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« Puppy Proofing Your Home | Main | Poisonous Flowers and Plants Every Dog Owner Should Know About »
Puppy Proofing Your Yard
Along with Puppy Proofing Your Home, you will also want to Puppy Proof Your Yard. Your new Cairn Terrier puppy is a great explorer. Cairns love to snoop and discover new territory. The Cairn Terrier breed is also known for their keen ability to hunt and track prey and is often deaf to your commands to come back when sniffing the trail of a rodot.
The AKC warns that a Cairn Terrier should never be allowed off leash unless it is fenced in or tethered to a chain. I myself don't like to see dogs tied out, so we had chain link fence installed. Every spring season, as we can afford it, we have the fenced in area enlarged for them.
If you are fortunate to live in a secluded area of the world and feel that your Cairn can roam freely without fencing, remember that there are other potential dangers to your Cairn Terrier.
There are many types of poisonous plants, toads and snakes depending on the area in which you live. Other preying animals such as hawks, large owls and in our area, coyotes, could also be a risk to your Cairn.
In addition, stray animals may come into your yard to pick a fight. Puppies are no match for an adult dog in a fight; it would only take a second for an adult dog to permanently injure or kill a puppy. Also, as much as I hate to mention it, there is a growing problem of purebred dog theft in some parts of the world.
Cairns are also known to be territorial - especially males. So do not be surprised if your Cairn Terrier (adult or puppy) will suddenly seem aggressive toward another dog that comes into your yard regardless of the size of the stray dog. Cairns for the most part are very fun loving and excellent family dogs, but just like some people whom we dislike to interact with, there are some dogs they dislike too.
Make sure your yard is a safe place for your Cairn puppy to roam and play. If you fertilize your yard or use insecticides, wait the allotted time before you allow your Cairn access.
If you have a fenced in area, remember that Cairns are diggers and expert escape artists. Have a plan should your Cairn realize that digging out is fun. Many people place railroad ties around the outside area of their chain link fence to discourage diggers.
Cairns are also known to climb fences, so watch for it. I'm lucky. Neither of our Cairns have tried to dig out or climb out of their fenced in area.
See my related article, "Poisonous Flowers and Plants Every Dog Owner Should Know About".
Filed under Cairn Terrier Health | Choosing a Cairn Terrier Puppy
Comments
Maybe its my two cairns, but I can never, ever, never leave them in our very secure back yard. They eat everything, and explore items by eating them. The female dug up a puff ball mushroom, and ingested this in the 5 minutes when she was left alone. Actually it turned out to be nontoxic, but it cost us $1200 in vet bills to be sure. Had it been toxic she may/may not have survived.
I never, ever leave them in the yard unsupervised.
We now have a fenced deck inside the fenced yard. The deck contains deck chairs, and the wooden deck, and no more. This way I can work in the yard/be outdoors and the pups can get needed sunshine and outdoor air, and I can be 100% sure they will not eat anything bad.
Also be aware of leaving any toy in their day pen or secure area when you are away, my female [again]completely ate a hard rubber chew bone one day. We left and the bone was there, we came back and it was gone. Over the next few days she passed the small pieces of this. She ate it all.
Do BE AWARE, these guys ... some of them will eat anything.
Posted by: ron | December 5, 2008 03:26 PM
