Jump to content
CairnTalk

Does your Cairn run laps?


biochembelle

Recommended Posts

I live in a condo, so I don't have a backyard, but when I take Kenna to my parents' house, she loves the backyard. The strange thing is she runs laps. She has a set path, past the water dish, occasionally stopping for a drink, behind the plants, around the spa, through one flowerbed, down the slope, stop and sniff, up past the water wheel and pond, behind the roses, past the patio, sometimes stopping to lay in a mud hole to cool off and back up again a second later, and it starts all over again. Occasionally, she stops and changes directions. She has no interest in coming inside, even to go to bed. When my mom's dog, who is one of her favorite play buddies, tries to play with Kenna, Kenna kind of snaps at her. She goes for hours and hours, seemingly non-stop.

Does your Cairn do this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep..Puddles is a non stop dog..

We have large yard with a fence and usually thats where you will find her. When It time to go to the beach or the park or just to go bye bye I have to literally chase her to get her away from her kingdom. Working on her recall :thumbsup:

I love the energy of the Cairn. I love where someone calls them the energizer bunnies. here is her daily routine.

Out the back door down the satirs and over to Dozers pen. She sniffs around and barks at him as she circles him. she runs to the base of the willow tree and rolls around in the mulch. Over to the shed and she digs around underneath it. She will be there awhile until the cat sees her around its den and manages to flush her out. She runs to the pond and jumps in. shakes off and rolls around to her pool. she'll bark at the pool if the water is dirty. ill dump, rinse, and start to fill it.. she grabs the hose and pulls it out. That happens ALOT. So it takes a while to fill.. Once its filled, she jumps out and back into the pond..She is like watching a pinball game.. I wouldnt change a thing...except for recall :)

I LOVE MY CAIRNS PUDDLES AND IRIS!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes! this seems to be another famous cairn obsession. my dog will start it when trying to find one of his toys in the grass. he starts with big circles and makes them smaller, and sometimes the other way around. about half the time he forgets what it was about and makes it about running round and round, round and round, round and round. usually he begins to get a bit frenetic and i have to stop him and get him to "calm, calm" before he has a heart attack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We call them "Sports Cairns" - I particularly like when they are going so fast they have to lean into a tight turn like a motorcycle. Another nice move is the Cairn Roll, where they change direction with a barrel roll.

A lot of dogs apparently do this, particulalry as puppies - one book calls the phenomenon FRAPs - Frenetic Random Activity Periods. (Another popular term is Cracker Dog.) It's also fun when one dog doing laps entices one or more additional dogs into joining them in laps. A high-speed parade :) Cairns seem to enjoy this activity well into adulthood. Our 12 year-olds will still join in occasionally.

CAIRNTALK: Questions? Need help? → Support Forum Please do not use PMs for tech support
CRCTC: Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Cassie does the Cracker dog thing. My rather large yard has a worn trail around it. Unfortunately she did it at Earthdog, circling the tunnels, judge and handler in a wide circle. Ears back and racing while making that er..er..er sound right? The crowd laughed at us pretty good. It was almost as loud a roar as when she did a backflip in conformation. She didn't land on her feet either. If they gave points for comic relief we would be champions for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dianer, thanks for the great description of Cassie's show at earthdog!!! I can just imagine the reaction her behavior got from a bunch of other little terrier owning folks! My westie did the "rip tear" around the house well into her golden years. She was too frail to jump up onto the beds, but she would still occasionally take off tearing like she was just a puppy. My poor cairn had very specific routes in our old house. Now were in a much smaller apartment and he has very odd patterns as he trys to find a nice circuitous route around the not so open floorplan! Soon we'll have a house, but he has a strict personal rule about running on any hard surfaces - he hates em - so it'll be interesting living in a house that is wall to wall hardwoods....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kenna wore a path today alone. She went out at 5am. At 11am, she was still running laps. I'm pretty sure she was running laps for 6 hours! It took my mother and me 30 minutes to corner her and catch her, so I could put her in the crate for a much needed nap. Of course this was after a dunk in the doggie wading pool to clean her undercarriage.

I put her on a tie-out later in the afternoon. I stupidly went in to use the bathroom and by the time I came back to check on her, she had managed to disconnect herself from the tie-out and was out running laps again. Her collar was still on her. The tie-out was untouched. It looked as if someone had simply unclipped her, but of course no one did. Such escape artists, these Cairns! Good thing my parents have a double-fenced backyard, thanks to the antics of their dogs (non-Cairns) over the years.

I must say, Bradl, she is not at all friendly when she's on a lap mission. Normally, she's very social, but if any dog gets in her way while running her laps, she's all snarls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine love to do the "run" through the hallway, under and around the dining room table, circle the kitchen island and back down the hallway. And if anyone is in their way duing this ordeal, look out!

Outside it's even more fun where they can gather up speed.....ears go back, fur flying and sometimes all you see is a blur.

I also love the Cairn energy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Both mine also do it inside and out. Sadie especially. She puts the ears back so she is aerodynamic and runs laps. Inside she will use the couch as a way to change direction, we have a sectional so she runs sideways on the back of. Scooter joins in but he likes to watch her. Outside she will just be standing there and all of a sudden she goes ans doesn't stop, she normally will jump into her kiddie pool for a refresher and then she gets a second wind...

Jess, Scooter, Sadie and Dozer

DSCN2419-1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Renny only runs laps in the back yard as a sort of "victory lap" after he has pooped in the back yard. He usually "takes care of business" on our walks, and uses the yard only as sort of a last resort. Then he will make several high speed laps of the yard.

Several times a week though, he will do a sort of figure eight from the living room, through the dining room and small hallway and into the bedroom, and back to the living room, hardly slowing down to turn around. These are done at absolute top speed, and can last for five minutes or so. When he stops, he is winded and panting. He most often does it when we get home after a walk that was shorter than normal for some reason like bad weather. Occasionally though, he will do it just because he feels like it. When he does it, it sounds like a herd of horses running through the house.

Hagar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it may be kind of a terrier thing (?) - My pups have all loved to run around the yard AND when they get pumped run in the house: kind of a laid out track around chairs, through kitchen and living room, up and off sofa, and repeat. They are so funny. My Cairn Pepper is not so much "crackdog" as my Westie. But am quite familiar with the aerodynamic look: ears flat against head and big silly grin. :lol:

pam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greta loves to run between the ottoman and chair then around the coffee table in front of the couch. She does especially when she is playing with her big bro Jake. He will stand in one place and she will run as fast as she can around the room and then jump on him and then continue on. It's actually makes for great entertainment. When she starts her zooming we are sure to pick up our feet!

There is no faith which has never yet been broken except that of a truly faithful dog. -- Konard Lorenz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in a condo, so I don't have a backyard, but when I take Kenna to my parents' house, she loves the backyard. The strange thing is she runs laps. She has a set path, past the water dish, occasionally stopping for a drink, behind the plants, around the spa, through one flowerbed, down the slope, stop and sniff, up past the water wheel and pond, behind the roses, past the patio, sometimes stopping to lay in a mud hole to cool off and back up again a second later, and it starts all over again. Occasionally, she stops and changes directions. She has no interest in coming inside, even to go to bed. When my mom's dog, who is one of her favorite play buddies, tries to play with Kenna, Kenna kind of snaps at her. She goes for hours and hours, seemingly non-stop.

Does your Cairn do this?

My dear Holdsworth who went to Rainbow Bridge in December, 2000, absolutley was a lap runner...especially when we would be out talking with neighbors in the evening and he knew it was time to go inside. He'd make these joyous leaps and always scoot just

out of reach when you tried to get him. :) Eventually he would give in and we'd all go in...but it was a lot of fun to watch.

After all this time I still think about him every day.

Tara, Mom of Many Cairns

Max and Nelly
signature.jpg.1a2f02ae93418630654caf879c6d4783.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sheila and Misty
Mine love to do the "run" through the hallway, under and around the dining room table, circle the kitchen island and back down the hallway. And if anyone is in their way duing this ordeal, look out!

Outside it's even more fun where they can gather up speed.....ears go back, fur flying and sometimes all you see is a blur.

I also love the Cairn energy.

Thats the EXACT same route Misty takes at our house ! thanks for doing all the typing for me. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just remembered a Dog Whisperer episode that describes over the top lap running. It was the first season, episode 24 and the dog's name was Lizzie.

She would run all day long. I'm not sure how you can view it now that Cesar is in his third season. Maybe you could start at the library?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OMG. Our two love to do this. We, too, have a rather large back yard with varying paths through it. They love to play chase, and they switch off who gets to chase, and who gets to be chased. Jazz starts running so hard that she grunts. It is thoroughly entertaining. They both will stop and rest for a bit, then its off again.

We have similar events in the house. One day Tom was in the way, and Jazz crashed right into his leg with her head. I don't know how she didn't knock herself out, inasmuch as it left a huge bruise on Tom. We kept an eye on her, to make sure she didn't show signs of a concussion. She stopped for a minute after the accident, but then thought her brother might be having fun somewhere and chased out back to find him. We have learned to go to the corners of a room when they start inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine loves laps inside and out. There is a frenzied bark that Rebel has. The girls run then stop and play fight changing who is on the bottom. Rebel is like the ref he will fuss and they stop. He sometimes gets it going then sits and watches. So far Jamie hasn't joined in. I think the funniest thing is bowling....... Rebel will bark and Harley takes off accross the yard and Rebel will chase her and knock her off her feet. Rebel is very much in charge of games at the house, he may not be playing but he can stop everyone dead in their tracts with one bark.

Our Pug will run and play with them but I have noticed that he is backing off a little these days. I guess he figures there is no way to win with the girls!

Liz

Rebel, Hammurabi, Sugar, Dirty Harry, Paint, Duncan and Saffron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

CairnTalk.net

  • A meeting place and
    online scrapbook for
    Cairn Terrier fanciers.

ctn-no-text-200.png

Disclaimers

  • All posts are the opinion and
    responsibility of the poster.
  • Post content © the author.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Site Guidelines | We put cookies on your device to help this website work better for you. You can adjust your cookie settings; otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.