Going from one Cairn to two...

[Bailey]

Hi Everyone! I hope everyone is doing well. I love looking at all the pictures of your beautiful Cairns, but rarely get the time to post my own. Anyway, my fianc

[ParNone]

My personal experience was that two was easier then one. Murph was so hyper as a puppy, that I really felt he needed a playmate during the day, while I was at work. I got Maddie, when Murph was around 6 mos old. They were total opposites in personality. Murph, although hyper and a handful, had an easy going personality, very much submissive for a terrier. Maddie was quite dominant to Murph, but was so well behaved and easy to train for me and had a calm personality for a terrier puppy.

Because of her ease, having two young terriers didn't seem like any extra work. In fact it was less, because at that time she had enough energy to play with Murph and tire him out while I was at work, so I now came home to 2 calm puppies. I've a feeling that I really lucked out in this regard though. Such an easy terrier puppy, like Maddie, I think is probably a rarity.

After they passed the 2 year old mark though, Maddie seemed less thrilled with having Murph around. She became morely spuddly and didn't want to be pestered by Murph to play. She also developed an attitude where she could care less about the company of other dogs. It was all about people for her. They were the be all, end all. So I think if she'd had her way, Murph would have been an outside dog and she'd have been an inside person.

They had lil' squabbles that I had to referee over the years, but nothing that ever reached a serious fighting level. Murph lost some Cairny fur a few times, but no blood shed. So I still felt like having two was a good choice. No regrets. But when I got Oz, my Collie, a few years ago, Murph was in 7th Heaven. He finally got his play buddy. A submissive male Collie and a submissive male Cairn were apparently made for each other. So much harmony between them, it's almost zen-like.

Les...

[Eliz222]

I think having two Cairns is easier than having one. It's not easier, in the beginning, because you have to go through all the puppy "stuff" again, but once that is over, it's great!!

I waited until Scout was two before we adopted Finch. Scout was well trained, but still very active, so having a playmate was great for her!

[Aurora5000]

The older one teaches the younger one a routine to follow. The younger one has an example of what to do and how to conduct actions. Ours sleep in a huge cage with a divider and seperate entrances. The older oneChase likes having a break from his younger brother Gus. One is '04 litter and the other is '05 litter, same mom and dad. Really no fighting between them. At the end of the day, they play outside when it is cool with their favorite toy... the elastic top of my underwear with 2 knots in it. One will get one end and the other gets the other end. The tugging and growling match is on. Life expectantcy of elastic... 2 weeks at best. Seeing them play tug-o-war....Priceless