Does anyone else see this in your dogs?

[fiddler927]

For those of you who have Cairns along with other breeds (I have a Cairn and a Scottie), have any of you noticed that your Cairn tends to dominate? That certainly has been true in my house. When we first got Ellie, she was a tiny pup, so of course, my Scottie, who was nine years old at the time, was Alpha. But since Ellie has grown up, she has been the dominant doggie in this household, with Black Lady taking a secondary role. I've wondered if it's due to the breed, or her age?

Laurie

[Cairnmania]

I suspect it's not due to anything but Ellie's personality.

In the past I had (at the same time) 2 German Shepherds, 1 Cairn and 1 Yorkie. Rank order of the pack was 1) German Shepherd 2) Yorkie 3) Cairn and 4) German Shepherd.

[fiddler927]

Thanks for the input

[Napi'smom]

in my house the cairn is the dominant

we had Sammy (mix lab shepperd) for 3 years before we got Napoleon and little by little Napoleon became king of the house, I actually feel bad for Sammy, he won't even take a treat if Napoleon is around, I practically have to shove it in his mouth and then he runs to the basement where Napoleon cannot get to him.

Its hilarious at times but I also wish Sammy would put him in his place once in a while. He is such a sweetie to Napoleon regardless!!

[Darcy's Mom]

Darcy definitely rules at my house. I don't know if it's because she is older (by 3 mo.) and we got Darcy b/4 Molly but Molly won't even consider eating her dinner until Darcy is through with hers. Same thing re sleeping arrangements. Molly won't go near Darcy's bed (we have one for each dog) unless Darcy is on the couch or not in the room. BTW, Molly is a mixed Scottie/JR Terrier. And also, she's kinda a wuss anyway. Could be the cross breeding makes her kinda skittish with loud noises.

[sheila and Misty]

Well I cant say at this moment with Misty being shes an only furkid, But I can tell you when I had a yorkie,and at 9 years old introduced a mistreated 5 year old lhash apso..hmm the lasha wouldnt let my yorkie off the chair for 3 days..finally she had enough spazzed on him and from that day on she led him around..she had him waiting patiently as she meticulously ate one morsel of food from her dish-at a time across the room untill she walked away and layed down. He was then permitted to finish what she left. He had his own of course,,but waited for that extra mouthfull. Its amazing how the personality and confidence of the dogs(just like people) is what makes up the leaders or the followers.

[Napi'smom]

This is too funny, I can picture your Yorkie, waiting for his turn....

Napoleon is not too bad to Sammy, i mostly notice it with the treats and God forbid, Napoleon is not in the mood for a treat and takes his goes to "bury" it someplace, poor Sammy goes near the spot, probably with no intention of taking the treat and he gets the barking treatment from Napo.

[montdoug]

Gus is everybody's friend and nobody's enemy. I can set Gus's food down and his buddy Merlin the cat comes up and Gus will let him in to share his chow, while Merlin is eating Gus waits patiently for him to lift his head.

I too think it's a personality thing established as puppies in the litter. I heard one time some breeders actually separate all puppies at birth and bring the bitch to them individually to feed so every pup felt dominant. Supposedly gave them better attitude for the show ring. Don't know if it's true or not but the logic is sound.

I like the fact Gus doesn't feel dominant, keeps a small dog out of trouble.

[fiddler927]

Gosh, Napi'smom, it sounds so similar to the situation in my house. Black Lady doesn't try to get on the sofa if Ellie is already there. On the other hand, if Black Lady is there first, sometimes Ellie will curl up elsewhere, or sometimes she will elbow her way between me and the other dog. And heaven help the cat if she decides she wants some lap time while the dogs are there!

[Toby23]

Izzy was our senior mixed girl and she was the top dog, totally at the top. She would snap at Blue to put him in his place, Izzy weighed maybe a third of what Blue does. She's now at the Bridge, waiting on me......

Now with Toby and Blue, with Blue being so passive I thought Toby would jump up and be dominate, but to be honest, they are neck and neck, only thing that Toby does that might be passive, when they get to playing Toby will all of a sudden roll onto his back, very passive like. Toby wants to play more then Blue does, when Toby initates a game of bitey face and Blue ignores Toby's demands, Toby then will start nipping at Blue's legs and feet so Blue has to play !

[Mike P]

Daisy is dominant in this pack. We recently added a toy poodle to our pack and Daisy dominates her. Before that I didn't think Daisy had a dominant bone in her body. They see me as the alpha male and my wife as the alpha female then it's Daisy and finally Doodle. They play well together but Daisy doninates her.

Mike P

[Amber and the zoo]

Our pups will share their food with eachother. We really only need to put one bowl down, although we do use seperate ones just so they don't "have" to share. The only thing they get really possessive of is their nawing treats. We can walk right up to them and take them away with only a slightly confused and disappointed look, but if another dog or cat comes near...watch out.

In fact, Gracie was chewing a bone the other night and Ellie kept trying to take it and tease her, etc, etc. After the extreme growling and barking, we decided we had had enough and we were going to put them in their seperate "areas". Well Dan went to pick her up and she must have thought it was Ellie because she nipped Dan right on the end of the finger. She knew right away though and backed up with her ears back and tail between her legs.

I think they are still too young to decide who might be the alpha. They BOTH show alpha-tendencies...but around the German Shepherd--well he is about the biggest wuss ever--although they know Tuff, the Lab is Queen bee

[we love izzy and ollie]

Well I was sure our Izzy was to be the dominant one. But we've recently added an altered male Scotty to our pack and he's definately the dominant macho man! Izzy will back down to him mostly but if it's anything to do with her bully stick she will give him heck.

This is the new guy..

fiddler, OT but,

Do you groom your Scotty yourself? I was wondering if i could use the Mars Coat King that I use on the Cairns on him..He's getting pretty thick coated.

thanks,

kasey

[fiddler927]

I haven't groomed her myself, but since their coats are pretty much the same, I don't see why what works for a Cairn wouldn't work for a Scottie. Of course, they're supposed to look different, but that's a matter of cutting hair. As far as combing, they're both double-coated terriers, so why not?

Laurie

[kcsdogs]

We currently have 3 Cairns, a German Shepherd and a Boston Terrier. My Cairn Kipper is deffinetly dominant although Sydney the GSD would like to think she is..........

[fiddler927]

Something about that Cairn personality just makes them that way, I guess!

[hallswel]

I have three Cairns and a pug. Rebel is the oldest and he is King and he fusses at the others when they are too loud but mostly he is the gentle type of leader. There is Sugar who is not sweet she takes everything from others and is really bossy but she is submissive to Rebel if we didn't have Rebel to keep her in check she would be horrible. Then Harley is just everyones friend for now but when the she is older I think she will change.

Hamm the Pug trys to play but he is always being put in his place.