My heart belongs to my dog

Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

My heart has been completely captured by my dog, you guys. He's a Cairn Terrier named Clark Kent, and he pretty much rules our house. It's impossible not to love him. He loves people, but if he's held back from them, you'd think he was vicious. He barks and growls... but it's not because he wants to bite. It's because he wants to love on you!

Cairn Terriers (like Toto from The Wizard of Oz) are a small working terrier that were developed in Scotland on the Isle of Skye. They are bred for hunting vermin, and YES my Clark is a natural hunter of squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, you name it! Cairns can be found in a variety of colors - Black, brindle, cream, red, wheaten, grey... but never white! White means West Highland Terrier. Weird right? Here is a link to a site with some interesting Cairn Terrier Facts.

My baby is a wheaten coat, although when we got him he was dark brown/red and black. No joke! One thing we've learned is that Cairns can completely change coat colors over their life. So far, my Clark is staying wheaten, but there's a possibility he could change.

He had pneumonia back in November, and he's had a rough go of it since. I felt so bad that I couldn't fix him (just like when my son gets sick, ya know). This is how we spent Christmas Eve.
Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

He loves toys, and he has his favorites. Here, you can see him hugging a Red Shirt (from Star Trek) after he bit its ear off. For those of you who don't know, it's a running joke on Star Trek that anyone wearing a red shirt is expendable and usually dies in the episode haha
Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

I think his favorite activity is sleeping! He loves pillows and is often found actually using them as pillows under his head, as opposed to sleeping on top of them like a bed. He has one corner of the couch piled with pillows and blankets, and that's "his throne," as we call it. He crawls up on top of the mound and sleeps. A lot.
Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn TerrierClark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

Our son is now 13, and Clark is 5. They've grown up a bit together (we got Clark when he was 9 weeks old). We decided to get a puppy when we wanted to get a dog because Lucas had a moderate fear of dogs. When he was a toddler, my mom's basset hound jumped up on him and knocked him down while they were playing, and all Lucas remembers is being pinned down by a dog. So we figured having a puppy, all small and helpless, that Lucas could help raise and train would help him get over that fear. It worked. Even though when we went to get Clark, Lucas jumped up on a chair and pulled his legs up and wouldn't get down while all the puppies were running around. We had Lucas say "Clark Kent, come here." See, I knew that if we got a male puppy, he would be named Clark Kent (would've been Lois Lane for a girl hehe). When Lucas called his name, Clark ran right over to him. We knew that was our puppy!
Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

Clark loves "patrolling," as we call it. He sits in the yard and watches down our sleepy street just waiting for something he can chase... which pretty much just entails him running back and forth in the yard until whatever it is has passed. He especially likes chasing Amish buggies as they drive by. And they drive by a lot. We call him The Original Paw Patrol hah!
Clark Kent, a wheaten coated Cairn Terrier

Do you have a dog? What kind and how old? I love hearing dog stories! I also love hearing pet stories in general. Some people are cat people - that's quite all right, too! :)