Dog owners who suddenly have dogs that exhibit abnormal behavior will not think to consider that they drastically changed their dog’s routine which may very well be the cause of the abnormal behavior. If you want to make a change to your Cairn Terrier’s daily routine, make slight changes a little at a time.

Prior to getting your Cairn Terrier puppy, determine who in your family will be the primary trainer based on who will be around the puppy the most. Decide what you want to teach your puppy, and then prioritize the training. Most puppies are like sponges. They are just waiting to absorb as much as you will give them. They like to learn new things so that they can happily co-exist in the human world, and they like the attention they get during the training process. It’s never too soon to start training your puppy. In fact, the sooner you start and keep the routine going, the faster she will learn when she gets older.

After you have established who will be the primary trainer in your family, what you want your puppy to learn and in what order, decide how you will be training your puppy and make sure everyone in your family knows the techniques and uses the same techniques when the primary trainer is not around.

Important Dog Training Tips

If one family member is not being consistent with basic training commands and routines, the training process will take longer because it confuses the puppy. For example, the puppy may eventually learn the command “No”, but if one member of your family is saying “Stop it” and another “I said not to do that.”, then it isn’t the puppy’s fault if it takes 3 months to learn what “No” means in the human language rather than 3 days when being training with the same command consistently by all family members.

Positive dog training techniques are the most effective method and your puppy will learn what you want to teach him much faster. I can guarantee that scolding or bullying your puppy will have the opposite effect and any progress you made will go backward. Using harsh dog training techniques may completely fail, so don’t be surprised if that happens. However, positive dog training techniques will work 99.9% of the time. The key is consistency, routine, positive attitude, and lots of patience on your part.

After all, think about how much you would have learned in school if your teacher scolded you, hit or punished you each time you made a mistake. Now consider how difficult it would be for you to learn if your teacher was speaking to you in French or another foreign language that you were not familiar with. That is exactly what it is like for your dog. You are teaching your puppy English at the same time you are trying to teach him how to live in your household under your rules. Need I say more?

Clicker training worked the best for my Cairn Terriers along with positive dog training techniques. I started very slowly with Molly when she was 3 months old. Two minutes or less three or four times a day. Puppies have short attention spans. As soon as she lost interest, we quit until a later time. Each time we started her training, I asked her is she was ready for school. She quickly learned what school meant and she was eager to start.

3 Key Points in Training a Puppy

Make your dog training fun, positive and rewarding for the dog or puppy and it will work. Remember, the three key points to training your puppy:

1. Keep a positive attitude with a reward system of some type during your puppy's training. The reward can be a treat, praise, toy, or fun activity. Whatever your dog or puppy responds to the best is what you should make the reward. Some dogs are not treat oriented. My Cairn Terrier, Molly May, was not interested in praise. It took some time to determine what treats she would respond to as well. However, Happy Jack loves treats and praise especially Munchkin Talk. Each dog is different. Remember, you are learning about your puppy’s unique personality at the same time she is learning about you!
2. Be consistent with your dog training routines and your dog’s every day activities.
3. Be patient with your puppy. It is important that even if you feel like getting angry that you maintain control and not get upset. Quit the training process immediately before you loose your patience. Any negativity felt by your puppy will have the opposite effect that you want to achieve. Dogs have a sixth sense or instinct that humans don’t understand. They can feel things we cannot feel or see/

Training your dog should be fun for both you and your dog. When it isn’t fun anymore for either of you, stop. Then start again when both of you are in the right mood and frame of mind. The more fun you make training your dog, the faster she will learn.