Question:
Are Cairn Terriers Hard to Housebreak?
Answer: Given all
my previous opinions this is probably going to surprise you but the
answer is no. Both male and female Cairn Terriers housebreak
quickly.
The problem is that it doesn't stick (probably long term memory
issues), and Cairn Terriers do get lazy.
Successfully
keeping a previously housebroken Cairn terrier housebroken
means refresher courses are required.
Crate training every three
months or so for a couple weeks whether you think the Cairn needs it or
not, will doubtlessly contribute to a happy and pee-free household.
If you don't believe me, that's fine.
Perhaps your personal preference is
a urine stained house.
That however, is
not my personal cup of tea.
Comment on Housebroken
Cairns
Peeing in House Again
In
my view if the dog doesn't have a medical problem, the cause of this
problem is once again usually owner
self-inflicted and the answer can be found in asking yourself one
simple question: "What
Changed in my Home Recently?"
Common Answers:
1. I brought a new pet into the home.
2. I brought a new child into the home.
3. I altered my Cairn's daily routine in a significant way - like stuck him in a boarding kennel for a week
4. I did some remodeling
5. I bought new furniture.
6. I altered my dog's comfort zone in some manner - moved his
crate, restricted or opened up new space for him.
How to Rectify the
Problem
If you had enough forethought
to crate train your Cairn at the outset, this is a no-brainer.
Let's
say your Cairn is the only dog in the house. He was crate
trained
but you got tired of having the crate in the house. The dog
is
house broken and likes the couch anyway.
Let's also say you have
another dog who is an outside dog but due to illness is now spending
nights inside on his blanket. What can happen? What
was
exclusively the Cairn's territory is now a territory shared
with
another dog. What does the Cairn do? He starts marking his
territory - the other dog's blanket, the other dog, the couch the Cairn
sleeps on and
other choice places in the house.
You unknowingly injected a
major problem into the environment and the best way to deal with it is
by getting back to the basics - the crate. The Cairn goes
back
into the crate every night his routine is disrupted. Odds are
he
will also be quite relieved. He knows he is not supposed to
pee
in the house and probably feels a measure of guilt about doing so but
can't help himself.
For
me, the number one reason for the cairn peeing in the house again is
because he just got back from the pet boarders and seems to have an
urge to mark everything, inside and out. The dog is on a lead when
coming in after an extended stay elsewhere for the first day or so and
his movements are severely restricted so if there is any marking going
on, it will be dealt with quickly and then everything goes back to
normal.
Remember: DOGS
ARE CREATURES OF HABIT AND DO NOT RESPOND WELL TO CHANGE
A dog suddenly
starts doing something different, figure out
what changed and go from there.
Question: How do I
keep a Cairn terrier off furniture?
Answer: Salting
the furniture with mouse traps under newspaper works well and it is
entertaining. Kind of a pain though if you have a slow
learner on
your hands.
Another option is a personal piece of furniture,
namely a dog bed or kennel. Cairns are perfectly
capapble
of learning to stay in one spot for reasonable periods of time. Make
that spot a desirable place to be - more desirable than furniture.
Place the bed next to the couch or wherever people
congregate. Remember, Cairns are social animals and it won't do much
good if the dog bed is tucked in an out of the way place in another
room.
If the cairn is on furniture because you are not
in the room or not in the house, I wouln't blame the cairn
and I
would start looking around for wet spots and other surprises as well.
Search: My 18 year old Cairn terrier
male is suddenly peeing in the house when he never did before.
First off, Congrats on
an 18 year old Cairn Terrier!
I
was actually talking to the vet a while back about a similar issue and
something to remember, 18 year old Cairn terriers and 80 year
old
men have a lot in common in that it is not uncommon for incontinence to
be an issue.
I have had several breeds that
reached advanced ages for the their canine groups and you need to face
the fact that control is not what it once was.
Crating a
dog does no good when control is a problem. It is best to
place
your Cairn in an environment where clean-up is a minimal issue.
It's a fact of life...nearer to the end of life to be more specific.
If
you get a chance, send along a pic of the 18 year old Cairn. It will
lay to rest the doubts that the seemingly improbable, is possible.
Question:
My Cairn terrier keeps peeing on guests feet right in front of me! What
do I do?
Answer: Entertain a better class of guests.
If it's your feet the dog is
peeing on, you might look here.
Question - When can
You Stop Using Crate for a Cairn Terrier?
Answer: When you want to
start having house breaking problems.
We got rid of
the crate for a while because we were tired of having it in the house.
Some six months
later, problems started.
Problems ended
when we tossed the Cairn in the garage and back into the crate.
Problem solved.
What
is interesting is he loves the crate. Let him in the garage in the
evening, he heads straight into the crate, turns around and waits for a
treat.
Of course Cairns being Cairns, it can be difficult
getting him out of the crate in the morning, but that is preferable to
a urine stained house.
The Smelly Cairn Terrier Gas
problem - Revised and Expanded
I can now answer this in five words but that doesn't make for
interesting reading so I will tell a little story.
We
generally board our dogs, two Catahoulas and a Cairn 2-3 times a year
for a week or so at a time. Each time we came back to
retrieve
the dogs, the two catahoulas looked skinnier and healthier, and the
Cairn actually looked like he had the beginnings of a waist.
The
last time we got the dogs, they looked really good so I had to ask what
what the boarder was feeding them and how.
I should preface
this with what I was feeding them and how:
All
the dogs got fed in the evening. For the large dogs it was
about
3-4 cups of dried, mixed with one can wet each. For the
Cairn, it
was about 1 cup dry with a tablespoon or two of wet. Worked
out
well enough and the Cairn smell was considerably reduced with just a
taste of wet.
What the boarder
was feeding them and how:
The
boarder fed the dogs in
the morning, not in the evening. The big
dogs got 2-3 cups of a custom, concentrated mix of dry only.
The
Cairn got a little more than a cup of dry. No wet.
He
then opened up the big male's mouth and showed me all the
tartar of which wet food he said was a contributing factor.
He went on to say that wet food is only required by those who
have been conditioned by advertising and bad advice.
I
mentioned that if I put dry only out, the dogs would go a day or more
without eating. The boarder went on to say that that was
correct
however.......in nature dogs would only eat every other day anyway
and............in his 60 some odd years, he never saw a starving dog
with a bowl of food in front of his face.
So I asked for
some detail on the food, which he happened to have brochures for.
As of this writing, the dogs have been on a diet of dry only
for
6 months, once in the morning with no wet food other than the
occasional treat.
How has this worked
out?
1.
The dogs look great. The two catahoulas are lean, mean,
geriatric
fighting machines. The Cairn looks like he had a tummy tuck.
2. We no longer have to purge the back
yard of licked empty dog food cans.
3.
The dog food is delivered to the house and the cost is
actually
less than the dried we used + the cans. They also eat less.
4. There is less doggie doo to clean up. Much less.
Last but not least
and the reason for this Opinion Piece:
5.
The Rank, Odiforous, Foul, Smelly Cairn problem has all but
been
eliminated! The Cairn that eats in the morning has all day to digest,
pass gas etc. outside and not inside at around say, 8:00 pm in the
evening on.
Free Plug - A link to the dog food - a franchise - Paul's
Petfood Express.
Free Plug - If you live in Northern Nevada need a boarder,
try Cold Nose Kennels.
About
Cairn Terrier Stink
I've
stated my views on rank, odiforous, smelly, stinky Cairn Terriers.
Time for another view, this time from Ms Barb:
Dan,
Let
me toss out what I know about my "Stinky" Cairn. it is a
genetic
defect, that could be prevented through proper ethical breeding.
The
testing falls under the category, Auto-immune Disorder.
My
11 yr old Cairn, no longer stinks.
#1. Orijen
dog food (made in Canada, and is going to cost more money...
but worth it)
#2. Some dog people
swear that feeding Raw works. Some day I might try it, but not today.
#3.
Try "Silver Lining Herbs'" go to their website...
www.silverliningherbs.com and either call or send an email to
them, and describe your dog's problem. They will recommend
which
supplements to buy. Silver Lining Herbs is cutting edge, VERY
new
to dogs. Remarkable, albeit miraculous success stories.
#4.
Another supplement company that has been around a long time, is called
"Natures' Farmacy". (Yes, spelled with an "F").
They
recommended their "DoggyZymes" enzymes to put in my dog's
food.
This also works. they have a blog, explaining that dogs have
a
different digestive system than people. they need probiotics
further down their G.I. to work. interestingly enough, Orijen
dog
food repeats the exact same information on THEIR blog.
Therefore,
the PEOPLE probiotics are not designed for dogs. not good enough.
Other
premium dog foods are:
Annamaet
(now they added a Grain free variety to their line) google it and find
a source, or call them and ask where you can find it. Made in America,
created by a sled dog man who is still active in working dogs.
Kumpi
www.kumpi.com (Evy Serpa is super dedicated to dog health,
you
can only get it from her website to guarantee authentic and fresh
product, it is Fed Ex'd to your door. this food made a big
difference for my dog.)
There
was a longer list, but it has been brought to my attention, that PURINA
bought out some of these nice, holistic dog foods, and the formula
"might" have been tampered with to increase profit. Unknown.
I
am happy to say, that these three dog foods have never been involved in
ANY pet food recall.
This
is the summary, of what I know regarding Stinky Cairns.
~~
Barb
Cairn
Grooming Tip
P.S.....
ALSO important to know.... pet owners too often go to a generic dog
groomer, (Petco) and allow their Cairn to be shaved (electric clippers)
and this lazy easy, cheaper method of "grooming" a Cairn will not help
the stink., it increases the smell on the Stink-o-meter.
by
hand-stripping the stinky Cairn, you will help to remove the soft,
fuzzy under coat hair that holds in the grease and exaggerates the
smell. if you strip the coat, you will create the original
nice,
wiry coat that is indigenous to their native land. AND your Cairn will
stink less.
Hand
stripping is more expensive, but a dedicated Cairn owner (like myself)
will learn how to, and keep working at it with excellent
results.
I charge $100 to strip a Cairn, and insist that I see them often enough
so it does not become a wild bushy looking thing.
Keep them somewhat tidy (every other
month is what I recommend.)
Comment:
You mean the dollars you spend on grooming
are
directly proportional to the amount of smell a Cairn
produces?
That's depressing. I love Petsmart! And
Rufus loves them too! :
I
understand what you are saying but I prefer the quality dried food
experimentation route. I think most of the cairn odor
problems
can be minimized with a quality kibble. Just takes a while to
find one that works.
I would consider proper grooming
icing on the cake. However, I cannot personally
justify
spending three figures for a strip job on a Cairn terrier when I can
get
a decent field cut on a standard poodle (a big standard poodle) for
$60.00, and that lasts six weeks.
Stink control is my agenda. Stink elimination - a bit beyond
my pay grade.
Cairn Terriers and Beano - Really Bad Gas
Leave
it to a veteran cairn terrier owner to come up with an original cairn
terrier gas solution. I hadn't heard of this one before:
...Oh my goodness. Over the past two weeks or so, Scout has had the most horrible, vile, disgusting gas I've ever smelled.
Sorry to be so frank about it,
but you guys should just thank your lucky stars that you don't have to
smell it. It's so bad that it smells like sulphur, and she can
literally clear a room with her stink. Yesterday I walked in her
general vicinity and I was about knocked off my feet. I haven't changed
her diet or anything. She's been eating the same food she's been eating
since we got her, and it never used to give her trouble. She and Sparky
both get fed Blue Buffalo (the small breed formula). Does anyone know
what could be causing her gas? Is there anything I can do to make it
stop? It is just SO BAD. It almost makes me nauseous. And I don't want
her to stink up the place when we have people over to visit. Please
help. It's
smells HORRIBLE.
...maybe the food doesn't agree with her anymore? or is there anything that your dh gave her stuff without you knowing ?
Sometimes I give my dog yogurt
if their bellies are hurting. When I used to have a Boston terrier {b/c
they are Brachycephalic they take in more air and are REALLY gassy} we
would give her half a chewable of mylanta or gas X.
...sounds like a description of
Misty how can that horrendous odor come from such a sweet little girl?
I believe is part her digestion system and the other part her food-we
are weaning her off her usual she has already had less gas attacks. Its
so wicked sometimes brings tears to my eyes-my neighbor use to laugh
atme untill she got a gassy dog too-only she has doberman gas in her
home!
...The odd occasion Holly has
had this problem I have given her a charcoal biscuit [local pet shop
suggested this] and it seemed to help.
...You can try Beano or Phazyme
or any human product for gas w/o an aluminum prep in it; and usual
warning--try to find a product with as little extra/unneeded
ingredients in it as possible, esp food colors. Not Pepto, Maalox or
Mylanta--don't chance an aspirin ingred. on the wknd. Sorry to state
obvious, but really try to find out why it's suddenly happening,
there has to be an answer,
possibly poopsicles, stray flavored dorito? Check if you've opened a
new bag of food, if there's been a formula change--not unusual for the
manufacturer's not to warn ahead of time.
...I've used beano before with a GSD. Thought, is she getting some kind of chew item? that could be causing the gas.
I wonder if maybe Scout's food
doesn't agree with her anymore. We had to switch from Solid Gold Wee
Bits to a Duck and Potato formula because Kimmy couldn't digest the Wee
Bits very well. It was too rich for her. After we switched food her
terrible gas went away, although she does still clear the room (or at
least the couch) occasionally.
...Aw, poor Scout....and you.
Her tummy is probably bloated and rumbling if she gives off that kind
of stink. Try some yogurt to get her digestive track back in order and
then look to her food. They may have changed the formula or it's past
the good to use by date. Has she been eating snow or critter poop when
you put her outside? I hope you find the answer for your sake and hers.
:thumbsup:
....I would also have her checked out by your vet or at least bring in a stool sample, even if they seem normal.
...better be carefull with that
beano I heard it was good to use on dogs-hope you checked with the vet
first. dogs can only be given some of our meds most of them are
dangerous...We know about a couple of culprits at our house that cause
this. In the summer it's dried worms found on the sidewalks. Certain
treats also, like those dried chicken breasts from Trader Joes. A treat
made locally that I bought at the farmers market when Leo was in
training class was bad too. I like the charcoal biscuit idea and will
look for those myself. Poor Cassie seems to get it the worst and since
her name rhymes with gassy you know what her nickname is.
Comment:
This isn't hyperbole,folk. Oft times it matters not what you feed the cairn terrier...........what comes out
the other end can make your eyes water.
|
