Cairn Terriers - Gigi's Page

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I was so clueless when I got Gigi that I had forgotten what Dorothy's Toto looked like in The Wizard of Oz. So, I was surprised to hear kids say, "Look Mom, there's Toto!" Even some grown-up kids got a kick out of yelling that when they saw us. Gigi made everyone who saw her smile. I don't know whether that was because she was so cute, or because the way she carried herself showed that she knew it, or because her sunny and buoyant disposition glowed in everything she did.

The Cairn Terrier is a rugged small dog that makes an ideal companion or pet.

The Cairn is a small terrier weighing about 15 pounds and standing less than a foot tall at the withers. Cairns bred to American standards have shorter legs and thus are a little smaller than those bred to British standards. A Cairn has a rough double coat — a hard, weather-resistant outer coat and a woolly undercoat. It loves being outdoors, but it is a house dog, not one you leave outside in a dog house. Two reasons. First, it is adapted to the Scottish climate, which has heavy weather but very moderate temperatures, varying from an average of 40° F (4.4° C) in January to 58° F (14.4° C) in July. Second, though the Cairn is a hunting dog, it has always been a house dog. It loves people and needs its humans to pay attention to it.

Noted for their "foxy" expression, Cairns are strong and energetic dogs, but not heavily built. Gigi's puppy-mill breeding gave her hip and knee problems that prevented her from jumping well. Even in youth it was not easy for her to jump up on a bed or couch. So I was flabbergasted to see how high a Cairn should be able to jump when I got Pierre. I call him "Kangaroo Boy."

When I got The Jeej, she was salt-and-pepper
(mostly pepper) colored, like the puppy above.
She soon became a brindled wheaten.

Cairns may be any color but pure white. Though some are cream-colored, most are gray or wheaten, often brindled and with dark points, like my Gigi. "Reds" are the blondes, a rich gold, like my "Golden Boy," Pierre. Many have black faces. Some are very dark, some virtually all black, and some salt-and-pepper colored. Since Cairns and Westies share common ancestors, white offspring occasionally appear, but they cannot be registered as Cairns.

A puppy's color can change drastically. A week after I picked her out, I hardly recognized my four-month-old Gigi when I came to take her home. Nonetheless, you can usually predict the adult color from the fur coming in around a puppy's eyes. Tan puppies with black points often turn gray. Cream-colored pups with dark points often lose those dark points and end up almost white. On the other hand, puppies with cream-colored collars can lose all trace of them, ending up very dark.

Resources

For a description of the official American Breed Standard . . .

At the Web site of the Cairn Terrier Club of America, visit www.cairnterrier.org/reboot/standard-us.html

At Col. Potter's Cairn Rescue Network, visit www.cairnrescue.com/general/standard.htm

For a comparison of the British and American standards . . .

At Web site of the Cairn Terrier Club of America, visit www.cairnterrier.org/reboot/ukvsus.htm

© 2002 - 2007, Kathy Krajco - all rights reserved.
The URL of this Web page is http://www.cairn-terrier.operationdoubles.com/gee_toto_cairn_terrier.htm
It was last updated on 10/27/2007.
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