Terriers and Obedience Training

If you've got a terrier, you'll know how stubborn they are. Westie (a West Highland White Terrier), and despite being the most lovable little soul, he's incredibly stubborn. Which made the process of obedience training that little bit harder and longer. In the following article, I'll give an overview of obedience training the Terrier breeds of dogs, and the various nuances it holds when compared with other breed types.

Why is it different?

Terriers largely have stubbornness in their blood. For centuries, they were bred to act with the confidence of their owners away and out of sight from them. So they naturally hold a greater sense of initiative, and a more individualistic will. After all, it's what makes them so great and gives them such a distinctive personality. But when it comes to training them, it can often test your patience and push it to it's limits.

A lot of terriers were bred to tackle pests such as rats, being able to reach all the nooks and crannys and having the speed that humans don't have. Whilst it's hard to generalize an entire breed, there's some characteristics that have obvious influences on the actions of your Terrier. Because they were bred to go out and kill pests, there's a certain element of fearlessness. This makes disciplining them or attempts to intimidate or overpower them a lot less effective in training them than other breeds. At best they'll be indifferent over the long term to training by indifference.

More so than a lot of other breeds, Terriers see themselves as equals. To them, their time is valuable, and so repeating tasks over and over again will make them bored - their concentration will wane and so will their capacity to learn. Obedience training therefore has to ensure that there is always a lot of variation with the tasks and practices you do, and ensure that there is positive praise to account for their feeling of equality.

One helpful tip from my experience of going through obedience training with my Westie is to observe, over time, the average time it takes for your dog to get bored doing a certain task. It's obvious when they are; their concentration will go and they'll be more unresponsive to treats and praise. For more effective obedience training, you should try to stop any form of exercise just before they get bored.

Scottish Terrier Training

The icon dog breed of Scotland. It has tight fur, that is quite hard. Hair is short, but is long and wavy on areas above its legs. It has a beard as well, which is also long and wavy. Colors usually come in black, brown, wheaten, and many other variations. Their ears are something in between small and medium, and are erected, and pointed. They don't stand tall, because they are short; stands at about 10 to 11 inches. The skeletal structure of this pooch is solid; coupled with a muscular build as well. It can weigh from 19 to 23 pounds.

A small breed but full of energy and high spirits. It is an active dog, but doesn't need much exercise. In terms of character, it is loyal and protective. It is affectionate as well, but doesn't socialize very well with people outside the family of its master. In fact, it has the tendency to get along better with one member more than it does with the others. Owners of this breed know this to be true. It will spend more time and seek the attention of one member as compared to the others. The Scottish Terrier can at times be overprotective.

It can grow suspicious of visitors and will bark a lot if it hasn't received the proper training. That problem should be dealt with while its still young. This breed is proud, and can be stubborn. This can make it difficult to deal with and will be hard to train, especially for amateur owners that have no experience or knowledge on how to go about things. To start, educate yourself - get mentally and physically prepared for the task. When you're ready, remember to be firm, yet gentle. Taking it too hard on this pet will have negative impacts on its behavior.

You have to be firm, but not to the point where you'll be shouting and hitting - it just doesn't work. Forcing it to learn will be useless; a better approach would be convincing or persuading it to learn. It must have the desire to do something. It may come from an intelligent breed of canine, but proper training methods still needs to be manifested. Such may include doggy treats and encouragement. Give it a reward for doing something good like obeying a command. Praise it for being well-behave. Ignore it for doing something bad. Methods like that. Your tone of voice must be consistent and clear when giving it praises, trying to teach it, and reprimanding it.

The three must have different tones, so it will be easier for this dog to identify your intentions. The Scottish Terrier is a fantastic pet. It needs plenty of love and socialization with both humans and pets. It loves playing and receiving attention. Take it out on daily walks, and always try to set a schedule where you can spend at least an hour with it daily. It enjoys digging as well, so you may tolerate that behavior. If you can't put up with it, it's quite easy to teach it to lose the habit.