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When most people think of a Cairn Terrier, the first image that comes to mind is Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Released in the late 1930s, The Wizard of Oz was solely responsible for bringing Judy Garland to fame for her portrayal of her main character, Dorothy. However, Judy Garland wasn’t the only one to receive instant notoriety from the film.
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s companion was a little dog named Toto, played by a Cairn Terrier named Terry. Terry’s handler, Carl Spitz, was one of the most famous dog trainers in Hollywood, an achievement due in no small part to his charming little Cairn Terrier’s work on film. Carl Spitz and Terry worked together on more than a dozen movies after The Wizard of Oz.
Judy Garland and Terry the terrier are said to have had a very affectionate working relationship and developed a very strong bond during the filming of the movie, which is probably what led to Garland getting a Cairn Terrier afterward. Garland’s daughter, as many know, is Liza Minelli, who is also a very famous owner of Cairn Terriers. Minelli is known for her love and care of dogs, but more specifically of this breed, a love that she undoubtedly acquired through her mother.
Prince Edward and his wife, Wallis Simpson, famous for their royalty and time in the public eye, are also known to own Cairn Terriers. As pets of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, their pets certainly got the royal treatment! Edward and Simpson’s Cairn Terriers had their meals prepared by chefs trained specifically to make dog food and served privately in the Duke and Duchess’s bedrooms in silver bowls, as if the dogs were royalty. It is said that the dogs were even spoon-fed by their owners!
Edward and Simpson owned several Cairn Terriers over the years, the first being Slipper, a multicolored gray Cairn who had so many problems with home invasion that he was eventually nicknamed Mister Loo. After Mister Loo came a cream colored female named Pookie, a gray tabby similar to Mister Loo named Detto and a cream colored tabby female named Prisie. However, after several generations of Cairn Terrier owners, the Duke and Duchess finally started keeping Pugs as their pets.
The most famous Cairn Terrier breeders are Brenda and Ron Birch. After three decades of careful and selective breeding practices, birch trees have made a name for themselves by producing champion after champion in their litters. His dogs are so famous that his bloodline bears his own name: Kinkim. Many people consider their success with these dogs to be the result of their partner’s strong interaction with them. While many breeders will hire handlers and groomers, Birches are known to show and train their dogs themselves. His most prodigious Cairn Terrier, the Champion Kinkim Ludvic, received more than 25 certificates in various competitions. How’s that for a successful pup?