Adding to our family

Question
Hello!
We have a adorable, dominant but loveable three yr. old male Cairn named Maynard. We were looking to add to our family and hoping you could point us in the right direction as to what breeds work well w/ Cairns. We are not concerned about size as Maynard is exercised daily plus he has a fenced in back yard. We could handle a dog also with a lot of fur as we live in the upper midwest where we deal w/ long cold winters. Maynard has been to obiendence training and we are both devoted animal lovers. He cuddles when he wants to and loves to play tennis ball so we are hoping to find him a best friend to play with. We love his attitude and temperment we just are unsure of another breed that would do well with a terrier. Thanks so much for your time!

Answer
Alyssa -

There are many breeds from which to choose, but I do have a couple of factors to consider.

I always recommend choosing a dog of the opposite sex.  This resolves at least 50% of the chance of conflict right off the bat, and of course spay/neutering reduces the possibility of personality conflicts.

The other thing to consider is whether or not to opt for another of the terrier breeds.  You may want to consider one of the less dominant terriers and avoid things like jack russells, border or fox terrier.

I also would recommend staying away from any of the large breeds that will rough him up too much because he might then become annoyed - so no rotties or goldens....  I have gordon setters and they have never been a problem - not best friends, but not a problem.

I have friends who have whole packs of cairns that it works out just fine.... so I would consider another cairn, a westie, perhaps a mini poodle... boston terriers are a riot too without too much terrier attitude... mini schnauzer..

And of course I would recommend you consider a rescue dog... and ask that you never ever buy from a pet store or anyone selling more than 2 breeds of puppies.

Good luck and have a blast !

-Beth