The Cairn Terrier: The Toto

The Wizard of Oz - Toto

A hardworking, sturdy little dog, the Cairn terrier is mostly known for their aid to farmers in getting rid of pests on their farms. Nowadays, they are mostly used for contests in agility or obedience, and excelling in terrier and tracking trials. They can also be really great actors! Toto from The Wizard of Oz is a Cairn terrier. There are actually people who train these types of dogs to be good acting dogs, because they are so determined and can be very trained and obedient with patience and care.

Their little size and determined attitude makes these terriers nice companions. They are very assertive dogs and are very alert, and with all of their hard work their coats are weather-resistant. The weather-resistant outer coat can be virtually any color except for white. (Leave that up to the West Highland terrier!) They have somewhat of a bushy face with hair pointing in all directions and it gives them a slight look of a fox.

Mickey

The Cairn originated from Scotland, and was initially grouped with the “Skye terriers”. Their name, Cairn, reflects the rock dens that fox and badgers lived in throughout the countryside of Scotland. What the terrier would do is go into these dens, and bark once the pest was found and would bark until the farmer came to take care of it.

At the kennels, the Cairn stays separate from the rest of the dogs. Mickey is generally a quiet dog but when the others start to play she wants to join in on the fun if she feels like it. She’ll stay in the back and doesn’t mind watching from afar but loves to get attention when she can. The Cairn is a hard worker though and anyone could see the sturdiness of the dog if they just looked at her!

Anberlin

Cairn terriers are well adaptive to the elderly and I know this from experience. I got a Cairn terrier puppy from one of Mickey’s litters and named her Anberlin. I loved her to death because she was so sweet and loyal but was playful and would play fetch with me. Once college started though, I wasn’t home that often to see her or my family. When I came back, I realized that Anberlin had become completely devoted to my grandmother and as soon as she was let in from outside she would immediately go into my grandmother’s bedroom and sleep with her on her bed. Now everytime I come back for a visit, or when I talk to my grandmother over the phone, she doesn’t stop talking about Anberlin. She once told me that she would never like an “ankle-biter” dog, but now she is in love with Anberlin and never stops talking about her, stating that, “she’s just so damn intelligent”.

Interested in adopting a Cairn into the family? It’s a nice family dog because they adore their families. They like to test their owner’s limits though and will need a lot of obedience training to fix that. Even if they learn quickly, they will always have the slightest instinct to chase and follow small animals and pests so be prepared for this trait. To keep them fit and happy, be sure to regularly exercise the dog and also brush their coats often to make sure they don’t get tangled. Being fit and happy makes the Cairn a real Toto!

As usual, the video below is a clip from Animal Planet’s “Dogs 101″ show, posted by JDACanimalblog (there’s some static in the sound), that gives some more information about the Cairn Terrier. Enjoy!

Advertisement