Cairns Rule!

[Sam I Am]

I was participating in a used horse tack sale last weekend, when low and behold, behind me at their table was another "horsey" person who was holding a Silky Terrier pup, 11 weeks old. He was the last out of her litter. Well you can see where this is going.... I am now the owner of a lovely, spunky, bossy bundle of fluff!

I had pretty much given up on getting a Cairn puppy as the only person in our area lost a pregnancy and wont breed till next year. I am not a fan of shipping puppies either, as there are horror stories of Air Canada loosing dogs! Jock my 8 yr old Cairn, isnt overly thrilled, but I am soooooooooooooo proud of him. He is very dog aggresive to other dogs and that had us really concerned, and althoug he would I am sure rather not have this pup in his house, he is doing an absolutely fantastic job of putting this tiny terror (Rex) in his place. I dont know much about Silkies but they are half Australian Terrier and they have the same temperment as other terriers. And of course thats what we love..... terriers!

[Idaho Cairns]

I like Silkies! I have been around a couple and they are sweet dogs. Not quite as rambunctous as Cairns but nice little dogs and their coats are just lovely.

[Cairnmania]

I love Silky Terriers too. Congrats on your new arrival

[Sam I Am]

Cairns still rule! At least in our house hold. We had the Silky pup from hell.... we returned it to the breeder after 5 days of trying to cope with this monster puppy! It was all very upsetting. Jock was amazingly good, too good actually. It all started out ok, however the aggresion level of this puppy was unbelievable. We have had terriers all our lives and have never come across a pup that was so dominant. We did the dominant down thing, we did the scruff of the neck thing, Jock snarled and did his best also to make this puppy submissive.... to no avail. This puppy, would actually challange Jock and when we reprimanded the pup, we got bitten, snarled at ... this little ball of fluff never backed down! So in the end to save our sanity and make Jock's life bearable, we returned the pup to the breeder. Jock is happy once again and peace has returned to our house.

I talked to one of the vets who boards at the same barn as I do, and feel a lot better about the whole situation now. Her opinion was that this puppy was the last of the litter for a big reason and that his behaviour would never change and that we did the right thing to take it back to the breeder. So now we have decided that Jock is going to be our one and only dog.... we love him way to much to ever have to put him through that horrible week ever again!

[Idaho Cairns]

Your Silkie's aggressiveness is sure counter to the limited experience I have had with the breed. I admit to not knowing a lot about them but the ones that I have been around have been gentle for terriers.

Sorry you had to go thru this but I'm glad the breeder took him back and you aren't stuck with making difficult decisions.

Hopefully you will find a convenient Cairn breeder and have another little one to enjoy.

[Sam I Am]

I dont know much about the breed either, however I am sure Scotties and Cairns ( the dogs we have owned) are way more of a handful than most Silkies and we have never had issues with them. So perhaps it was just a case of a puppy that had not be socialized properly, which really brings home how important it is to take those steps to ensure that babies go through this very important process. Sadly I suspect that is why there are so many dogs in rescue sights!