Ceallach Irish Terriers
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* Training an Irish Terrier *
We trained our first Irish Terrier, Aodhan, to his AKC Companion Dog Obedience Title,
German Begleiteshundes Prufung and Wachhunde Prufung. Many websites and articles
you read about Irish Terriers make it seem like they are hard to train. This is not true.
Irish Terriers are trainable and in most cases you just have to be smarter than the dog! In
my mind there are three rules in training an IT:
1. The only good Irish Terrier is a tired Irish Terrier. An Irish Terrier needs
exercise, if they are not properly exercised they tend to have too much energy and cannot
focus on the task at hand. Additionally if you do not give your Irish an outlet to expend
their energy they will always find a way to do it, and it may not be what you had in mind,
for example destroying your favorite chair or digging a hole in your garden.
2. An Irish Terrier must never win. If you give an Irish Terrier an inch they will take a
mile. Consistency is key.
3. Nothing in Life is Free. I make my dogs work for everything. If they want to go
outside for a walk, they must sit and wait to have their collar and leash put on. If they
want to eat they must go to their crates and wait to be fed. In other words, they have to
do what I want first, then they can have what they want.
Many people have asked me what is the best method to train my dog. My answer is that it
depends on the dog. If you have a food motivated dog, then clicker training is probably
the way to go. I like to train with positive reinforcement whenever possible, however, I
realize that some dogs just don't get it, or that some people just can't get it. The bottom
line is find what method works best for your dog.
These are some links to different kinds of training methods:
Clicker Training
Dr. P's - Cool Website with Countless Links
Dog Tricks
German Begleiteshundes Prufung and Wachhunde Prufung. Many websites and articles
you read about Irish Terriers make it seem like they are hard to train. This is not true.
Irish Terriers are trainable and in most cases you just have to be smarter than the dog! In
my mind there are three rules in training an IT:
1. The only good Irish Terrier is a tired Irish Terrier. An Irish Terrier needs
exercise, if they are not properly exercised they tend to have too much energy and cannot
focus on the task at hand. Additionally if you do not give your Irish an outlet to expend
their energy they will always find a way to do it, and it may not be what you had in mind,
for example destroying your favorite chair or digging a hole in your garden.
2. An Irish Terrier must never win. If you give an Irish Terrier an inch they will take a
mile. Consistency is key.
3. Nothing in Life is Free. I make my dogs work for everything. If they want to go
outside for a walk, they must sit and wait to have their collar and leash put on. If they
want to eat they must go to their crates and wait to be fed. In other words, they have to
do what I want first, then they can have what they want.
Many people have asked me what is the best method to train my dog. My answer is that it
depends on the dog. If you have a food motivated dog, then clicker training is probably
the way to go. I like to train with positive reinforcement whenever possible, however, I
realize that some dogs just don't get it, or that some people just can't get it. The bottom
line is find what method works best for your dog.
These are some links to different kinds of training methods:
Clicker Training
Dr. P's - Cool Website with Countless Links
Dog Tricks