Facilities

Our facilites at Crooked Creek Cairn Terriers are pictured on my website. Due to a hurtful criticism by a not so nice breeder recently, I'll offer a description and explanation of our facilites and care we provide to our Cairns.

You will see that we have a puppy house, which houses my grooming, storage, and puppy areas. I raised 1 litter in my laundry room years ago, and I will tell you now, I will NEVER do it again. The first 3 1/2-4wks of life are no issue. Our Cairn Moms frequently keep their puppies in our home, particularly in the winter time when I'm fearful a pilot light will go out in the middle of the night and get too cold for newborns. They require 80-90 temps for the first couple of weeks, and a stable temperature with no drafts. But when puppies are 4-5wks old, and they start on solids, the mother stops cleaning up after them. This equates to lots of puppy poop! I watched puppies at 4wks who could barely walk, wake up from their naps, leave their bedded area, go potty, and return to their bedded area. This proved to me first hand, the instinct that puppies naturally posess. It's a den instinct. Having 6 puppies in a single room, not knowing where the poop area is, is a disaster. They pooped all over, played with potty pads, and smeared the disaster even when cleaned up 5-6 times a day! They were difficult to potty train and to this day, my friend has a female from that litter that will make potty accidents upstairs in her home! At this point, I called Daddy to come to IL and build me a doggie door'ed puppy house! At 4-5wks of age, when the puppies start on solids, we leave a pile of Mama's poop outside. Sometimes the puppies need assisted through the doggie door the first time, but as soon as they realize where the 'poopy spot' is, they go potty outdoors! It's amazing to watch nature at work!!!! If some puppies don't understand the system, we put the divider in to close the space down inside, and this pushes them to go outside with only enough room inside for their "bed area" and the potty area is outside. It's no fail, and customers report puppies who potty train much more easily!!! The only problem with the puppy house is my realization that without 2x4 construction, it's impossible to correctly insulate and finish the inside as I had planned. So within the next year, we are making plans for a new facility with the same type of set up, but fully insulated and finished with separate adult quarters that mimic the current puppy house.

The criticism that I received revolved around my dogs having an outdoor kennel. Now if I lived in a northern state, this would not be appropriate for the Cairn Terrier. However, in our southern IL climate, we have mild winters and summers and it's quite conducive to the breed. Dogs, horses, and various animals prepare with the seasons by building a thicker winter coat and their bodies are prepared for weather conditions. Dogs that are kept inside year round, don't build an appropriate natural coat, aren't acclimated beyond potty breaks mid-winter, and they do need a sweater or coat to protect them from the temps. But dogs that are used to the exterior temperatures and have an appropriate coat do quite well in our climate. I do want to point out that they do have adequate housing. An appropriate sized dog box surrounds the dogs with their own body heat and keeps them warm. We do bring them inside the puppy house at night for the coldest weeks of the year, but most days are warm enough I hose the kennel out with water and it's above freezing.

The comment that was so incredibly hurtful was, that she couldn't imagine the isolated life my dogs must live in our back yard. (a breed bred for hunting who loves the outdoors?) I was kind of a smart elic by showing her the above photo of poor Bentley being "isolated" in our back yard. (I kept myself from sending many more photos) It made me chuckle when I think of my 3 boys who beg to play with the puppies and bring the dogs to the back yard to play. Our poor dogs have to play with kids and run around in a yard! Can you believe it!? LOL Now, this breeder thought I should have all my dogs in the house full time. I can't imagine such a situation when males and females mark their territory, and both Rainey & Carmie (females!) even hike their leg on my bushes! Can you imagine a house filled with 10 dogs hiking their legs on furniture, marking their territory.....with 3 boys under the age of 6, and litters of puppies pooping and pulling their potty pads around smearing such a wonderful mess for me to clean up? Hmmmm......as a nurse and someone who is almost freakish about germs and sanitation, it sounds like a nurse's horror flick!

Now I realize, that a full time indoor home sounds wonderful and I want that for my dogs. That's the purpose of a very expensive indoor facility for all my dogs in the near future. With tile floor and indoor play space, my dogs will enjoy air conditioning and constant temps indoors. But there is one more element involved in an ethical breeder's home. An ethical breeder requires that the goal of breeding be to "Improve the breed". I'm here to tell you that the production of a couple bitches (appropriate for a full time indoor home) will in no way "improve a breed". It requires the production and management of several litters a year, to accurately monitor and maintain a quality breeding program. So if I had to pick a sanitary, ethical, loving environment for my Cairn Terriers vs back yard breeding or having 10 dogs in my household full time? I choose a sanitary, safe environment and knowing that when my Cairns are finished with their breeding career, they're rewarded with an indoor forever home where they are pampered.

For now, I assure you that an insulated dog box lined with water resistent beds, more than adequate kennel space, planned exercise, socialization and mental stimulation, chew toys and treats, a sanitary clean environment, and fresh water and food accessible at all times, is very appropriate for the Cairn Terrier. I assure you that I adore our Cairns and that they are very much our family pets and adored by my children and family. At some point in time, we have to gain some common sense and realize that there are different views in life. And as long as the views provide a safe loving environment for animals, there is always a polite way to treat others. There is never an excuse to be rude or treat others badly.