Cairn Terrier A Breed Apart
The Cairn Terrier is an intelligent, loyal and brave little dog that has bags of character. The most famous of the breed was Terry, who appeared as Toto in The Wizard of Oz.
The Cairn is a native of Scotland and has been around since the 1500’s. They were originally bred for fox hunting and rodent control. The name “Cairn” refers to narrow gaps between rocks, and the breed was particularly adept at squeezing through these gaps to kill rats. These days Cairns are more commonly seen as companion dogs.
Standing just 10 to 13 inches at the withers, and weighing just 18 pounds, the Cairn Terrier is a strong, compact little dog. The face is sharp and fox-like, and the ears small an erect. The coat can be brindle, cream, gray, red, sandy, or wheaten, and is rough and shaggy.
These dogs make excellent family pets and are an absolute joy to have around. They are playful, friendly and outgoing, and do well with older children and with other dogs. You will, though, have to watch them with younger kids as they do not respond well to rough treatment. And you should also supervise them around non-canine pets, especially rodents.
Cairns are incredibly smart little dogs who are easy to train and are particularly adept at learning and performing tricks. The can be quite sensitive though, so training needs to be positive and reward based. The females tend to be more independent and slightly more of a challenge to train than the males.
This is a very agile breed and this, coupled with their intelligence, makes them very good at many canine sports. They excel at agility, flyball and advanced obedience trials.
These are robust, healthy dogs, but they do suffer from a number of congenital diseases. Cataracts, progressive retinal atrophy, hypothyroidism, and entropion are all known to occur, while the breed is also known to be particularly sensitive to flea bites. Median lifespan for Cairn terrier is between 12 and 15 years.
Grooming is an easy business involving nothing more that a brush down every second day or so. The skin and undercoat are quite sensitive, so you will need to brush softly and carefully. You should also take care to trim the hair around the eyes. Bathing is not really required by can be done if necessary – just not too often.
While a Cairn Terrier will live happily in an apartment, it will need to get out for exercise every day. A daily walk is an absolute must, while a game of fetch or tag will always be appreciated.
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