Cairn Terriers being relatively low maintenance easy pets usually do not receive the same level of training a sporting or hunting breed might, and maybe that's not the way it should be. By instilling basic foundational skills in training such as eye contact, heel work, sit, stay, down, drop it, leave it, etc we have a tool box to communicate with our dogs. Establishing this relationship at an early age is helpful/important and a 6 month old puppy should have most of these skills.
Another important and often missed step is simply "settling" in public. Staying overnight with a friend. Being held or approached by a stranger.
It's important to remember that Cairn Terriers were bred to run, bark, and dig. Children love to run with Cairns and ours do often, but games of "chase" can excite a dog and result in nipping. This is what the dogs were bred to do, and it is our responsibility to teach children how to appropriately interact with the dogs and to set the dog and child up for success. Consider providing the child with a "lure" encourage the dog to bite or chase the lure and show the child they themselves don't have to run necessarily to play with the dog.
When walking in public and larger more boisterous dogs run up to a cairn or tower over the top of them the cairn will defend it's space. They are very proud little creatures with big egos. Expect your cairn to know how to heel and give eye contact when they are unsure about a situation, and tell other dog owners to please not let their dog crowd your dogs space so that you can introduce them appropriately if that is your intention.
When watching cairn terriers at play they will tumble, wrestle, bite, bark, and snap/growl at each-other. They are terriers and they love to chase each other around the yard wrestling for hours. It is important to remember this is their normal behavior, is the behavior that is being marked as aggressive unacceptable aggression or is it normal play and speak for a cairn terrier? There is a difference.
It is important to note that this breed can have same sex aggression tendencies and resource guarding behavior over bones or chew toys especially. This behavior is NOT to be tolerated at all. In our program we have done our best to breed away from these behaviors and many of our dogs don't exhibit them at all, but it is common within the breed. Our recommendation is to remove the stimulus completely and refocus the dog by setting them to a different task.
Also remember, if you leave your dog in the care of a stranger and/or in a strange place they might feel fear or anxiety even if they don't display it outwardly it could come out as snappiness at other dogs on walks, accidents in the house, or? This is a sign that the environment/sitter isn't a safe place for your dog yet. One on one sessions working on some of your dogs basic commands or tricks could help the bond and help them settle in.
Though this blog post isn't particularly cheerful I think it is important to remember that these little wee monsters that we love so much are cheeky and delightful, but that they were bred to hunt vermin and we keep them as pets. My Cairn Terriers have brought a lot of joy to my life and I trust them with my child, but I do not anthropomorphize. Learn to read dog body language for exactly what it is and not what we want it to mean. (just one example a wagging tail doesn't necessarily signal a happy dog it can also mean nervousness)
Last but not least I highly recommend subscribing to the NO BAD DOGS podcast as there are interesting training tips shared regularly and it may help us rethink dog training from the dogs perspective.
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