Teaching Basic Commands to a Cairn Terrier

Why Short, Positive Sessions Suit a Cairn Terrier

Cairn Terriers were bred to work independently, hunting vermin among the rocks of the Scottish Highlands without a handler standing over them. That history explains a great deal about the dog snoring on your sofa. They are bright, bold, and perfectly capable of learning anything you care to teach — but they are not a breed that responds well to drilling, repetition, or a trainer who sounds cross.

Ask a Cairn for the same thing twenty times in a row and you will watch the enthusiasm drain from his face. Ask him three times, reward generously, then stop while he still wants more, and you will have a dog who trots over the moment he hears the cue. Sessions of three to five minutes, two or three times a day, will teach him far more than a single half-hour slog at the weekend. Always finish on a success, even if that success is simply a well-timed sit.

Before You Begin: The Practical Bits

Set yourself up properly and the training almost teaches itself.

• Treats matter enormously. Ordinary kibble will not cut through a Cairn's opinion of a squirrel. Keep small pieces of cooked chicken, cheese, or liver cake for training only.
• Choose your marker. A cheerful "yes" or a clicker, used the instant the behaviour happens, tells your dog exactly what earned the reward. Cairns are quick to spot the difference between a well-timed marker and one that arrives two seconds late.
• Train before meals, not after. A slightly hungry Cairn works for food. A full one would rather nap.
• Start somewhere dull. The kitchen or hallway, with the door shut and the television off, beats the garden every time.

Have a housemate distract the dog if you can. It helps him learn to focus on you while life carries on around him.

Teaching Sit and Stay

Hold a treat just in front of your Cairn's nose, then move it slowly up and slightly back over his head. Most dogs will fold into a sit automatically. The moment his bottom touches the floor, mark and reward. Repeat four or five times, then add the word "sit" just before the movement, so the word comes to predict the action.

Never push his rear down. Cairns dislike being manhandled, and a dog who sits because he was shoved learns nothing except to avoid your hands.

Stay is built in three separate pieces — duration, distance, and distraction — and you should only work on one at a time.

• Ask for a sit, then reward after two seconds of stillness. Build slowly to ten.
• Once he can hold for ten seconds, take one step back and return. Then two steps.
• Only then add a distraction, such as a toy on the floor or a person walking past.

Give the stay a clear release word, "free" or "okay", and use it every single time. A release word is what tells him the job is finished, and without one he will guess.

Building a Reliable Recall

Coming when called is the command that keeps a Cairn safe, and it is also the one owners ruin most often. Never, ever tell a dog off for coming to you, even if he has spent ten minutes ignoring you in the park. He will simply learn that returning is a bad idea.

Begin indoors with no distractions. Say his name and "come" in a bright, silly voice, then reward handsomely when he arrives. Running backwards a few steps as you call makes you far more interesting than whatever he was sniffing.

Progress to the garden, then to a quiet outdoor space on a long training line. Each time he comes, reward, praise, and then release him to go and explore again. This teaches him that coming back does not always mean the walk is over — a lesson Cairns take a surprisingly long time to accept.

Leave It: Essential for a Terrier

Given a Cairn's prey drive and his fondness for anything edible on a pavement, "leave it" is not optional. It can be taught entirely without confrontation.

1. Hold a treat in a closed fist and let him sniff and paw at it. Say nothing.
2. The instant he stops trying, or looks away, say "yes" and give him a treat from your other hand.
3. Repeat until he backs off the moment your fist closes. Add the cue "leave it".
4. Move to a treat on the floor with your hand ready to cover it. Reward him for turning away.
5. Practise on walks with low-value items before you need it for a discarded chip or a dead pigeon.

The reward must always be better than the thing he left. A piece of cheese beats a crust of bread every time.

Making It Stick in Everyday Life

A Cairn who only sits when you are standing in the kitchen holding chicken has learned a party trick, not a command. Fold the training into ordinary life instead. Ask for a sit before his dinner bowl goes down and before the lead goes on. Ask for a stay while you open the back door. Call him in from the garden just to reward him and send him out again.

If he starts offering behaviours you did not ask for, he is bored or confused — shorten the session and increase the reward. If he ignores a cue he knows well, check whether you have been repeating it. Saying "sit, sit, sit" teaches him that the first two do not count.

Above all, be patient with the terrier temperament. Your Cairn will learn everything on this list, but he will do it in his own time, in his own way, and with a flicker of mischief in his eye. Keep sessions short, keep your voice warm, keep the treats excellent, and you will have a dog who works with you rather than merely tolerating you.