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Are Irish terriers difficult to train?

The Irish terrier is good-tempered with humans, but does not tolerate other dogs too well.

By Paul Rawlings

Sunday, 07 October 2007

I have a five month old Irish terrier bitch I would like to use for rough-shooting. Can you recommend anybody who could help me train this type of dog as I have heard they can be difficult?

A: I grew up with crossbred terriers that worked as rough-shooting companions.

They went ferreting, ratting and flushed game from sugarbeet for my father's gun. Wounded and dead game was retrieved by them to hand, not always alive, but still fit for eating.

My father subsequently spent hours trying to train purebred Fox terriers to do the same job but without any real success and eventually found that a working-bred labrador was definitely the best option for his shooting needs.

There are numerous dog trainers in your area and I'm sure if you contact the Kennel Club they will point you in the right direction, but I do not know of any gundog trainer who would even try to train your Irish terrier for gundog work.

The Irish terrier is good-tempered with humans, however the breed standard does state "he is a little too ready to resent interference on the part of other dogs".

Not a good characteristic to have for harmony in the shooting field or, indeed, in the presence of other dogs in a training class or professional trainer's kennel.

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Comments

Margaret O'Kane

Fri, 28th Mar 2008 21:21:21

I think it is harsh too. My Irish came to me at 4 years old, totally untrained and I managed to train him to retreive and hunt in a controlled way. Irish Terriers just can't be lumped in with teriers designed to go to ground; they are too big for that and actually constructed differently, with a longer back and a slight arch over the loin. They were bred as a general purpose sporting dog and most earlier accounts of the breed mention them as a suitable dog for roughshooting. They are very trainable in the right hands and very versatile too. They are generally very loving towards humans and can be slow to mature. I've only just found this post - so I really hope you did persevere :)

victoria chittenden

Tue, 9th Oct 2007 21:53:16

I think the answer above is perhaps a bit harsh. Your five month old should be OK with other dogs if you get her properly socialised while she is still young. We have a four year old bitch who we rescued at 18 months. She goes rough shooting with my partner and she loves it. She is certainly not a trained gundog - she doesn't get enough time shooting to ever become that but in general she is very intelligent and trainable. The most trainable terrier I've known (I take her to agility training classes and competitions where she does really well). I think if you invest the time and effort you will be pleased with what you can achieve with your Irish Terrier.

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