Skull:  Broad in proportion to length with a decided stop and well furnished with hair on the top of the head, which may be somewhat softer than the body coat.

Muzzle:  Strong but not too long or heavy.

Clarification.

     The head is very broad and short.  The muzzle shorter than the length of skull.  The ideal proportion of muzzle to skull is four to five.  The muzzle is full but not heavy, yet broad enough to hold a full set of large, strong teeth.  Heads may go to extremes and be too heavily boned--appearing coarse or too fine--appearing "snippy."  Please note the Standard does not call for a foxy head--only for a foxy expression (smart, alert, cunning), which is lost if the head is coarse or overdone.

My Comments.

     Breadth of skull is not the only criterion whereby the Cairn head should be judged or evaluated.  Dogs should be judged on proportion and balance, i.e., breadth of skull versus proportion of skull to body.  The head should be the right size for the body and the breadth of skull must be in balance with the body.  One cannot measure the top-skull of a twelve-inch dog against that of a ten-inch dog and consider the larger dog the better because his top skull is broader.  A huge dog with a huge coarse head may be in balance, but is not what we require at all.  A long muzzle and top skull are always unacceptable, no matter how big the dog.

Teeth:  Large, mouth neither overshot nor undershot.

Nose:  Black.

Eyes:  Set wide apart, rather sunken, with shaggy eyebrows, medium in size, hazel or dark hazel, depending on body color, with a keen terrier expression.

Ears:  Small, pointed, well carried erectly, set wide apart on the side of the head.  Free from long hairs.

Clarification.

     Large, strong teeth are important.  There should be six incisors, upper and lower.  The bite is either level or scissors - not overshot or undershot.  The nose is black only.  The preferred eye color should be dark hazel (not black), medium in size, oval in shape and wide set, giving the Cairn a decidedly "devilish" look.  Ears are small, wide set, properly placed on the sides of the head but carried upright are correct.

My Comments.

     With regard to teeth, I feel breeders should certainly breed for the correct number of both upper and lower incisors, but should pay attention to the pre-molars as well.  Strong teeth cannot be emphasized enough.  A level bit is acceptable according to the Standard, but as a breeder, I do think that you have to be very careful when breeding level bites.  Take pains to try to breed animals with good scissors bites.  Level bites cause teeth to wear excessively at an early age, leading to their loss, and also level mouths have a way of becoming crooked or even somewhat undershot in later years.  In my opinion, breeding level bites without a great deal of caution often results in the production of wry or undershot mouths in the next generation.

     Good dark pigment on the nose and around the eyes is very important to proper expression.  It is best to be aware of coat color when evaluating eye color.  An acceptable hazel eye in a wheaten brindle will appear much lighter and less acceptable when the coat goes naturally darker with age.

     The eyes must be set deeply, and there should be a decided stop in order to create proper expression.

     The ears appear larger on a puppy without full head furnishings than they will appear when he is an adult and the development of those furnishings is complete.

     Too large an ear can ruin the Cairn headpiece very easily.  Ears set too high give a Scottish Terrier-type expression, and they are extremely unattractive.