Thursday Training!

Training Your Cairn Terrier! 

I have seen many posts lately from Cairn Terrier groups about puppy and adult problem behaviors.  Cairn owners are asking for advice for many problems such as biting toes, being reactive towards other dogs, and letting their dog off the leash.

I currently own my fourth and fifth Cairn.  I have trained all of my terriers in a variety of performance sports such as AKC obedience, AKC Rally Obedience, Freestyle (dancing with your dog) titles, tricks titles, and therapy dog certification.

This lifetime journey has been, for the most part, joyous.  Working with your dog should always be positive and enjoyable, for both.  If you are feeling annoyed and in a generally bad mood, then do not train.  Your frame of mind should be relaxed, your mood patient.  We have our sights set on what our end goal is, but we tend to forget about the dog's behaviors, both good and bad, and take their agenda into consideration.

Casey, my Cairn Terrier, was the first dog I trained.  Casey was high strung, very excitable and rarely focused on me.  Back then the only dog training method we knew was compulsion (force).  To get the desired behavior from your dog you made it happen physically (popping the leash when the dog pulled, pushing the hindquarters down to make the dog sit, standing on the leash high by the snap to force the dog to lie down).  Now, as a senior, I hate the methods that I used back then.  We honestly knew nothing else.  With all of the leash popping that I did with Casey he actually had damage to his trachea. Not life threatening, but totally caused by this harsh method.  Believe me when I tell you I was sick about this.  It was never my desire or intention to cause physical harm to my dog.

With my second Cairn Toby the dog world was dramatically changing with positive training methods.  Letting your dog figure out what you wanted through clicker training instead of making it happen really reinforced the learning behavior in the dog.  Positive training does not mean permissive training.  Dogs do what works for them.  An undesirable behavior for us is often just a dog being an opportunist.  For example:  my Border Collie Rue is a secret counter surfer.  He will scope what is there when I am otherwise occupied.  In September I put my birthday cake on the counter and went to let the terriers inside.  In those three seconds Rue snatched a piece of my cake! I was really annoyed, at myself! Rue, being a brilliant Border Collie, had stolen the smaller piece.  Ha ha   But seriously, my mistake was leaving yummy cake on the edge of the counter.  I may as well have fed it to him.  And yes, I can certainly teach Rue that the counter is off limits, but I had not done so.  Another example is when a puppy chews your shoes.  Pick up your shoes!!  In actuality you are not avoiding bad behavior, you are eliminating the temptation from a busy or bored dog.  Rewarding your dog for good behavior can be whatever motivates your dog and he enjoys such as:  treats, praise, play, or a ride in the car. 

Dog training should be fun and fair.  Keep your sessions short.  Do not have unrealistic expectations.  Can you ever take your dog off the leash and have him listen?  Honestly, there are no guarantees about this.  All it takes is a split second for something unexpected to happen, resulting in injury or even death to your beloved dog.  I love my dogs too much to take such a chance.  Why do people not turn their horses out into an open field instead of putting them in a corral?  Because they would run away!  Why would we expect our dogs to do otherwise?  Despite the level of training that your dog has, they have genetic components such as sight and smell, and these senses can often override their trained behaviors.

In my thirties and living at home, I traveled to many states and even Canada with my Cairn Toby.  He earned more titles than any dog I have had as I was at my peak of training and competition then.  At one point Toby was the eighth performance Cairn in the country! VERY proud moment for me.  When I am doing competition sports I am taking pride in my dog's ability and also demonstrating what this wonderful breed is capable of doing. 

Now as a senior I have slowed down considerably.  Then of course there is the pandemic.  I want to get my young Cairn Swayze certified for therapy work, but things are at a standstill now.  As are therapy visits.  I look forward to the day we can once again visit and cheer people in nursing homes and other facilities.

My senior rescue Cairn Smudge is certified for therapy work and is semi-retired.  Youngster Swayze and Border Collie Rue both have tricks titles and earned their AKC Canine Good Citizen Titles.  That is as far as I went before the pandemic lock down.  I certainly can continue to train many behaviors to both young dogs inside my home but have admittedly not done so.  I continue to work full time from home.  Not retired yet.  This year!!

When seeking training advice you must be comfortable with the recommended method.  No one knows their dog better than you do.  At one time I believed that I had to do whatever the trainer said, and that resulted in my Cairn never retrieving due to the very harsh method used as an introduction, forcing him to hold a hammer.  

I have learned much over the years, and the learning never stops.  Each individual dog brings new challenges and a continuing education.  My young Cairn Swayze is very laid back and low maintenance.  My young Border Collie Rue, however, possesses the qualities of the herding breed and keeps this senior on her toes daily.

Enjoy your puppies and dogs to the fullest.  And, when they are doing an undesirable behavior, think about why, and how you can go about changing it.  Be creative, be patient, be kind, and be fair.  Your dog's love, loyalty, and eventual good manners will pay you back tenfold.

Dog bless, 
Judy Endo
andtoto2@ptd.net