MUSHU

[Lili]

Hola!

Well, after more than a year planning it, and after having postponed it last year because of my pregnancy and newborn baby, I finally picked up our Cairn puppy last Saturday at the breeder's place near Sulphur Springs, TX.

I must say this little puppy is exceeding everyone's expectations: he behaved extremely well that night at the hotel, and throughout the whole trip (2 ours in the car, 2 hours at the airport, 1.5 hour flight). Didnt make a fuss about being in the sherpa bag, came out and went in obediently, didn't bark or whine... the only thing that concerned me was that he only peed three times during the whole day.

At home Mushu as also amazed us: extremely well behaved with my 3 year old daughter Luisa: he has nipped, but VERY few times, and VERY gently (and from our reaction, he does seem to get that there's something not quite right about doing that). He has barked, but very seldomly, to strange sounds. He goes in and stays in his crate without complaints, and he is ALMOST paper trained (we've had our share of accidents already, but again, this pup doesn't "go" very often...).

From many of your posts, I was getting ready to receive a little devil, or at least a puppy that needed to be taught all of this things he seems to already know at 3 months old.

Is this too good to be true? Should I wait a little longer to form an idea, because most likely he hasn't showed his "true colors" yet? Or can I start cellebrating my luck?

Maybe I'm just very happy to finally have our pup...

Have a nice one!

[Madwand]

I picked up my 8 week old Friday and was worried myself that she went the whole day w/out peeing (or eating/drinking), but that night she did and has been pottying like a fiend all weekend til now.

She does a lot of mouthing/biting, but gently--her mom probably made sure of that. I was playing with her with my hand, you know, where you grab at them and they grab back to see who's quicker, and she did a couple of little cute barks at my hand. I'll have to watch that. It was cute, but I do not wanna create a barker (I think that barking is a learned behavior, not something they just do, I've never had a barker unless I taught it, like for strangers at the door and such).

You have received a little , you just don't see it yet. Ours has to spend more time than I would like in her crate and when she comes out, it's like a tasmanian devil! I put one thing back where she got it from and she's already got something else she shouldn't have by the time I turn around. I'm going to Toys R Us tomorrow to get one of those hard plastic 5' swimming pools (they're $5!) for a playpen so I can have a little sanity while she's out of her crate (and I can do some water conditioning with it also--our last one was terrified of water and mine are sailing dogs, so they need to be happy in water). As Ceasar says, it's time for some serious walks.

Luckily, they are as smart and affectionate as they are hard-headed !

[CathyAnn]

Congrats on your new pup!!

As far as when the little will start (and, it will).....well, keep us posted.

Cathy

[GirlieJr]

Jack had me lulled into a false sense of puppyhood during the first week or so....he finally became "himself" after a few weeks.

[Eliz222]

Congrats on your new puppy. She's adorable!

I had a pretty easy time with Finch. She never chewed on anything, and was pretty quickly housebroken. As for the bark, she was quiet at first, but when she "found" her bark, she started barking and hasn't stopped since! She barks when anyone comes to the door, or when she sees a neighbor outside.

Scout had to stay in a crate (when we were out of the house) until she was over 2 years old. Finch was only 12 months old when we allowed her freedom.

It all depends on the dog. Some are easy, some are hard, but they are all adorable and they will be the best dog you have ever had!!

[pkcrossley]

i agree with everybody else --mushu is clearly a seriously cunning devil. look how she's setting you up with this "oh i'm so perfect thing." wait till she lowers the boom!

if i'm wrong, take her back --you didn't get a cairn.

[jimnconnie]

Congratulations on your beautiful new girl. Have you ever heard of "the calm before the storm"? Just kidding, it's not really that bad, but don't expect everything to always go so smoothly. These little fur people are an independent breed, and not always so ready to do our bidding, but with patience and lots of work on training you will have a long time companion to love and enjoy. Be sure to post lots of pictures!! Good luck.

[shergry]

DH reminded me that "WE ARE NOT TRAINING THEM! THEY ARE TRAINING US?" Just kidding, we are always "IN" training. Everyday brings a new surprise-bird, mouse, oops (accident), etc. They are just so cute that it is hard to see any flaw or little devil lurking in the wings. I know that I have said this before....these cairns are referred to in the "Dog World" as the Tazmanian Devils of dogs. Example: my boy will act as if he does not see the other dog, etc. and then all of a sudden here comes the tornado dance ( a couple of times lost his lead and the chase was on). Anyway we love him and his girlfriends so "Have a Grand Full Life of Cairnitist".

[Madwand]

Have you ever heard of "the calm before the storm"?

Isn't it "the cairn before the storm?"

[Madwand]

[Lili]

Well, it didn't take him long...

No, seriously, now I understand all the things I read in this forum for the past year; this little devil is so adorable, you can't get mad at him. At least not for too long. But my back patio has seen his true colors, and so has my kitchen and living room. We already changed the carpets downstairs to tile floor (we had already planned this, but the first few days with Mushu here showed us we couldn't wait any longer!). I'm just struggling because my work schedule got pretty loaded this month and I wish I was home more to be able to train him well.

He still amazes me with several things: He's a natural at fetching. That's something I couldn't train my poodle to do in 13 years. He's pretty good on his leash, and we've already went out for good walks. So far, he hasn't destroyed anything but newspapers, and he has had the chance! And he's also pretty well behaved when it comes to nipping. Plus, he probably was crate trained by the breeder, because he's been also great at it.

To be honest, it is just the housebreaking that has me a little uneasy, because I don't feel I have good control over it (see other post: "Back patio Cairn".)

But I'm so sure I made the right choice of breed for our family. I really love my Mushu...

Thanks for the great responses.

[Deb]

MUshu is so cute. . My husband and i work different shifts and I am only part time so I was able to be home a lot and the training went very well but noticed when there was a babysitter or my husband home with the kids thats when most accidents happened, because I let them out almost every hour. We have recently got the yard fenced in and that has made it so much easier just open the sliders and let them out no more walking with the leash in the rain!