Training TWO cairns

[DoubleTrouble]

Hi all! I am brand new to the site and will update my profile soon as an introduction, but we have recently adopted two cairn puppies (I grew up with one and there are no other breeds like them - I was in love!).  These new puppies are now almost 4-months-old.  They are hilarious and sweet and getting the hang of many things (crate trained, going for walks, hanging with our cats).. BUT we are not even close with the housetraining. I am not sure if we are way behind, or if it's normal at this age (they are still so young)... but they don't seem to be getting it AT ALL.  We have a fenced in yard, so they are outside a lot, yet they seem to wait to do their business until they are back inside.  We give them treats, celebrations etc... and when we catch them going inside we try to get them outside ASAP.  I am worried that having two is causing this problem...  if one goes, the other seems to go next. There is likely more urine odor to sniff out in =the house, and they sometimes are so excited that they seem less interested in the reward and more interested in playing.  Not sure about next steps, but looking for any suggestions or guidance you may all have.  Thanks so much and I am excited to be part of this group... we love our Cairns!!!

[Sam I Am]

First of all Welcome! 

These little ones are still babies which you can’t expect to be house broken at this tender age. Having two kids at the same time know doubt will be challenging as they would rather listen to each other than you at this time of their young lives. 

What we have always done with our pups is to keep them confined in a small area [that you can clean when accidents happen] for us that was an x-pen with a crate in it. The pup was taken out every few hrs into the yard and praised and praised when they did their potty there. Lots of playing in the yard which seems to also help them eliminate, then back into the pen. Puppies sleep most of a day away and are happy to do so, but we actually will wake them up and take them outside to potty. With youngsters it’s all about consistency, routine and patience, plus lots of going outside...like every few hrs. Don’t let them have the run of a large area, keep them confined. 

Puppies are a lot of work but it doesn’t take much time for them to get the hang of it. Just remember to go over the moon with praise when they do their business out side. 

[sanford]

There is a subforum here called "Housebreaking"...devoted to this topic, which should help. Having 2 cairn pups at the same time doubles the fun and pleasure, but it more than doubles the work as well!😀

Can you send photos?

[DoubleTrouble]

Thank you for the guidance, I’ll check out that forum. And yes, I am pretty sure this is way more than double the work! But they are so worth it... they couldn’t be sweeter! Here is a photo of the day they came home with us, at 2 months! Brownie is on the left and Mabel is on the right. I’ll add more to my profile soon- so glad to have found this group!

[Hillscreek]

Adorable. Yes double the work but double the fun! I did like Terrier lover and con fined my Angus to a small area only gradually letting him more space as he became reliable.

He was slower to become reliably house trained than I expected. Got there eventually. Plenty of people have shared their Housebreaking experiences on that forum. Experiment and see what works for your two.

 

[bradl]

I suspect in the case of housebreaking the same tag team behavior that's so frustrating when it happens inside may eventually be helpful as they transition to outdoors. Monkey see, monkey do  (or monkey doo-doo )  

The hard part with housebreaking puppies is the incredible dizzying effort it takes to *literally* observe them *100%* of the time to observe and decode the signs that they are thinking about peeing *right now* so you can hustle them outdoors for a successful experience. Keeping constant track of two may require four eyes!

As TL says, 16 weeks are still babies, but it's never too early to begin adding structure and routine to their lives   If they are siblings, for manners and obedience type training I would ensure they have explicit training completely separated (sight, sound, smell) from each other. This will help you learn to communicate with each of them as individuals vs trying to teach Team Tornado  

[gd4]

Oh my goodness! How sweet are these two precious pups! I can say that you have your hands full but in the most special way. Trust me, you may want to pull your hair out for a few months but if my experience is correct, right about 1 year to 15 months...magic kicks in and you will adore your little terror. I didn't think my little girl would ever get potty trained but now, she rarely has an accident in the house.

Our first Cairn, Trinity (in my pic) was my pride and joy. She was little stinker to train but at about a year, we adopted Max from the Cairn rescue who was only a little younger than her. By having each other, I feel the pups are less attached to you as their humans and develop a deeper bond together (they're dogs!). However, they are loads of fun and the antics together will keep you laughing and loving them more each day. Don't get me wrong, they will still be your best friend/s but they have each other which keeps them from getting lonely when you are not around.  Also, they will have their moments like bickering kids and tease each other until one's temper runs short. Little Trinity held her own with Max until he pushed her too far. They spent most of their lives together until last year. Max died at 13 in May and Trinity followed him at near 14 on Labor Day. Our hearts were broken. I went into deep depression at the loss of my sweet girl. No more than one month later in October, Trina Joy arrived! She was four months old when we brought her home. I think the fact that she was older made it harder to train her. However, I found that once she was old enough, a weekly visit to the doggie daycare helped to socialize and potty train her better than I was able to do (really). Little Trina Joy is one year, three months and she is such a precious, loving girl. My husband and I adore her. We thought of getting a second pup but have agreed she is enough for both of us. Amazingly, we believe she was sent by Trinity and Max. She is BOTH of our dogs. She loves us equally and is one of the best pups we have ever had. I have learned that I can love again. This little girl has stolen my heart.

The biggest challenge with Trina Joy is that she is a "garbage can" dog and will put anything in her month and eat it. This has prompted many scares and required playpens all over the house. However, in time, she is getting a little better   I cannot imagine how I could keep up with two.

Best to you! You will find so much information and wonderful folks here to help.

Gina

[Dianne]

6 hours ago, gd4 said:

The biggest challenge with Trina Joy is that she is a "garbage can" dog and will put anything in her month and eat it. This has prompted many scares and required playpens all over the house. However, in time, she is getting a little better   I cannot imagine how I could keep up with two.

Trina Joy and Katie are twins! Same age and similar challenges. We call her the "hoover" dog: vacuums everything...used staples, steals pens off the table, snatches any shoe left unattended and occasionally even on on your foot! The cry most heard in the house "what's she got now?" All our pockets are always full of Charlie Bears so we can "trade" for contraband!

But she was a breeze to house train!!!

We do not have a fenced yard, so must leash her to take her out to potty.  At first, every hour for a few minutes. She potties, we praise, give a tiny treat. Then return her to her x-pen. Interspersed with walks and play times etc.. As they age, you stretch out the frequency until you can remove the x-pen when all are on schedule. She has the run of the house  when we are at home, Is crated (large crate), when we have to leave the house and to sleep at night. She also lets us know if she needs to make an unscheduled yard visit by lying next to the door or deck gate. No accidents. At 6 months we were able to (road trip) travel with her with out any accidents at hotels etc.

Its intense in the beginning but certain to soon become instinctive and responsive to their needs. 

Cheers!

[Pepper Bug's Mom]

Ha! Brodie is also a Hoover dog!  Grabbed a pen last night from the end table...  In addition, he still piddles in the house if we are not paying attention!  This week he was so much better (he is now 15 months) about giving us signals and only piddled once!!!  I must say we have baby gates that enclose us in the kitchen/family room/tv room area so we can really keep an eye on him!  The hallway to the bedrooms is also gated off.... and the doors to the spare bedroom and computer room are also shut tight!  He is slowing down in the mouthing department and is such a good boy at this point!  He gets along with all dogs and is so sociable!   After 7:00 PM he is snuggled up on the couch or the ottoman for the night until he goes to bed in his crate in the bedroom with the other two dogs...Daily walks (good exercise for me) to the dog park is a must no matter the weather...sigh.  He socializes with his friends at the dog park while I throw the ball for the Lab and Pepper my 7 year old Cairn with HIGH prey drive!!!

Love your two puppies - so full of mischief!!!!

Edited September 25, 2018 by Pepper Bug's Mom

[hheldorfer]

I've been busy and just saw this post and OMG HOW DID I MISS THESE TWO ADORABLE PUPPIES?????😍

Welcome to the forum!

[DoubleTrouble]

Thank you so much everyone!!! This advice has been so valuable and we’ve already made changes to the routine we had in place.. they are still babies, but already seem to be improving slightly in the housebreaking area, so I think we are on the right track! They definitely like to chew things, and they love to wrestle with each other, so it has been like a tornado has entered the house! But they make us all laugh each day, and they are just as good at cuddling as they are at destruction, so it equals out!

I am looking forward to learning more from this website and getting to know others who are just as cairn-crazy as I am :)) thank you again for the warm welcome and sweet words!

[Kathryn]

Plenty of advice here about the house training... just one request: Post More Photos!

[DoubleTrouble]

Careful what you wish for.. I have many!!    Here is Mabel just a few weeks ago, but she is already so much bigger now at 4 months (as you’ll see in next pic!). She’s like a little stuffed animal....

[DoubleTrouble]

And this is Mabel learning how to reach the cat - I am learning that Cairns are definitely agile and strong! We’ve had to put up many barricades...