Questions on training a 4 month old cairn terrier?

Question

Yesterday, my mom and my dad bought me a beautiful Cairn Terrier for my birthday. I named him Mr. Furley (from Three's Company.) Anywho, I have some questions about training him...

- They say that Cairns should not have full roam of the house. How do we keep him in one room? He's a wild little fella so he's bouncing of the walls.
- He is a biter... well, he rough plays with everyone. We tried picking him up and saying no but it doesn't work. We even tried replacing our hands with chew toys but he rather bite our hands... what do we do?
- How do we stop him from barking?
- How long does it take for a dog to be fully trained? Do you think it is possible to have it done by Christmas?

I'll probably be back with more questions throughout the week so brass yourselves!!! LOL! :)

Answer 1

How long does it take to train a dog? That is a good question.


This depends on your on expectations of what training is. I train my dogs for competition, therefore my level of expectation is much higher. I can" train "my dogs (or some one else's) to perform a task in a few in just a few reps of the exercise. The showing step of dog training does not take all that long. It's the understanding and perfecting the task that takes a while. That is practice. For me I spend 3 to 4 years of daily practice before I enter the show ring. Again, my expectations and level of perfection is much different than a normal person's.

You get out of dog training what you put into it. As the trainer you must be clear and consistent in how you present your direction to you dog....every time. How consistent you are will determine how long it takes to train your dog. Consistent means using the same verbals (or non-verbals) each time. Example if use sit for the sit then all of sudden you start saying sit down......you may run into a problem. Consistent also means the amount of time training each week, all dogs should be worked daily. If you work with your dog on an inconsistent basis...that's what you are going to get. I hope that makes sense.

Next question is how long do I have to spend. I spend NO longer than 20 mins a day training for the show ring. That's it. I prefer to do quality training not quanity. If I get 3 excellent reponses of an exercise I move on....some time if I get one perfect response I move on. I always end a task on a positve note. If I feel my dog is just not getting a task....I don't train that for a few days...I never train failure. You will most likely start off with the sit, don't go into a room and make the puppy sit for 20 mins straight....spend some time showing him each day.....once in the morning and once at night......then use the sit in normal life....sit for food, toys etc.

Always praise and reward your puppy when he completes the task with some form of success. Praise and rewarding your puppy is the key to good training. Make training fun. Do a couple
sits and play.

But the first thing you have to start with training the puppy to respond to his name. He has no clue he is Mr Furley. Pick one name you are going to be using, don't confuse him at this time with nicknames. This is an easy one. Call his name, he looks, reward him. Easy, all what you are looking for is for him to turn his head and look at you when you say his name. First, step of attention.

From now until Christmas? You would not even be though a puppy class by that time. Will the puppy be fully trained, no. Will the puppy be started, yes. Depending on how much time you devote to his training. In the next few weeks, he should 'get' what his name is, have a pretty good understanding of the verbals and non verbals of sit, maybe have the down and wait started and be light leash 'trained'.

I would suggest a class, puppy is a great way to start. I would find your local dog training club. Personally I would avoid the chain places (I was a trainer at one of those places......I would never recommend anyone to waste time or money there.....another story). Whatever the case is, set your goals, if a slow, sloppy sit works for you......go for it.

Biting, all puppies bite. A loud Ouch and walk away sometimes works. Stop playing with him and take YOUR toy away....may work. Bitter Apple on your hands. Again, if you don't want him to bite....you NEVER let him bite. Or you give in and buy a bite glove and let him bite the glove when it is on your arm. That's up to you.

Above all don't give up. I have been training dogs for years, sometimes it gets tough...sometimes it gets hopeless.....sometimes I cry....but I don't give up. Just have fun with it. Believe it or not, his wildness and bouncing all the walls is a good thing when it comes to training......you just need to train attention.

Answer 2

Cairn are a very energetic breed, bred for hunting rodents. You will have your hands full.
No puppy should have full run of the house, crate train him.
Put him in his crate when you are not home or when you can not watch him. This will do several things.
1. He will come to think of it as his safe haven. When you travel his house can go with you and then he will not be upset by being in a strange place, he will always have "HIS" home.
2. He will not be able to tear up things in the house and go potty where he should not.
3. It will make potty training so mush easier.

He is not biting, he is playing. Try holding his muzzle snugly and telling him no EVERYTIME he does it ( mama dog will either hold their muzzle in her teeth or nip their ears as a negative reinforcement)
Same thing for barking... Crate training helps with this too, cover the crate with a blanket so he can't see out.
No, he will not be trained by Christmas.
Get a book on puppy training and take it to a puppy kindergarten class followed by a regular obedience class for the basics.
Cairns are one of those breeds that will bring you years of joy if you train them properly. They are very loving & Loyal. I have a 10 year old who I would trade for anyhting.
Potty training was the toughest. THere little brains are all geared on chasing and having fun, it's what they were bred for.

Answer 3

My sister has a Cairn Terrier and everyone loves her.

She has access to the whole house. She has plenty of toys, but she does like to tear their heads off.

She also would bite when she was a puppy. They broke her of it by telling her sharply "no!" and sitting her down every time she did it.

She also went through a stage where she loved to dig holes in the yard. They broke her of that by the same method.

I have to say I never cared for little dogs until they got her. You can't help but love her. She is so full of life and love that it would take a mighty tiny heart not to love her back.

Good luck with your new baby.

Answer 4

Well, you can get a good amount of training under way by Christmas, but it will likely take longer than that to get it down well I'm afraid. We have a 5 month Border Collie and have been working with her since we brought her home and the training is a never ending process.

I would suggest seeking out a good puppy kindergarten to get your dog into and get the training process under way. A good trainer will definitely take you in the right direction and help you with any behavioral issues (like the biting and barking) that your dog has.

Answer 5

lucky you. Cairns are true terriers, they are hyperactive, yappy, lively dogs. They are truly sharp litter terriers. Hmm I wonder why you got bought such a breed since you seem to dislike all of the true terrier traits your puppy is displaying. Would you not have been better of with a calm older spaniel?

Answer 6

*Please don't get a shock collar for this dog.* He is a puppy and it's outrageously cruel to shock a dog when they are just being a dog. What your puppy (and all puppies) are doing when they play-bite is a way of exploring their world, and one of the primary ways they do this is with their mouth. This doesn't mean that you have to put up with puncture wounds, though. Be sure that every member of your family abruptly ends the game with the pup whenever they feel teeth on skin. You don't have to get emotional about this at all (in fact, it may be better for your "wild child" to learn this without any verbal signals at all - I suspect that he might find that to be even more exciting and fun!) Through repetition, your pup will learn that "If I'm not careful with my teeth, then I don't get to play the games I want to play." Do a Google search on "teaching bite inhibition" and you'll get back more info about this. I would not continue to pick up your dog either, unless it is to take him on an all-expenses-paid trip to his crate for a time out. Again - no emotion necessary. He'll get it after a few reps of this!
As far as the barking - this may take longer to extinguish, as barking is fun for dogs to do. Basically - just don't ever reward your dog in any way for barking (wait for silence before you let him out of his crate; turn your back to him if he's barking at you for a mini time out) Dogs percieve a "No!" or a "Stop it!" and other reprimands as rewarding, and will continue to bark if you take this approach - after all, you're paying attention to them when you're reprimanding them!
I'm not sure what your picture is in your head of a "fully trained" dog. Dogs learn quickly with positive (clicker) training and consistency. If you want more helpful info I suggest joining the Yahoo groups list "Start Puppy Training" (link below) - there are some great trainers on that list who will help you.
Good luck!

Answer 7

I know what you mean on the biting. I have a 4 month old hound dog / terrier mix who loves to chew everything including our hands (although gently).
One thing is to place a toy or bone (i.e. pig ear) in her mouth if she keeps trying to play rough. This lets her know you want her to bite the item, not your hand. Also, ignore her or walk away from that behavior lets him know I'm tired and bored of that.

Last, buy bitter apple spray in the pet store and spray on your hands or objects that you don't want her to bite on. They hate the taste.

good luck

Answer 8

Two words.....Shock Collar

And no that's not a joke..Everytime the dog does something you don't approve of give him a jolt and pretty soon (Very quickly actually) he learns what's accepted and what's not.

Answer 9

u are lucky to hv a dog