Working with Shy or Fearful Cairns

A soft, gentle approach works best when training a shy or fearful Cairn, along with ample time and patience to set them up for real success.

Teaching your Cairn anything can be daunting if your dog is shy or fearful, as many Rescued Cairns are.  This excellent video by Zak George demonstrates how to teach your fearful Cairn to "Sit" and give a paw, using very gentle, positive training methods.  Doesn't sound like much, perhaps, but it is a great way to give your fearful Cairn a basic sense of confidence.  There is a spot of advertising by his sponsor, but it does not detract from this really helpful video.  Obviously, the dog is not a Cairn, but everything Zak demonstrates applies perfectly to a fearful Rescued Cairn.  Note his admonitions to go slowly, take small steps which you can build on, and set your dog up for success!

Training your Cairn can be rewarding!