Description: The Cairn Terrier dog has a fox like expression; and is a hardy little terrier. The head is wide and in proportion to its length, with a strong muzzle, that is medium length. The nose is black, with the muzzle covered in hair giving this dog its softer appearance. With triangular, pointy ears, giving it an alert look, and having wide set eyes, that are hazel in color, and wonderful shaggy eyebrows and a topknot. Their teeth meet in a scissor or level bite. This dog has a shaggy, water resistant, double coat. The outer coat is harsh, whereas the undercoat is soft. This breed can come in any color, except for white. It is hard to predict the coat color of this breed, as it will change several times over the years. Colors that are known in this breed, red, sand, shades of grey, brindle, often we see dark on the ears, muzzle and tail tip. The height of this breed is 10 to 13 inches for a dog, and 9 to 12 inches for a bitch. The male dog weighs in at 14 to18 pounds and the female bitch, 13 to 17 pounds. Their life expectancy is between 12 and 15 years.

History: The Cairn Terrier dog comes from the Highlands of Scotland and the Isle of Skye, it is one of Scotland's original terriers, dating back to the 1500s. At one point this breed was considered the same as the West Highland Terrier, but from the 1900s, they started to be seen as separate breeds. Their name comes from the word cairns a word used by the Scottish for a small rock pile, that badgers or foxes would often live in. This was often stone and used to mark the borders of Scottish farmer’s land. This breed became popular after 1930 as this was the breed, which starred in the Wizard of Oz. (Toto). Some of the talents of this breed are hunting, tracking, watchdog and more recently, agility and competitive obedience. They are also known for performing tricks.

Temperament: The Cairn Terrier is an alert happy dog that shows great loyalty, cheerfulness, love agility, friendliness and curiosity. This dog loves to play with children and can play for hours given the chance. With good leadership, this dog will listen to commands, but shows little interest in having a meek owner, allowing its own strong mindedness to rule. With good leadership, mental and physical exercise this dog can be easygoing. This breed needs firm, but not harsh leadership and discipline. Without this, the dog can become very destructive and often obsessive in their barking. They are known to chase small animals such as rabbits and can be a handful when off the lead. It is not a good idea to allow this breed of dog to develop small dog syndrome, this is where they believe they are better than the human owner and decide to rule the home. This can lead to stubbornness, excessive growling, and separation anxiety. With the right leadership, this can be a fun loving bright and intelligent dog.

Health issues: The Cairn Terrier dog has little wrong regarding health issues other than it can gain weight easily and so monitoring is required. This breed can be allergic to fleas so it is best to regular prevent fleas with a recommended flea product is always a good option.

Grooming: This breeds’ shaggy look can appear natural, but requires high maintenance to gain the required look. Without good grooming their coats soon becomes a matted mess. The Cairn Terrier dog needs brushing daily paying attention to the soft undercoat with gentleness. This breed can have a bath once monthly and a good idea is to brush the coat while it dries to prevent matting. This breed is a low shedder.

Living conditions: Providing adequate exercise needs are met, this dog is suitable for apartment living.

If you can't find a local breeder in your area don't worry, many breeders are using the major airlines like American, Delta, Continental and Northwest airlines for shipping their puppies.

At this time the airlines will ship puppies to the following States: Alabama AL - Alaska AK - Arizona AZ - Arkansas AR - California CA - Colorado CO - Connecticut CT - Delaware DE - Florida FL - Georgia GA - Hawaii HI - Idaho ID - Illinois IL - Indiana IN - Iowa IA - Kansas KS - Kentucky KY - Louisiana LA - Maine ME - Maryland MD - Massachusetts MA - Michigan MI - Minnesota MN - Mississippi MS - Missouri MO - Montana MT - Nebraska NE - Nevada NV - New Hampshire NH - New Jersey NJ - New Mexico NM - New York NY - North Carolina NC - North Dakota ND - Ohio OH - Oklahoma OK - Oregon OR - Pennsylvania PA - Rhode Island RI - South Carolina SC - South Dakota SD - Tennessee TN - Texas TX - Utah UT - Vermont VT - Virginia VA - Washington WA - Washington, D.C. - West Virginia WV - Wisconsin WI - Wyoming WY - Hawaii HI.