Owning dogs, in particular taking care of the cairn terrier, is a specialty of humans across the world. Some historians have proven that dogs were domesticated sometime between 12,000 and twenty five thousand years ago—and that all dogs evolved from the wolf. Since those days, we have selectively bred more than four hundred different breeds, ranging in size from four-pound teacup poodles all the way up to Irish wolfhounds, whose 3-ft stature earns them the title of tallest dog. But the most widespread canines are the non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mutts. The cairn terrier is also a popular choice with dog owners. Some owners are unaware, however, of many crucial cairn terrier care tips.
Typical cost of care for the cairn terrier
The annual cost of caring for the cairn terrier—which includes everything from meals and treats, to veterinary care, toys and license—can range between $420 and $780. This doesn’t even count capital expenses for spay/neuter surgery, collar and leash, carrier and a dog crate. Note: Be positive you have all of your supplies before bringing your cairn terrier home.
General cairn terrier Care
cairn terrier Feeding Outline
- cairn terrier puppies between eight and 12 weeks old need 4 meals daily.
- cairn terrier puppies 3 to 6 months old should be fed 3 meals in a day.
- Feed puppies 6 months to one year two bowls of food each day.
- When your cairn terrier hits his 1st birthday, one bowl in a day is usually sufficient.
- Many times cairn terriers might do better with two smaller helpings. It is your responsibility to learn your cairn terrier’s eating habits.
High-quality dry food ensures a balanced diet for adult cairn terriers and can mix with canned food, water, or broth. Your cairn terrier may love fruits and vegetables, cottage cheese, and cooked eggs, but these should not be more than 10 pct of his daily allowance. cairn terrier pups should probably be fed top-quality, brand-name puppy food. You should try to limit “table food”, though, because it can cause mineral and vitamin deficiencies, tooth and bone problems, and might result in extremely finicky eating habits as well as obesity. Give fresh, clean water only, and be certain to wash food and water bowls very regularly.
cairn terrier Care Tips: Your cairn terrier needs physical activity daily
cairn terriers need some daily physical activity to stay in shape, stimulate their brains, and stay healthy. Daily activity also seems to help cairn terriers avoid boredom, which would often lead to naughty behavior. Getting out would appease many of your cairn terrier’s instinctual urges to chase, retrieve, chew, dig and herd. Activity needs vary based on your cairn terrier’s age and his or her level of health—but ten minutes in the backyard and merely a couple of walks around the block every day probably won’t do. If your cairn terrier is a 6 to 18 month adolescent, her requirements will probably be greater.
Grooming tips for cairn terriers
Frequent brushing will help reduce shedding and keep your cairn terrier clean. Check for ticks and fleas every day during the summer or other warm weather. Sometimes cairn terriers don’t need a bath more than a few times a year. Prior to the bath, cut out or comb all mats from the cairn terrier’s coat. Rinse all soap out of the coat, or the dirt will stick to the soap.
cairn terrier Handling
Pups, as opposed to adults, are obviously easier to manage. When carrying your cairn terrier pup, take 1 hand and put it beneath the dog’s chest, either with the forearm or other hand supporting the hind legs and rear. Never try to grab or lift your puppy by his or her forelegs, tail or back of the neck. If you have to pick up a larger, adult cairn terrier, pick it up from the underside, bracing his or her chest with one of your arms and rump with the other.
Housing the cairn terrier
Your cairn terrier needs a cozy quiet place in order to rest apart from all the drafts and away from the floor or ground. You might wish to purchase a dog bed, or make one out of a wood box. Put a clean comforter, sheet, or pillow inside the bed. Wash the cairn terrier’s bedding frequently. If the cairn terrier will be spending a lot of time outdoors, make certain she has covering and plenty of cool water in the summer, and a warm, dry, covered area in winter.
cairn terrier Identification
Your community has licensing rules to follow. You should connect the license to your cairn terrier’s collar. The license, together with an ID tag or tattoo, can help secure your cairn terrier’s return if she happens to go missing.
Information on cairn terrier Temperament
Thoughts on cairn terrier Training
A well-mannered, companion cairn terrier is truly a joy to own. However, when untrained, your dog can easily be nothing but trouble. Teaching your cairn terrier the standards—”Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Down”, and “Leave it”—will improve the relationship with both your pooch and the house guests. If you’re the owner of a puppy, begin training him on the right responses immediately! Use doggie snacks as an incentive and a reward. Pups should commence obedience classes when they have been sufficiently immunized. Contact the local SPCA or humane society for details about obedience courses. It is wise to walk your cairn terrier on a leash when, even as a puppy. Be certain your cairn terrier will come back to you at all times whenever you tell her. A disobedient or aggressive cairn terrier can’t play with kids.
About your cairn terrier’s Health
cairn terriers should see the vet for a thorough check-up, shots and a heartworm test each and every year, and ASAP if she is ill or injured.
cairn terrier Dental Health
While many of us may object to our cairn terrier’s foul breath, it’s important to be aware of what it may be telling us. Foul-smelling breath usually suggests that your cairn terrier should get a dental exam. Plaque triggered by germs brings a bad smell that demands professional treatment. Once your cairn terrier has had a professional oral cleaning, her mouth may be kept healthy by eliminating table food, feeding a special diet focused on maintaining dental health, and brushing regularly. The veterinarian can give you other advice on reducing oral diseases and bad breath. You can use a baking soda and water paste or a dog toothpaste once or twice per week to brush your cairn terrier’s teeth. Use a child’s soft toothbrush, a gauze pad or a piece of nylon pantyhose stretched over your finger. Periodontal disease,which is an infection between the tooth and the gum, often affects cairn terriers. This troublesome affliction can possibly initiate tooth loss and also spread infection throughout the rest of the body. Your vet usually will brush the cairn terrier’s teeth in her typical health evaluation.
cairn terrier Halitosis
If your cairn terrier has smelly breath, gum disease may not necessarily be the issue, as other illnesses have that symptom. Intestinal or liver diseases also cause bad breath, whereas a fruity, even pleasant smell may be indicative of diabetes. When your cairn terrier’s breath smells of urine or ammonia, kidney disease may be the reason. When you determine your cairn terrier has halitosis and other symptoms of ill health, like diminished appetite, nausea, weight loss, depression, excessive urination and drinking, set a visit to her doctor.
Dealing with Ticks and Fleas in cairn terriers
Daily, regular checks of your cairn terrier for fleas and ticks in the warm seasons are vital. Remove and find fleas with a flea comb. There are several new procedures of flea and tick control. Speak with your vet about her or his options.
cairn terriers With Heartworm Issues
The heartworm is a parasite that resides in the heart and passes from a contaminated dog to your cairn terrier by way of mosquitoes. Many cairn terriers die each year as a result of heartworms. It is wise to make sure your cairn terrier takes a blood test for heartworms each spring—this is critical for detecting infestations from the prior year. A once-a-month tablet taken throughout mosquito season can protect your cairn terrier. Should you travel in warmer regions with your cairn terrier in the winter, your dog must be on the preventive medicine during the trip. There are some places, usually the regions with more moderate temperatures, where veterinarians recommend worm pills be used year round.
Poisons and Medications
If you’re contemplating giving your cairn terrier medicine that was not prescribed for her by his veterinarian, forget about it. Did you know that 1 ibuprofen pill causes stomach ulcers in cairn terriers? Keep rat poison and other rodenticides away from your cairn terrier. If you think that your pooch has consumed a toxin, contact the veterinarian or the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for twenty-four-hour animal poison instructions.
Spaying and Neutering cairn terriers
It is recommended that female cairn terriers be spayed—the extraction of the ovaries and uterus—and males neutered—extraction of the testicles—by six months old. You usually will significantly reduce your female cairn terrier’s breast cancer risk by spaying prior to maturity. Spaying also eliminates the possibility of a sick uterus, a very serious condition in more mature females that can only be treated with surgery. Prostate diseases, testicular cancer, certain types of aggressions and some hernias can be prevented by neutering males.
Innoculating your cairn terrier
- The combination vaccine (also called the “5-in-1 shot”) ought to be given to your cairn terrier at two, three, and 4 months of age and again once per year. This shot immunizes your cairn terrier puppy from distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza. Your cairn terrier must be innoculated for at least the first four months of her life.
- If you have the rare cairn terrier who has not been innoculated and is older than four or 5 months, she will need a set of 2 immunizations two or 3 weeks apart, followed by an annual innoculation.
- Your cairn terrier pup’s socialization should coincide with the innoculation program. You may take your cairn terrier puppy to socialization courses by eight to nine weeks old, according to most veterinarians. At this point, they should have already received at least their first vaccinations.
Because regulations are so different between different areas, contact your community vet to get information on rabies innoculation. For example, in NYC, the rule requires any pets older than three months must be vaccinated for rabies. The original rabies innoculation must be followed by another shot the next year, and then every 3 years. There are many innoculations, many of which are appropriate for your cairn terrier. There are others that are not, however. Your veterinarian can tell you about them. By the way, if your cairn terrier gets sick because she is not vaccinated, do not administer the innoculation until the dog has made a full recovery.
Intestinal Worms in cairn terriers
cairn terriers are often exposed to worms—in all areas, both urban and rural. Eggs that carry roundworms are transmitted through a cairn terrier’s stool. Even the healthiest of cairn terrier puppies carry hookworms or roundworms. Getting an accurate, early detection is the key to effective treatment. Early, accurate diagnosis maximizes the possibility that prescribed medication will be effective against your dog’s worms. A dewormer that eradicates hookworms, for example, cannot kill tapeworms. Your doctor can best define the culprit—and decide the appropriate treatment.
cairn terrier Care Tips: Additional Info
cairn terrier Supply Checklist
- Top-quality dog food and treats designed for cairn terriers and similarly-sized dogs
- Food dish
- Water dish
- As many safe toys as you can provide, especially chewable
- Comb and brush for grooming, including a flea comb
- Collar with ID tag and license
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for puppies)
- Training crate
- Dog box or bed with comforter or towel
- Doggie or child’s toothbrush
Warnings to be Heeded
The following items should never be fed to cairn terriers:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Caffeinated foods, like coffee, tea or chocolate
- Raisins & grapes
- Spoiled or moldy food of any kind
- Onions, chives and garlic
- Poultry bones
- Salt and salty foods
- Tomato leaves, stems & unripe fruit
- Dough
Final Thoughts
Retain your cairn terrier on a leash whenever you are outside, unless you are in a fenced-in, secured location. Whenever your cairn terrier does #2 on a neighbor’s lawn, the sidewalk or any other public space, please take care of it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about cairn terriers
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