« May 2006 | Main | July 2006 »

Housebreaking Accidents Happen

Sometimes housebreaking accidents do happen. And sometimes these accidents teach the owner more than it teaches the dog. Happy Jack has been housebroke for well over a year, but today he had an accident that surprised him and me!

While trotting through the garage today and without realizing it, Happy Jack lifted his leg and did his deed on an unopened bag of potting soil we just recently unloaded from the car. The look of shock on his face as well as on mine was priceless.

To my surprise, it is obvious that Jack's dog elimination instincts are triggered with the smell of soil. Apparently he was surprised at what he did too, because the look of "UH OH" on his face was just too cute.

It is safe to say that there won't be anymore potting soil left lying around the garage anytime soon.

Is Your Dog Afraid of Storms?

With the summer season in full force here in Ohio, the weather brings hot and humid days. Generally this means days of reoccurring thunderstorms - some very severe with sharp electrical bolts, high winds and large hail. This also means that one of our Cairn Terriers will experience anxiety.

I'm not sure what caused Molly May to be afraid of storms, and I've not yet been able to help her get passed her fears. There was one instance when she was a puppy that might have triggered the fear, but it's merely a guess on my part.

We were all (three cats, Molly and I) in the living room sitting on the couch during one of the worst electrical storms we had in quite some time. Molly was only a few months old. Since I had two dogs prior to Molly that grew to be afraid of storms in their older years as they became deaf and partially blind, I wanted to be sure that Molly felt relaxed during the storm. This was her first experience with a storm. We had many that year when she was a little pup.

All of a sudden a lightning bolt hit close by. I saw the lightning bolt as soon as I heard it, so it was very close and the whole house trembled and rattled. All three cats sprang up and bolted. Molly saw this and bolted too although she'd never experienced a storm before. From one second of relaxation to the next second of totally frenzy by the adult cats, might have caused her to be afraid. Like I said it was a horrible spring and summer filled with electrical storms. Had it been one severe storm, it might not have been anything she would have remembered and feared. But it was an intensely hot and humid spring and summer that year.

Normally what I try to do now is not act any differently than what I would normally do during the day. I used to try to talk her through it by petting her and reassuring her everything would be okay. I tried distracting her with a game of fetch the ball, and even enticing her with one of her yummy treats, etc. but none of those worked.

When we got Happy Jack a year later, he was in fact not a bit afraid of thunderstorms. In fact, he whines and growls during the storm because wants to go outside and chase it! Generally he lies on the back of the couch and watches the storm from start to finish.

Where is Molly during the storm?

During the beginning of the storm or when you hear it in the distance, this is where you'll generally find Molly May. As the storm progresses, she pulls herself entirely under the coach. If it is an especially severe storm and there is no available lap to sit on, she'll curl up in a small ball in the smallest room of our house. Our small bathroom is in the center of the house and is the only room without windows and without exterior walls. Perhaps she senses something we don't?

Cairn Terriers and Cats

"I am considering purchasing a Cairn Terrier puppy but I have a 3 year old male cat. Do Cairn Terriers get along well with cats? ~Lucy

Hi Lucy. Cairn Terriers can coexist in the same household with cats, but each Cairn is different. If you raise your Cairn from a puppy with your cat it is possible that you won't have any problems. You will need to be sure that your Cairn Terrier understands that chasing or playing too roughly with your cat is completely unacceptable behavior.

Keep in mind though that Cairn Terriers were originally bred in Scotland to sniff out and chase rodents out and away from the stone cairns. Hence, the name Cairn Terriers. Cats are often considered rodents by some dog breeds such as the terrier group.

You also need to consider how well your cat gets along with dogs. If your cat has never seen a dog before or been around one you'll need to slowly get your cat used to the idea. If your cat is the nervous type and doesn't adjust well to change, bringing any dog into your home may not be a good idea. On another note though, it is possible your cat and new Cairn puppy could become great friends.

We have three adult cats and our Cairns do try to chase them if we don't correct the behavior when spotted. Our Cairn Terriers, Molly and Jack, both understand it is not acceptable behavior to chase cats, but it is part of their instinct.

On the flip side, our Cairns are also very friendly with all three of our cats. The picture above is Molly sleeping with our adult Persian cat, Queen Ann. We often see this type of cat/dog friendship between both of our Cairns and all three of our cats.

If you have additional questions about Cairn Terriers now or after you get your puppy, feel free to ask. That is why I am here and why I created this website.

Crisp and Cheesy Dog Treats Recipe

Molly and Jack took a liking to this homemade dog treat immediately. My Cairn Terriers love cheese so it isn’t any wonder why they literally lick their lips when they see these treats. The great news is that they are easy to make at home and most folks have the ingredients needed in this recipe already.

2 cups of all purpose flour
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tablespoon low sodium beef bouillon powder ( or 3 crushed cubes)
¼ cup cornmeal
¾ cup warm water
1 cup cornmeal (for rolling out treat dough)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the egg and water to form the dough. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more water.

Spread the 1 cup of cornmeal onto a pastry board. Form the dough into a ball, flatten, and then turn it over so that it is covered with cornmeal on both sides. This keeps the dough from sticking to your pastry board. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about ¼ inch thick.

Use a cookie cutter (dog bone cookie cutters work great!) to cut the dough into shapes. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until the bottom of the treats are golden brown.

Remove from cookie sheet. Let cool thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Dog Training: Importance of Routine

One of the most important aspects of training your dog or Cairn Terrier is to keep a consistent routine. Dogs depend on, thrive and learn the most effectively if you establish a daily routine for them and stick with that plan as much as possible. Many dogs get confused if you suddenly change their routine and some may develop anxieties or become aggressive.

Dog owners who suddenly have dogs that exhibit abnormal behavior will not think to consider that they drastically changed their dog’s routine which may very well be the cause of the abnormal behavior. If you want to make a change to your Cairn Terrier’s daily routine, make slight changes a little at a time.

Prior to getting your Cairn Terrier puppy, determine who in your family will be the primary trainer based on who will be around the puppy the most. Decide what you want to teach your puppy, and then prioritize the training. Most puppies are like sponges. They are just waiting to absorb as much as you will give them. They like to learn new things so that they can happily co-exist in the human world, and they like the attention they get during the training process. It’s never too soon to start training your puppy. In fact, the sooner you start and keep the routine going, the faster she will learn when she gets older.

After you have established who will be the primary trainer in your family, what you want your puppy to learn and in what order, decide how you will be training your puppy and make sure everyone in your family knows the techniques and uses the same techniques when the primary trainer is not around.

Important Dog Training Tips

If one family member is not being consistent with basic training commands and routines, the training process will take longer because it confuses the puppy. For example, the puppy may eventually learn the command “No”, but if one member of your family is saying “Stop it” and another “I said not to do that.”, then it isn’t the puppy’s fault if it takes 3 months to learn what “No” means in the human language rather than 3 days when being training with the same command consistently by all family members.

Positive dog training techniques are the most effective method and your puppy will learn what you want to teach him much faster. I can guarantee that scolding or bullying your puppy will have the opposite effect and any progress you made will go backward. Using harsh dog training techniques may completely fail, so don’t be surprised if that happens. However, positive dog training techniques will work 99.9% of the time. The key is consistency, routine, positive attitude, and lots of patience on your part.

After all, think about how much you would have learned in school if your teacher scolded you, hit or punished you each time you made a mistake. Now consider how difficult it would be for you to learn if your teacher was speaking to you in French or another foreign language that you were not familiar with. That is exactly what it is like for your dog. You are teaching your puppy English at the same time you are trying to teach him how to live in your household under your rules. Need I say more?

Clicker training worked the best for my Cairn Terriers along with positive dog training techniques. I started very slowly with Molly when she was 3 months old. Two minutes or less three or four times a day. Puppies have short attention spans. As soon as she lost interest, we quit until a later time. Each time we started her training, I asked her is she was ready for school. She quickly learned what school meant and she was eager to start.

3 Key Points in Training a Puppy

Make your dog training fun, positive and rewarding for the dog or puppy and it will work. Remember, the three key points to training your puppy:

1. Keep a positive attitude with a reward system of some type during your puppy's training. The reward can be a treat, praise, toy, or fun activity. Whatever your dog or puppy responds to the best is what you should make the reward. Some dogs are not treat oriented. My Cairn Terrier, Molly May, was not interested in praise. It took some time to determine what treats she would respond to as well. However, Happy Jack loves treats and praise especially Munchkin Talk. Each dog is different. Remember, you are learning about your puppy’s unique personality at the same time she is learning about you!
2. Be consistent with your dog training routines and your dog’s every day activities.
3. Be patient with your puppy. It is important that even if you feel like getting angry that you maintain control and not get upset. Quit the training process immediately before you loose your patience. Any negativity felt by your puppy will have the opposite effect that you want to achieve. Dogs have a sixth sense or instinct that humans don’t understand. They can feel things we cannot feel or see/

Training your dog should be fun for both you and your dog. When it isn’t fun anymore for either of you, stop. Then start again when both of you are in the right mood and frame of mind. The more fun you make training your dog, the faster she will learn.

Does your Dog have a Toy Box?

I keep all of my Cairn Terrier's toys in dog toy boxes. They have one toy box inside, one outside, and one in my van. Each toy box has a closable lid, so that I am in control of the number of toys they play with at any given time.

In this way, they do not get bored with all of the toys being available to them at once. By having a toy box in each location, it makes putting toys away quicker and easier.

In the near future, it is my intention to teach both Molly and Jack to put away their own toys on command. This will be a training project I am sure they can learn quickly; it will be fun and productive too.

When Molly and Jack were puppies, I kept a small toy box of appropriate toys beside their crate, so that prior to going to bed, I let them choose which toy they wanted to take with them.

To this day, Molly will grab a toy as soon as she comes in from her last elimination trip outside for the evening. And then she trots off to bed on her own carrying her selected toy. Most nights she selects a different toy to take to bed with her. It's so doggone cute.

What Kind of Dog Toy Boxes Do I Use?

The inside dog toy box is actually a hollow foot stool near our couch in the living room. It was very inexpensive from the local Wal-Mart (about $20.00 USD).

The outside toy box is a hollow, hard molded plastic dog bone which is waterproof, of course. In the photo above, Happy Jack is sitting next to it. I purchased it online at one of my favorite dog supply stores. You can see a picture of Molly inside the outside dog toy box when she was a puppy.

The toy box in the van is simply a clear plastic storage bin also obtained from the local Wal-Mart or discount department store. The van's toy box has the least amount of toys in it because it's the place where my Cairns spend the least amount of time.

I try to keep specific toys in specific toy boxes if at all possible. Naturally, weather resistant toys can go in the outside toy box. Toys that I don't want my Cairns to have unattended to prevent choking, I don't put in toy boxes where I will not always be like outside or in the van.

There are many types of toy boxes designed specifically for dogs that are available. From basic to fancy and those that blend in well with your home decor. Whichever type toy box you choose, make sure it isn't something that you will not get too upset about if it accidentally gets scratched or chewed.