Cairn Terrier and GSD

[wolfy dog]

My plan is to get a Cairn puppy next spring. WD is 2 years old by then and should be rock solid in his obedience and me enjoying one full year without any puppy insanity.
Anyone living with an intact male GSD and an intact male Cairn Terrier? Who was there first (ages), how did the intros go (ages), hierarchy issues, etc. Any feedback very welcome.
Thanks.

[Mary Beth]

Oh dear -better you than me. 2 intact males - and Wolfy may not like the idea of a little brother - good luck!

[huntergreen]

why not get a female puppy, might be easier.

[wolfy dog]

Originally Posted by huntergreen

why not get a female puppy, might be easier.

I have a small older female who doesn't like females. I am actually hesitant about a male pup so that's why I asked for your guys' experiences. It is quite a puzzle and it may very well be better to wait until the oldies have passed on.
Or....a nice mutt will show up somehow one day. Who knows

[blehmannwa]

I have a male neutered GSD and a female pit bull. The pit-bull did "just show up." I like the blend of terrier energy and shepherd stoicness. Havs puts up with a lot from Tempest as her invitations to play consist of harassing him until he chases her and pins her down. It looks awful and sounds worse but she wiggles out from under him and off they go again. She's large enough that the rough play doesn't concern me which might be different with a smaller terrier. She used to cross the line from play into aggression when she'd get frustrated or accidentally hurt but Havs just would stop paying any attention to her when she was feisty. She doesn't cross that line anymore.

[wolfy dog]

Yeahh, I know it is back to the drawing table. Kinda what I was expecting.

[GusGus]

I had a male intact Doberman and a male in tack GSD. They were best friends forever. Now that the dobe has passed, we have gotten another male dobe who we will leave intact. My GSD and the new dobe get along pretty well. Besides when food is around.

[Saphire]

I had a Cairn Terrier as part of our family for many many years. He was the toughest dog I have ever owned!
The toughest to train, both housebreaking and obedience although once I had him under control he did take high in trial for all 3 legs in Obedience to complete his CD title.
I did not have a GSD at the time but instead I had 3 Siberian Huskies. He challenged my Alpha girl daily and never won but that never stopped him. I loved him to death and we learned to live with his toughness but he was a challenge thats for sure. Coat care can be very time consuming ie. stripping. Although his body was somewhat small, his mouth and teeth were the same size as my huskies.

Don't underestimate the strong personality of the Cairn Terrier.....my boy was neutered before I got him and was very dominant still.

[LARHAGE]

My Cairns get along fine with my male Shepherd, but the Cairn is neutered , Cairns are not lacking in courage to put it mildly, but I never let anything escalate to the point of a fight, my female Cairn who is a rescue went after my female Shepherd and it could have been really ugly if the Shepherd was not so obedient to me, I continued to work with them to the point they were able to co-exist happily, though they didn't love each other, I sadly lost my female Shepherd 2 months ago and have a new female puppy, the Cairn gets along fine with her and has been remarkably patient with an obnoxious puppy. My intact male and my neutered male Cairn were best of friends and would wrestle and chase each other all over, my male Shepherd has been away for 2 years and is coming back in May, I'm hoping they still get along despite the separation, my dogs are used to multiple dogs in the home and generally do just fine, a terrier is actually a good fit with big dogs as though small in stature, they're huge in personality.

[huntergreen]

wolfy, i also had two male shepherds, they were best buds,but i understand this isn't the norm.