Training Your Scottish Terrier

Scotties, like most all terriers are a bit of a training challenge to say the least.  Dogs that were bred to work independantly from people still retain those working drives today, and present their own set of problems.  Having said that, Scotties can be trained and do quite well in training if they are properly motivated.  Positive training methods work best for training the stubborn Scottie.  The trick to training your Scottish Terrier, or any other dog is to find out what motivates that particular dog.  Some dogs are motivated by food, while others can care less.  Some are turned on by toys, while others are turned off.  Its up to you as the owner to experiment with different foods or objects and see just exactly catches your Scotties attention. 

 

Scotties are motivated by selfishness (as most animals are) they do things that get them immediate gratification, such as barking at the neighbors dog, or chasing a squirrel through the yard.  Such things give them great pleasure and are called "self reinforcing behaviors" because the behavior itself is rewarding to the dog.  Once you have found something that motivates your particular dog, you have found something of selfish interest to them.  They do what they have to, to get it.  Thats your leverage in training.  You hold that almighty wonderful thing that your dog wants, and they only get it when they perform the appropriate behavior.  So, your dog wants the rabbit fur squeeky toy you have in your hand.  You want the dog to sit.  When the dog sits you give him the squeeky toy (momentarily) and eventually your dog learns that you hold the key to very good things, and it takes little effort on their part to get them. 

 

Training terriers requires consistancy.  You can't train them without it.  They are smarter than you think and if you only go outside and yell at them for barking every third or forth time, guess what? They will learn that they don't get corrected for it every time and continue the undesirable behavior.  Consistancy is of utmost importance when you are trying to break a bad habit (such as barking, digging, chewing and so forth) Again, if you dog learns that he's not corrected everytime that he does a particular behavior, he decides its worth it to take the chance and risk getting caught, since he knows he isn't punished everytime. 

 

When training Scotties its also important to have patience.  Lots of it.  Because they are hard headed and independant, sometimes it takes a little more time to get things across to them.  Be patient it will come.  Having that very special leverage of knowing what their favorite treat or toy is goes a long way to helping out too.  Don't pick a time to train your Scottie when you are out of sorts, rushed for time, or have had an exhausting day.  Training Scotties takes all your mental faculties and if you train when you are having an off day, you will become frustraited and you will discourage your dog. 

 

Start out small, and easy as well.  Don't expect too much of your dog at one time.  Baby steps are the keys to successful training.  If you see that your Scottie is becoming overwhelmed by training, back up to something she knows and then quit your session.  Don't push for too much at once, it will all come in time.

 

Scotties need to know all the basics of training at the very least.  That includes sit, down, stay and come as well as walking politely on a LOOSE leash.  The most important command you can teach your Scottie is the "come" command.  If your dog escapes the back yard and is hurteling toward a busy street, you may only have one chance to call them to come, or you may not have a dog at all.  So take extra time to teach this command and teach it well.  Since Scotties are prone to tracking and being interested in small quarry (birds and squirrels expecially) you need to have a treat or toy that is WAY better than that squirrel or that bird when training this command.  And remember when you call your dog for the recall -- NEVER call your dog to you for something unplesent (baths, physical punishment, nail clipping, etc.) Never scold your dog if they turn and decide to come to you just one foot from you after you've chased them three blocks and Never call them to come when you can't physically go and back the command up by retrieving the dog (excluding emergency situations) If you do, your dog will learn again, that he dosn't have to mind you EVERY time, and at least with this command you want him to come to you reliably every single time. 

 

In this section I will give you some articles on training, problem behaviors, and socialization.  I hope you find them both useful and informative.  Don't get discouraged, if one method isn't working, try another treat, toy or another way.  And don't let anybody tell you that a Scottie can't be trained.