Baloney?

In this post, we run the risk of having readers respond the same way Kate Hudson responded in this scene from the movie, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: 


Our topic is the marvelous Cairn Terrier, a breed that existed long before 1909, the same year that breeders brought them to the United Kingdom and named them “Short-haired Skye Terriers.” As an aside, this didn’t sit well with Skye Terrier fanciers, nor was the name acceptable to the Kennel Club. A compromise/alternative was reached with the suggestion, “Cairn Terrier,” a logical option since the breed was famous for fitting into small spaces often found between piles of stones called “cairns,” landmarks used to mark boundaries or graves.  Official recognition of the Cairn Terrier as a separate breed distinct from the Skye Terrier, and with the now unique name, was approved in 1910, but this isn’t what caught our attention enough to write a post. No, what got our notice was the claim that Cairn terriers are commonly left-pawed, an unusual characteristic that has been correlated to a strong performance in scent-related goals like ratting and tracking.

Here is where we heard in our own head, “Bullsh*t.”

The thing is, we found several sources pointing out the breed’s inclination to favor and lead with their left foot or paw.  And what “sealed the deal” was mention of it by the AKC. They wrote, “[Cairns] tend to be left-pawed, but that’s not the only odd Cairn foot fact. Their front paws are well-padded and larger than their rear ones, traits that gave them an advantage when digging in their pursuit of rodents. For the average pet owner today, that means that you’d better protect (or give up on) your garden. Cairns just gotta dig.” 
Is your Cairn Terrier “left pawed?”
Image by Solazar and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

One thought on “Baloney?”

  1. I’m on my 9th Cairn Terrier over a period of 40 years. If not all have scratched the ground with their left front paw before urinating. Or when digging whether the in the garden or under the couch to get at a ball… it’s LP all the way. 🐾🐾🐾🐾

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