it in a different room. When I get up to find it, he follows me until I find it. He does not lead me to it.

I have to admit that I enjoy the "game" and he definitely has a good time. I'm convinced that he actually plans ahead. One of these days he might even let me read the paper in one sitting!

What games has your Cairn invented?

Hagar.

[Kathryn]

Allie has a similar game with her squeaky ball. Sometimes when I'm on the couch reading, she'll bring her squeaky ball up for a game of fetch and keep-away. Keep-away eventually bores me, and I give up and go back to reading. Then she will roll her ball under the couch, where she can't get it, and bark until I get down and "fetch" it out for her. Then the game starts over again until I get tired, fetch the squeaky ball from under the couch and put it on top of the fridge.

She'll give up for a while then. But later on, if the ball is still on top of the fridge, she'll bark again, looking up at it, until I give it to her.

[grillywarren]

Does eating the paper while

I am reading it count? If so Madison

invented that game!

ellie

[Brody'sMom]

Then she will roll her ball under the couch, where she can't get it, and bark until I get down and "fetch" it out for her. Then the game starts over again until I get tired, fetch the squeaky ball from under the couch and put it on top of the fridge.

Brody and Mia do this! Brody will also get on the couch with a toy and position the toy near the edge of the couch. He will then lay with his nose just touchinch the toy. Eventually a slight movement on his part will cause the toy to fall off the edge of the couch and then he catches it. He'll do this over and over again. We don't think he has any idea he actually causes the toy to move.

[tena]

Sophie will play this dart by the cat and make a racket to get me to play fetch. She also takes her toy and goes through this elaborate ritual of catching, then flopping on her back while killing the toy.l

[Eliz222]

That is sooo funny! Cairns are so bright....getting you to play seek and find is to funny!

Scout would drop the ball in front of us, when she wanted to play. If we didnt' react soon enough, or ignored her, she would come and drop the ball in our lap.

Finch.....well...she is never more than 5 feet from her beloved frisbee. Anytime anyone gets up, or moves in/out of the room, Finch is right behind them with the frsibee hanging from her two lower front teeth.

[sanford]

My cairn does the same thing. He'll come up to me and give one short bark and stare at me with his tail wagging furiously. This means he wants to play with his "treat ball". I put some chopped carrots or kibble in it and he rolls it around endlessly until the treats are gone. If it gets stuck under or behind some furniture, he comes running back to me with such urgency, in effect saying:"help me! Quick! My toy is stuck and the world will come to an end if you don't get it back for me immediately!!!

At first I was concerned that he'd have me filling the ball and rescuing it all day long, but luckily, once he's gotten all the treats out, he's nice and tired and goes to sleep for a few hours. Yipee!

[Saidi'sDad]

Saidi does the ball under the couch thing also. At first we thought it was accidental, but then realized it happened more often when we were being couch potatoes and Saidi thought we needed exercise. One of the funniest things is when she takes her ball upstairs and holds it over the edge of the loft overlooking the living room. She will drop it and you'll hear it hit the floor. Sometimes when she's really annoyed she'll put a little throw into the effort allowing the ball to land on the couch next to or on me. The first time she did this it scared the $#!+ out of me because I was in the house alone! Another thing she does is drop the ball repeatedly on a hard surface so it makes bouncing noises. This is her way of saying "ok, it's me time"

[Darcy's Mom]

When our male, Toby, was with us (since gone over the Rainbow Bridge) and it was Christmas present wrapping time, I would drag everything out into the middle of the den floor and sit down to wrap. Well, wouldn't you know, the one thing I'm trying to wrap is the one piece of paper he wanted so he would just stand on it so that I couldn't wrap the present. He was one stubborn Cairn terrier. If I had it, he wanted it or would figure out a way that I couldn't use it either. So funny.

[tlwtheq]

Whenever I'm trying to read the paper, watch TV, or otherwise not devoting my full attention to him, he will "Hide" a toy, usually a well chewed "slimy" piece of rawhide bone, sometimes a squeaky ball. After he has it hidden, he will bark or otherwise get my attention so that I have to get up and "Find" whatever he has hidden. After I find it and give it back to him, he will play with it for a bit in order to "Reslime" it, and then hide it again and "ask" me to find it again. If I "find" the wrong item, he simply drops it and I have to find the one he wants. He will keep this up for a half hour or so.

At first he'd "Hide" the item in plain sight, usually wedged into a corner or between the cushions on the couch or chair or something similar and I actually thought that maybe he simply couldn't get it out. Now he is getting more creative and pushing it under the back of the recliner, behind a waste basket, or somewhere else where it is out of sight, sometimes he even hides it in a different room. When I get up to find it, he follows me until I find it. He does not lead me to it.

Ah, yes! This is a common game in the Wilk household...it's almost like they're blackmailing you into playing even if you may not feel like it. They will bark until you retrieve the toy. Another one that Olie does is put the toy in my purse which is usually right next to me...on top of all the things in whatever pocket he chooses. He knows that gets my attention as well. They do seem calculating, eh?

Tara, Cairn Mom for life!