Cairn Terrier Breed Council

Breed Council Meeting 8 June 2025

The Breed Council Committee Meeting was held at Greens Norton Community Centre – all 6 Member Clubs were represented.

The following items were the subject of discussions:

Several did not meet their reserves.  It has been agreed to invite offers for consideration by the BC – funds raised will go to Breed Council.  A Cairn Compendium will also be included.  This will be well publicised on the BC & Cairn Club Websites and Cairn Facebook Groups.

All clubs need to support at least two shows – details of these will be posted on the BC Website.

Mrs Goldfinch has retired and she will be handing over to Mr Petts, who was voted at the AGM to take over this role.

It was agreed that this group is a sub-committee of the BC and should have its name amended to the Cairn Terrier Health & Welfare Group.  It is hoped to have a representative from each club on the committee.  The Constitution will be amended to reflect this and when agreed will be posted on the BC Website.  The Health Group Co-ordinator, Linda Saich advised that she is liaising with the RKC and BVA in respect to Ocular Melanosis.  She said that in Finland they sent a questionnaire out to members asking for feedback on health conditions and has asked for a copy in order that it may be considered for the UK.  

A Hands On was held at the MCTC Open Show in March 2025.  Mrs Percy advised that the CTC were considering holding a BAD & MCE in October/November this year.

We currently have 12 Mentors and 8 Observers, but have been advised we should look to increasing this to 30 Mentors and 15 Observers.  It was reported that 17 mentoring sessions and one Observation had been organised since December 2022.

It was agreed that Vanessa Byrne and Gerry Leighton should now be promoted to the A1 List following their recent first time CC appointments.  Updated Judges Lists are now available to view on the BC Website.

Ruth Parker-Tucker has retired from her role as Breed Historian – many thanks to Ruth for all her contributions in this role.  Arrangements are being made to hand over everything to Linda Saich who has kindly offered to take over this important role.   

The website is now up and running – the link is https://cairnterrierbreedcouncil.co.uk/

Concern has been expressed at the number of non specialists judging Cairns.  It was felt that there is not a lot we are able to do on this – but possibly more breed specialists on Championship Show committees might help.

It was disappointing that Cairns did not manage to get into the ring for the second show until 3pm.  Our Chair, Maxine Bennett will write to SC expressing the Breed Council’s disappointment and ask for an earlier start time in future.

The topic was raised for general discussion.  It is accepted that stud dog owners and breeders can charge whatever they want but it was generally felt that the quoted £2000 stud fee was excessive even for a top producing male.

The next Breed Council Meeting is scheduled for Sunday 5th October 2025.

Sue Kinton

14th June 2025