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« Grooming a Cairn Terrier (not for Show Dogs) | Main | Crate Training »
Cairn Terrier Coat Colors
Choosing a specific color Cairn Terrier puppy is no guarantee the adult dog won't change colors. In fact, some Cairns change colors several times throughout his/her life. In this article I explain the various colors available with photos of the fur or coat, what is acceptable, why some colors are not acceptable, and why the Cairn's coat will often change sometimes more than once throughout the dog's life.
I had my heart set on a Toto dog, a dark brindle color. But when I went to pick out my puppy from the breeder, the only pups she had left to choose from where lighter in color. This was the same situation when we picked out Happy Jack. It's not too surprising that the darker Cairn Terrier puppies are the first to go from the litter. We have Toto from the Wizard of Oz to thank for their popularity.
Molly May is registered as a wheaten color and Happy Jack is a brindle. Nonetheless, they are absolutely wonderful dogs and I wouldn't change my decision now anything.
There are three colors that are not considered acceptable in a Cairn Terrier: white, black. There are two color patterns that are not accepted: black/tan, spotted
This is because white is generally associated with the Cairn Terrier's cousin-like breed, the West Highland Terrier. And the black is associated with another branch of the family, the Scottish Terrier (or Scottie as some folks refer to them).
A brindle color means that a single strand of hair has variations in color from the skin to the tip end. It is said that it is this brindle gene that often causes the Cairn terrier breed to change colors throughout the dog's life.
Today Molly is now 2 years and 3 month old. Her wheaten color has changed to a variation between red brindle and dark brindle. Some day her coat may just turn toward a dark brindle just like Toto. This is just another interesting characteristic of the Cair Terrier.
Happy Jack's coat on the other hand has become a little bit lighter in color since he as a puppy. This means absolutely nothing really. He too may change his coat color a number of times throughout his life. As of today (the day I wrote this article) Jack is 1 year and 3 months old.
Here is a list of some of the most common Cairn Terrier colors and a quick view color swatch guide to help you distinguish the differences.
 crème |
 light brindle |
 wheaten |
 medium brindle |
 dark brindle |
|
 red |
 red brindle |
 dark red brindle |
 grey |
 grey brindle |
Popular coat markings that make a Cairn more interesting looking or just plain ole cute are dark areas such as ear tips, snout, full or partial mask, and tail tip.
I hope you find this information helpful. I did a lot of research and read a great deal about Cairn Terriers, before I became a Cairn pet owner. I wanted a pup that was as close to the breed as possible, but most of what I found was targeted toward show dog owners.
Filed under About Cairn Terriers | Choosing a Cairn Terrier Puppy
Comments
Great color resource! We expect to get our first Cairn pup this week. I'm delighted to have been referred to your site by a friend. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Maggie | April 27, 2006 02:10 PM
Brindle means that there are black hairs mixed with a variation of other colors in the coat. It is not my experience or knowledge as a breeder, that the definition of brindle is the color of the hair from the base to the tip of the hair. The brindle gene is either present or it is not, at birth. At birth, a brindle puppy has a striping pattern in the undercoat. If this striping is not present, the puppy is a non-brindle and the black in the coat usually comes out or fades with age. Non-brindle puppies have black hairs down their back but it is not striped. The undercoat will be a uniform light color. They are the red, wheaten, red wheaten, or cream colors. Brindles can change from light brindle to dark brindle and have mixtures of red, wheaten, gray, or a mixture of more than one color with the black hair in their coat. The shade can change over the lifetime going lighter, darker, etc. But it is not my experience or knowledge about the brindle gene that a wheaten could go brindle or a genetically brindle puppy go non-brindle.
Posted by: Traci Dow | February 18, 2007 12:53 PM
I just had to put my Cairn down yesterday ... at almost 18 years of age due to Chronic Kidney Disease. I found him on the street one day when he was about a year old and I fell totally in love with both him and the breed.
He was a little dog with a big dog attitude, a big bark and tons of personality! I miss him terribly, so after a reasonable mourning period I want to find another wheat colored one since I enjoyed having him around so much.
My little "Pook" looked a lot like your "Happy Jack." I'm having a DNA test done to see if he was a purebreed. He was a little bigger than the norm ... at 26 lbs. and an inch or two taller than most of the ones I've seen ... with a longer tail that curled up over his back. Otherwise, he looked exactly like your dog.
Do you have any advice or resources as to where I should look for one similar to him when I'm ready?
Thank you so much.
Lisa Amato
Posted by: Lisa Amato | August 15, 2009 03:47 PM
I have five chickens and a rescue 18 mo old cairn terrier that wants to kill them, they are free range, and I am tired of tugging at her lead to get her away from them. Should I give up and get rid of the chickens?
Posted by: paul | August 30, 2009 11:04 PM
