The Cairn Terrier Breed History & Characteristics

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, August 2014 issue.

The Cairn Terrier Breed History & Characteristics

A breed of playful, energetic, and courageous small terriers has been known for the past one hundred years as the Cairn. First exhibited by Mrs. Alistair Campbell in England in 1909 as a “short-haired or prick-eared Skye Terrier,” her assertion was that the breed was of the old small working terrier dog from the Isle of Skye.

Following much deliberation and protest from the Skye Terrier Club, the breed would soon receive its official designation as Cairn Terrier, a name representative of the terrain where one was likely to find this small dog scampering about in the north of Britain.

By 1913, the first Cairn Terrier Champions were recorded in Britain. The year 1913 also saw America’s first Cairn registered with the AKC. At the year’s end in 1917, the Cairn Terrier Club of America was accepted into the ranks of AKC member clubs, and the following year recorded America’s first champion of record for the breed.

Breed origin and early history discussions invariably point to today’s Cairn descending from stock that can claim to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of the pure British Terriers.

Whether from the Isle of Skye or the mainland of Scotland, it is clear from writings and sketches that Cairn-type terriers were earning their keep bolting game and ridding the crofters’ premises of nuisance vermin in records reaching well back to the sixteen hundreds.

By the late teens of the last century, the practice of interbreeding between Cairns and their close cousins, West Highland White Terriers, was disallowed by the Kennel Club in America; Britain would follow with a similar ruling a few years later.

While the Westie evolved to an animal a bit taller at the withers and generally shorter backed, the Cairn maintained a moderate “not too short or too long” approach to both back and leg length.

Equally pursued by early fanciers/breeders was the effort to avoid any characteristic appearance that leaned toward the longer muzzled and more substantial Scottish Terrier.

Examining pictures from the first fifty years of Cairn Terriers as a recognized breed and comparing them to dogs of today, it is curious to note that the fancy has done well in preserving one of the original tenets of the breed club, “to promote the breeding of the old Working Terrier of the Highlands.”

While many coated breeds have seen fashion dictate the presentation of their show dogs, Cairn Terriers have stayed, to a much greater extent than some other breeds, unchanged through the decades.

Helping to maintain the breed’s traditional appearance, the fancy has long admonished those who would scissor a Cairn’s coat, preferring and promoting the terrier regiment of hand stripping to tidy the outline of this naturally coated dog.

As popular household companions, the Cairn’s visibility grew steadily during its first fifty years as a recognized breed. Cairns have been frequent members of Britain’s Royal household, and in America, who could deny the plucky demeanor of TOTO as Dorothy’s scruffy little soulmate in the classic Hollywood epic, “The Wizard of Oz”?

Through the early decades, Cairn champions in America continued to come over from Britain. Into the nineteen thirties, as many as two-thirds of AKC Cairn champions were British imports.

Without question, the breeder and kennel whose activities and dogs have had the greatest impact on the Cairn Breed in North America would be Mrs. Betty Hyslop of Cairndania Kennels in Ontario, Canada. Owning or breeding some three hundred champions gave Mrs. Hyslop a keen eye for breeding, as well as the resources to import some of Britain’s best champions. Mrs. Hyslop’s direct influence lasted over sixty years until her passing in the late 1990s. Her legacy of the top-winning Cairns she promoted can still be felt in the generations of dogs descended from her activities.

Today, the Cairn’s popularity goes well beyond the boundaries of Britain and North America. Fanciers in both North and South America are adding quality animals to their breeding programs from various European countries. Influences from countries that follow the British breed standard for Cairns have increased the diversity seen in the breed, mainly as it relates to the overall size of the exhibits found in US show rings today.

Specifically, the British Breed Standard, revised in the early nineteen eighties, states a desired height at the withers for the breed of eleven and a half to twelve inches. The standard adopted by the Cairn Terrier Club of America in nineteen thirty-eight, and still in effect today, states a desired height of nine and a half to ten inches. As deviation from desired size is not a disqualification, much size diversity is prevalent in the US show ring today.

In large part due to the support from the AKC for sanctioned events outside the purview of conformation, Cairns have enjoyed increased participation in events that clearly reach to the roots of the breed’s original purpose. AKC venues such as “Earth Dog,” “Agility,” and “Barn Hunt” are events annually finding increasing numbers of participants from the Cairn breed as breeders enjoy seeing their intelligent little dogs at work.

While Cairns have scored multiple titles as obedience entrants, their partners will tell you this independent-minded terrier is always a challenge to work with.

Living with a Cairn, as any owner will verify (particularly this author, whose population often exceeds twenty), is not for the sedentary. While Cairns have a steady disposition that can adapt to their owner’s lifestyle—be it apartment or farm—that isn’t to say that they don’t want to be busy. The Cairn has often been referred to as a big dog in a small body.

Never shy or timid, but often cautious at first encounters, Cairns exude personality and will stand their ground even in the face of overwhelming adversity.

On their toes and ready for action, Cairns invite the observer to “guess what’s on their mind.” Whether in the show ring or at home, human companions are constantly reminded that they must clearly establish themselves as “pack leader,” or this persistent little dog will eagerly take the lead.