Could this really be a "Cairn"?

[Pixie]

Here is a before and after of this little dog. The owner says she is a Cairn. To me it does NOT look like "Toto" in the Wizard of Oz. I know it could be a really bad one, but really!

[neanea]

It may be a x, but the floppy ears just don't look "cairn" to me.

Some people are easily deceived when getting a puppy and believe what they want to.

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

If that's a cairn, then it's not a very nice looking one. I mean, the groom job is good, it's just that the dog doesn't look like a cairn. The ears are dropped, that's one reason.

It looks nice and soft, Pixie. I have some cairns I do, 4 of them actually, from different families. None of them get their haircut and it is VERY wirey.

Tammy in Utah

[Maggy]

I'd say a cairn mix or a puppy mill cairn. The ears should be up and the coat is thinner and more fine than I think cairns are supposed to have. I would shorten the beard a bit and maybe shave the ears (if the owner lets you of course) to see if they might stand up. I've done a few dogs with ears that wouldn't stand up until they were shaved, but even then they would still flop over a bit.

[Pixie]

Maggy, this dog will not ever have the hair removed from its ears. I'm doing good just taking a little off her body. The owner likes her long and flowing, even though she doesn't seem to know what a brush is, but she does come in every 4 weeks. The little bit of wirey coat helps brush out the few mats she gets inbetween grooms.

Her coat is a little wirey, but not much. You can feel it more when she is dirty to when she is clean. When she is clean it is nice and soft.

She has ugly eyes. She is pretty good to do, except for front (right) foot, then she'll nail ya, has to be muzzled for that.

If I remember right she got her at the animal shelter.

[Bearmtn]

Maybe schn. and cairn. Those eyes look like my black schn. eyes.

[RoosMom]

As someone who does more terriers in a week than some groomers want to see in a lifetime ;-), I'm going to say it looks like a cute little terrier mix, but is not a purebred anything. Doesn't matter, of course, and if the owner wants to believe she's a purebred, I wouldn't rain on her parade. :-)

[pugnacious]

nope, cairn's have perky, straight up triangle ears and much more wirey hair. This one sure looks cute in the After pictures. great job.

[KarlaSnyder]

Mixed breed for sure. There's nothing wrong with that! Just wish these shelter people wouldn't call a mix a purebred. I see alot of that from newspaper articles, TV news, and even on programs like The Dog Whisperer. What is obviously a mix gets called a purebred whatever-a pet peeve of mine, and I love mixed breeds too.

[Poodlefluff]

If they got her from a shelter she is probably just a mix. I do a shih-tzu that has AKC papers but I swear up and down is mixed with Pekinese because it has very little hair on the front of it's legs, is bowlegged, has big bug eyes, and hair on face is a little thin.That dog is prob not a cairn. I worked at a shelter and most of the time we would just list the breed as a mix to what ever it looked closes to. Shepard mix, etc. I would probably put that dog in the cairn mix, or just terrier mix. Mixed dogs can look pretty close to a breed I have seen puppies from a schnauzer and a cocker that look similar to that dog. Could be a beagle and a schnauzer. You have to think about what popular dog breeds are at the time of the dogs birth, to help figure what it could be mixed with. Cairn terriers are not that popular, and most people who have a rarer breed of dog will spay and neuter it. Because they are responsible dog owners. The more popular a breed is the cheaper it becomes, and the more irresponsible the owners are typically. So schnauzers are very popular right now you can buy one for $200. So a lot of terrier mixes have schnauzer in them. Just like 10 years ago there were many chow mixes and cocker mixes.

[happy trails]

She looks schnauzer x to me.Cute dog.

[Pixie]

I wouldn't ever tell the owner her beloved "Cairn" wasn't a one. She just thinks the world of her. She knows enough about dogs and the different breeds I'm sure she knows that her Griti isn't a full fledge "Cairn", just likes to call her one.

[HoundLover]

id say schnauzer mix with something or just a good ol terrier mix..i wanted to say scottie for a minute there...maybe scottie with schnauzer or something? she looks like she has the scottie skirt and body kinda?
who knows! if she got her from a shelter then they prob. just listed her as whatever kind of mix...LOL!
Hound

[sheilabgroomer]

Here is a "full" Schnauzer I groom.

I am not joking, his owner swears he is a full Schnauzer!!! And I would never rain on his parade either....lol..he is to good of a tipper! :-)

[HoundLover]

LOL!!! full schnauzer eh? since when do schnauzers have LONG shih tzu ears? LOL!!!
Hound