The most well known Cairn Terrier is probably Toto from the original movie The Wizard of Oz. People often think that Toto was a Yorkshire or "Yorkie' Terrier. In fact Toto was a Cairn Terrier. The movie portrayed Toto as a male, but Toto was really a female Cairn named Terry who was brought to Carl Spitz by an elderly couple from Pasadena, California who brought him a very shy dog who hid under the bed and was afraid to come out. Terry's owners never came back to claim her, nor did they pay Spitz for looking after her.
There are many stories about how Carl Spitz helped Terry overcome her shyness, but the fact remains that she was cast in the Wizard of Oz as Toto at the age of 5. Terry lived to be just over 9 years old which is a relatively short life for a Cairn, but maybe the stress of being in the movies took its toll on her.
The Cairn Terrier orginated in the highlands of Scotland and the isle of Skye. The history of the breed is similar to that of the Skye, West Highland white and Scottish terriers. The name Cairn comes from the piles of rocks or "cairns" that were used in Scotland to mark boundries on property, and sometimes graves. These rock piles were favorite hiding spots for fox and other vermin. A small but game terrier was needed to go into the cairns and root out the vermin. The lairds of Scotland kept packs of these tough but friendly little terriers for extermination and hunting purposes. The Cairn was originally shown in 1909 and was referred to as the "short-haired" Skye Terrier. This was met with serious objections with Skye Terrier fanciers, and that is how the name Cairn came about.
.
