Tuesday Tails: Bet you can't have just one

Just like Lay’s Potato Chips, it’s impossible to have just one cairn terrier. How many have joined you on your life’s journey? We’d love to hear about them!

My first cairn, in 1997, was my big Kahuna, a wise little dog indeed. Despite his Hawaiian name, he was born in northern Illinois. (My ex-husband is native Hawaiian, so all our pets during that marriage had names of aloha.)

Kahuna

Kahuna truly came into his own when we moved to South Lake Tahoe. Contrary to his Pacific Island faux-heritage, Kahuna loved the mountainous winters. For him, the mountains were the mounds of snow along the road left by Tahoe’s gigantic snow removal machines, or piled up after hours of shoveling the driveway. Kahuna would stand atop these “mountains” and survey his land, and he would know that it is good.

Kahuna plays on a "mountain" of snow

My heart broke when I lost my little shaman in 2000, when he was just three years old. We had moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. and my husband was walking Kahuna one Saturday evening – when a neighbor’s rottweiler escaped from their yard and attacked Kahuna. My husband tried to fight off the rottie… I won’t go into the painful details, but after two trips to the emergency veterinarian hospital that weekend, Kahuna died in my arms, at home, on Monday morning. I was devastated.

Kahuna’s dog companion was a wonderful collie, Ali’i. The collie missed his little buddy so much that I knew I had to get another cairn. That’s when Lani came into my life and stayed for almost 15 years.

Lani and Ali'i

Lani never had a bad day. Sure, she had her share of upset tummies (geez, girl, did you really eat that whole box of Raisinets???!#%@!) and mischief (never put a lid on a compost bin when you have a cairn who digs!), but she was always the happiest dog I ever knew.

Lani is covered in leaves after her play session with collie pup Rosie.

Well, Lani was the happiest dog I ever knew – until I met Peaches, the Westie I adopted from Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network. Despite having dreadful heart problems, this little pup is the epitome of happiness. She is always discovering new games (it’s MEDICINE TIME, yay!) or harassing her collie buddies, and everyone loves her.

Peaches invites collie Nemo to play

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Now it’s your turn. Please tell us about your cairn terrier(s). Send your story to me at dawn4cairn@gmail.com.