Question:
Are Cairn
Terriers Devious?
First, let's examine the word
devious:
de·vi·ous
(dv-s)
adj.
1. Not straightforward; shifty: a devious character.
2. Departing from the correct or accepted way; erring: achieved success
by devious means.
3. Deviating from the straight or direct course; roundabout: a devious
route.
- Devious
Character, I like that.
'Devious'
would also imply a certain amount of intelligence in that a Cairn
Terrier would have to realize there is more than one path to a goal.
So are
Cairns Devious?
Story Time
Rufus
loves to go over to the fence, sit and growl until Vincent, a Rhodesian
Ridgeback-Hines 57 mix (and also one of the most worthless sacks of
skin to inhabit dogdom), comes charging the fence barking his fool head
off.
For
Rufus, the point of the exercise is to get Vincent to do just that
because after a few minutes Vincent's owner comes out and chews out
Vincent while Rufus sits a couple feet away, the very picture
of
innocence.
I would say this could
be an example of devious
character.
Enter the new addition to the household, a Standard Poodle pup by the
name of Max.
Max
while looking like a big black and white creme puff, is most
demonstrably not a creme
puff and soon discovers that when Rufus barks at the fence,
odds are
the most obnoxious dog on earth is soon going to show.
The first time Vincent sees the large, black and white puffball
charging the fence at full tilt and barking his fool head
off, he becomes
an incredible shrinking violet, cowers and slinks off into the sunset.
A
week or two later the poodle sustains a major injury and has to spend
almost six weeks wearing a cone.
This unfortunately does not do much to slow him
down outside.
The next time Rufus successfully jacked up Vincent
at the fence, I think Vincent was genuinely horrified when he
saw
the large, black and white puffball with humongous cone
attached to its head
charging directly at him. Vincent took one look at that and
fled. For the first time in years, my heart warmed as all
those thoughts of 'Get
Even Time'
appeared to be coming to fruition. And who would have thunk a
black
and white puffball would be the bearer of such joyful tidings...
So what
does this have to do with the question about Devious Cairns?
Well, I am taking a Deviant
Course in getting there.
Fast
forward a month or so. My wife goes to the pet store and buys
two
identical balls, a large one for the poodle and a small one
for the
cairn. We're talking soccer ball and soft ball.
She
tosses the balls out on the grass and the poodle immediately corrals
both of them, or let's say they are soon within his immediate Sphere of Influence.
Rufus is not
happy. He stands a foot or so
outside the Sphere of Influence and tries growling.
That doesn't work.
Rufus then tries
growling and
barking.
That doesn't work. The poodle is happily chewing on both balls.
Rufus turns to us
with the most wretched of looks on his face, that look only a Cairn
Terrier is capable of.
That doesn't work either.
Rufus continues
standing for several minutes and then starts sniffing around the yard,
which catches the poodle's attention.
Rufus
then trots off the grass and over to the fence, sits down and begins
growling, which really
catches the poodle's attention.
Vincent, the dog from hell soon arrives and starts barking his fool head
off. The poodle jerks up, turns around and
charges the fence barking his fool head
off.
While
the poodle is distracted, Rufus runs back to the yard, grabs the
smallest ball, jumps up on the deck and deposits it under the deck
chair. He then grabs the largest ball and muscles it up the
steps
and onto the deck, lays down and chews happily.
Meanwhile,
Vincent's owner finally comes out and yells, sending him scurrying like
the over sized rat bag that he is, back to their porch.
The poodle
trots to the yard, feeling quite manly and is a bit confused
when he discovers no balls at all. Looks all over the place and can't
find them. He finally gives up, settles down and
decides to take a nooner under a rose
bush.
If he would have looked up, he would have seen a Cairn Terrier happily
munching on one ball, the other parked well within his Sphere of Influence.
So to Answer the
Question: Are Cairns Devious (or Capable of Deviant Behavior)?
Answer:
Yes
Question: Are Cairns
good lap
dogs?
Answer: No
Question: Cairn IQ Advantage and
Smart Dog?
This question lacks clarity so I will
change the question to one better defined so I can wax eloquently:
1.
What are the advantages / disadvantages of owning smart
vs not-so-smart dogs?
2.
Where does the Cairn Terrier fit in?
Prospective
dog owners may spend considerable time choosing breed aggressiveness,
size, energy level and utility......but not so many think about the raw
intelligence of the animal and this can be one of the most important
factors if one wishes a harmonious household.
The
Smart Breeds
The Herding, Working and
Sporting groups, as well as some Non-Sporting breeds rank the highest
overall in canine intelligence.
Highly
intelligent breeds need to be worked. 'Worked' in the broad sense
means training, exercise, playing, time and personal
attention to
the animal.
Failure
to invest time and attention results in a bored dog and that boredom
frequently manifests itself in destructive activity.
Destructive
Activity = Upset Owner
Upset
Owner = Attention to Dog, but maybe not quite the type the dog expected.
...and on goes the
vicious circle until the dog:
1. Becomes unmanageable
and ends up pound-bound.
2. Is put up for sale or
free to a 'loving' home.
3. Is trained well after
the fact, which may or may not work at all.
Prepare to shell out $$ for this option.
If you are willing to
invest the time and effort in an intelligent breed, the end product can
be very rewarding.
If not, consider breeds
a few cans short of a six-pack.
The
Not So Smart Breeds.
Hounds
and Terriers comprise the bulk of the less intelligent canines; hounds
among the dumbest and terriers fitting squarely in the middle of the
pack.
Once you have decided on
the group, consider the breed energy level.
Is your lifestyle
adaptive to the needs of a high energy dog? ...or do you prefer a dog
who enjoys laying at your feet.
Consider also the amount
of personal attention the dog is likely to require.
Does
a dog whose idea of personal attention mean food in his bowl and an
occasional pat on the head?.....or is the dog one who is likely to need
considerable owner participation.
I'd
use that as a starting point and there is a wide range of intelligence
within these two groups. There are dogs who after two or three years of
intense training still have issues with house breaking, and then there
are dogs who are stars of the show in obedience training.
Where
does the Cairn Terrier fit in the world of Canine IQ?
Despite
my frequent commentary to the contrary, out of the 141 breeds in my
database the Cairn Terrier ranks as Number 35 and he shares that honor
with the American Eskimo dog, Irish Setter (for the life of me, I don't
know how the Irish Setter ranks 35 - I think the number 112 would be
far more reasonable) and the Kerry Blue Terrier.
This puts the Cairn in
the top 33%
of all canines when ranking for intelligence and he lands pretty much
squarely in the middle of the terrier group for
same.
Believe
it or not.
In
summary, I will leave you with one basic question which you
can
use as a starting point in your search for just the right amount of
intelligence or lack thereof in your future canine companion:
It's Monday - back to the daily
grind.
Do you want a dog that......
A.
Knows you just went to work and knows for about how long he can he can
have his fun.
or
B.
Eight hours later, still doesn't realize you left.
A = Herding,
Working, Sporting, some Terriers, a few Non-Sporting and a few Toys
B = Hounds, some
Terriers, most Non-Sporting and most Toys.
For more detail, you can
always download a copy of my free Canine IQ Guide.
Cairn
Terrier Brain
They
say a picture is worth a thousand words and in terms of discussing the
Cairn Terrier's cranial capacity, that ability to make astounding leaps
of logic into realms few of us mere mortals dare
tread.......... a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
Clinginess?
If
you have a clingy Cairn and you are normal, your family is normal and
your living environment is normal, then I would say you have
a
defective Cairn Terrier. Clinginess is not a Cairn trait
under
normal circumstances. However, there are some abnormal ones
that
I will mention:
The Dog is in Pain
If
a dog is hurting, he will stay close to you. The hurt may not
be
obvious. If you live in an area where Foxtails are prolific,
get
a couple of them in between the toes and other soft areas and the dog
will cling - something is hurting and it is a good idea to take him to
the vet.
Something Changed
Something
in the dog's environment has changed and it is something he doesn't
know how to deal with. An obvious example would be having the
home invaded with several more adults and their progeny over a holiday
season. For a canine, this can be a major disruption and he
flees
to something he knows, and that would be you.
Less obvious might
be something going on in the household like some slowly escalating
marital tension, a problem teenager, something or someone inducing
stress that previously was not there.
Dogs have acute radar when
it comes to anything that is out of the norm. They are
creatures
of habit. They expect you to be the same day after
day. They
expect their environment to be the same day after day.
How to stop a Cairn
terrier from Barking
So you want to stop your Cairn from barking.....
If surgery is not an option, get ready to enter the world
of high tech.
I have used most of the barker breaker technologies over the years
and would have to say the most fun is the shock
collar.
Instant gratification at the flip of a switch.
However with Cairn Terriers, this is not a very good idea because it
is far too easy to confuse corrective action with
revenge:
"Take that, you
bloody hairball!"
Oh
yeah.........I Mentioned High Tech.........I was getting a little
excited there.....
Dogs in general are known for
what? Their sense of smell.
What if instead of zapping your Cairn with an electric charge, you
spray him with what a dog would consider a foul odor when he
begins exhibiting obnoxious behavior. How well do you think
that
would work?
Surprisingly well.
Let me introduce you to the Remote Spray Trainer by PetSafe.
Charge the collar with foul smelling liquid.
Place collar with spray hole pointed up, right underneath his chin.
Take it for a test drive. When your Cairn starts yapping, hit
him with a blast of odorizer.
Repeat as often as necessary...in other words buy several extra cans of
odorizer.
The noxious odor in this particular cannister is Lemon Scent,
something dogs don't very much care for.
Some people have reported that a simple blast of air is enough to shut
their dogs up.
Me, I
prefer the odorant because it serves a dual purpose.
Number 1:
It does a fine
job shutting down nuisance barking.
Number 2:
You have a Lemon
Scented Cairn!
Two thumbs up for PetSafe.
Comment
on Intelligence
For this I refer to prior commentary:
Simple
IQ Test:
Take
dog's favorite ball and bounce back an forth in your hands, getting the
dog's attention. Use slight of hand, hide the ball
behind your back and show the dog empty hands.
What
does the dog do?
Jack
Russells and Poodles - you can't fool them for very long.
A minute, maybe.
Catahoulas
stare for a short time and then you can see their brains thinking, "Now
wait a minute, something is not right here..... got to be here
somewhere...." and they find the ball.
Cairns
look puzzled for a bit and then come to the conclusion that
they
must have imagined the whole thing and the ball was never
there in the
first place.
New Commentary:
Cairn Intelligence
vs Standard Poodle Intelligence - A Comparative Study
We have a six month old standard poodle pup.
The
other day my wife was out vacuuming off the mat on the deck under the
watchful eye of the poodle with one of those cannister cleaners that
has foot switches for turning on and off the vacuum and
retracting
the cord.
When she got done she retracted the cord and set the
vacuum off to the side, putting everything else out of reach of the
poodle and went inside.
Several minutes later there was
a tremendous thump outside and my wife rushed out to see what
happened. What happened was the poodle managed to grab hold
of
the retracted power cord, pulled it out and around a couple flower pots
on stands, bringing a bunch of them crashing to the deck.
She chewed out the dog, righted the flower pots and hooked up the
vacuum again to clean up the mess.
A
minute or two later in the middle of vacuuming, the vacuum stopped. My
wife started to look around and then the vacuum started
again.
And then it stopped. And then it started again. She figured
the
poodle must have chewed into the cord, shorting out the power supply.
The vacuum stopped again.
She
turned around to ensure the vacuum was in fact turned off only to see
the poodle pressing down with his paw on the power switch and
turning the vacuum on. The poodle's head popped slightly
back,
looking around like he was kind of proud of himself and then he
proceeded to
press down on the power switch several times until the vacuum turned
off.
That kind of intelligence and power of observation in a poodle
pup only 6 months old is almost scary.
What was the Cairn
doing while all this was going on?
Chasing lizards.
Question:
Do Cairn Terriers Possess much in the way of Common Sense?
Answer: No
Question: Do Cairn
terriers
settle down after the first year?
Answer: No
Question - How can I tell if
my Cairn terrier is Stressed?
Answer:
If you have a Cairn terrier that you think is stressed then there are
major problems in your household, either with people in it or with
other animals he is interacting with.
Seriously, there is
a major problem with your environment.
If a Cairn is exhibiting stress then there has to be something or
someone obviously causing it.
Take a step back, look around and see what you can see.
If you can't see anything, get a second opinion.
One
way to determine whether or not a dog is stressed (and I have never
seen this in a Cairn Terrier) is to observe the dog being corrected in
a semi-formal environment.
Example:
Say for example you have a dog that kind of knows what 'Kennel', 'Move It'
or some other command means - the dog is supposed to stay in
one
area or place..........like staying out of the kitchen while you are
cooking......and the dog is off lead.
The dog is relatively new to this concept - he is supposed to
be doing something, but he is unsure what you want.
The dog will start whining, making noise and frequently 'yawning', with
emphasis on the yawning.
This is an example of stress. When a dog whines and 'yawns',
he doesn't know what is expected of him and that is the point in which
you stop and think about what you are doing, and use a slightly
differently approach in accomplishing what you what you want the dog to
do.
Following up on the 'staying
out of the kitchen' example, walk towards the
dog using the 'Move it',
'Kennel' or
other words and get the dog moving backwards.
Then, grab the dog, put him on a short lead which happens to just
outside of the kitchen and praise the hell out of him.
Depending
on the IQ of the dog, the dog will rapidly associate the word
'Kennel' or pick your choice of words, with staying out of the kitchen
or wherever you don't want the dog to be.
Of course, if this is a Cairn Terrier we are talking about, it may take
a while. What works for me is the 'Move It!' command.
Our Cairn after about four years knows that 'Move It!' means 'Stay Out!' and it
works rather well.
Took a while,
though.
If you have what you think is a stressed Cairn terrier, do
something about it. This is not normal.
Question: My Cairn Chose the Wrong Alpha -
How do I fix it?
Answer: (Yawn) I wouldn't
bother.
The Cairn ultimately determines who is Alpha and as long as it's not
the Cairn himself, it's a minor issue.
In our household, one would assume either I or my wife is the Alpha.
That would be an incorrect assumption.
The true Alpha does not even live in the same house.
The true Alpha would be son Jeff and it gets truly nauseating
come visiting time.
Rufus
knows the sound of Jeff's truck and when it arrives in the driveway,
Rufus sits up straight, ears cocked towards the door and he
starts a low, whining moan.
When Jeff enters the door,
Rufus begins a halting, tentative walk towards him with his head
lowered, ears partly down. The tail also lowered with just a bit of a
wag to it.
The rotten dog stays that way until Jeff gives him
the all-clear signal by saying 'Hi, Rufus!', at which point there is
joy in the household.
The rotten dog has never behaved that way with me or my wife, even
though we feed, bath and provide shelter for him.
So if you're not the Alpha, oh well.
I'd
be more concerned with other issues like dog training (marginal,of
course), crate training, socialization and house breaking. If
you
are successful in those areas, you should do fine and you don't have to
be the Alpha to make that happen.
Comment: My Cairn terrier is afraid of
balls
Comment:
I wonder if this is a
recessive gene . Maybe we can do something with it!
Statement:
My Cairn Terrier is the smartest dog I have ever owned.
Comment: It is probably also the only dog you have
ever owned.
Statement: My Cairn Terrier
pays no attention to me.
Comment: Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a
typical Cairn Terrier!
If you want something that pays attention to you,
try a standard poodle.
Having one of those critters around the house is like having a second
skin.
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