Are you considering bringing a Welsh Terrier, Wire Fox, or Lakeland Terrier into your life? Do you have children? This article is for you!
Higher Risk Candidates
Now, let me start by saying that I was considered a “high risk” candidate by many breeders when I embarked on the goal of bringing a Welsh Terrier into my life. I can sort of understand that for young single people, the future can be unpredictable. In my case, I ended up being an ideal candidate, so I am not one to make bold statements about what demographics should or shouldn’t bring rare terrier breeds into their lives! However, there are risk factors associated with certain family configurations, and children are an unavoidable risk factor statistically speaking. One easy way to see this is to look at rescue listings for rare terrier breeds such as Wire Fox, Welsh, Lakelands. Many, many listings say “no children.” This is because a high volume of these terriers end up needing to be rehomed from their families who have children.
Human error is a part of life, and children are more likely to make innocent mistakes than adults.
With a rare breed of working terrier, an innocent children’s toy can become a problem if the situation isn’t handled carefully.
The “Tricky” List
A really clear way to gauge your risk factor is to first review this list:
- All adults in the family work full-time. This is a risk factor regardless of whether or not someone will be checking in on the puppy during the day. Terriers are deeply prone to boredom-based behavioral challenges.
- Adults in the household are very busy, often feeling stretched thin. No shame – a lot of us find ourselves in this position – keep up the good fight! This might not be the right time to bring a rare working terrier breed into your home.
- Keeping the home organized isn’t your preference, or is tricky to accomplish. No shame – this can be so difficult and by all means shouldn’t be necessary, if you skip bringing a rare working breed terrier into your family home.
- Your home layout has lots of narrow areas. This can pose a real challenge towards avoiding terrier/child conflict in your home, even if you set everything up for success.
- Any children are under 12 years old. Children under 12 years of old can’t be expected not to make mistakes.
- There are more than two children. Bravo to you hardworking parents! Managing three or more children is tricky enough, without also managing a working breed rare terrier!
- You are easily frustrated. Very understanding in modern life…
- You are exhausted after work. Again, very understanding in modern life…
- Your children are very energetic and gregarious. You’ve already got your hands full, don’t add a full strength working terrier breed to the mix!
- It is tricky to make lifestyle changes based on the family dog. I find that so many dog trainers and/or behavior professionals are quick to shame people who “won’t” make changes to their lives based on the needs of their dog… But honestly, many of us can’t, and I don’t think that makes a person or family “bad” people. It is good to consider this angle well before you bring a tricky breed type home though. Can you really adjust your lifestyle if needed? If not, you aren’t at all a bad person or family! You just don’t have the bandwidth, right now. There are always chances in the future when the timing is better to bring a rare breed into your life.
NONE of these factors are intrinsically “bad” things! They are just risk factors for bringing a rare terrier breed into your life and are good to think about carefully. If you fit multiple descriptions you may find yourself more at risk of having problems.
A Different Breed
No families that have problems with terriers are “bad,” they just find themselves overwhelmed when situation(s) arise where the dog doesn’t behave how they expect or want the dog to behave.
Welsh Terriers for example were bred to protect our resources. They were bred to hang out in a barn until they heard a rat skitter to come eat our grain storage, or until they heard the leaves crunching as coyotes came to raid our chicken coups. We bred these dogs to fly into action and not stop their task until the threats were no longer threats. We bred these dogs not to care about their own comfort or safety when working to do a job for us, so often if they switch into this mode fully in a home setting, they can be tricky to break out of it in the moment without careful protocols. We BRED them to be this way. Wild animals that weren’t bred for human tasks do not risk their lives unnecessarily, but working terriers do, for us. They are hardwired to have less control over their impulses – hardwired by us.
Are You Going to be Okay if There are Snafus?
It is extremely important to embark on positive reinforcement based, terrier specific training programs from an early age that teach your terrier to be relaxed, confident, and resilient. It is critical to learn on the human end what to do if snafus do arise, so that snafus do not become escalating patterns.
But even then, if you cover all of the bases and human error does occur, how will you handle it?
Will you be too busy to consult with a professional, or will you feel resentful, shy, avoidant or embarrassed that you might need to? We all need help sometimes, and when it comes to the safety of your family and children, don’t ever be shy! There are people who care and can help. Your breeder is a wonderful starting place. I know from talking to breeders that nothing hurts their hearts more than to hear that really nice families have had some challenges, and they felt too ashamed or embarrassed to reach out until things got really bad. Prioritize reaching out for support when snafus arise, don’t wait until they become problems. If you imagine this whole scenario and feel embarrassed already, maybe a breed that requires accommodation at times isn’t going to be a comfortable fit. If you imagine this scenario and feel relaxed, then you might just have answered your own question about if you are the right fit – welcome!
It takes a village, and a village idiot (haha) to have success with a terrier!
No Quick Fixes
Please note that you cannot let problems escalate without attention, and then hire a “quick fix” professional to “fix” your dog. This cannot be your back up plan! Professionals that promise results, that train a dog without you, or that rely on electronic tools are working to temporarily punish away behaviors, which can backfire in the worst possible ways with terriers. Remember how I discussed how we bred terriers to go against logic when they are in working mode? Suppressing behavior means that behavior can spill over the pain threshold at ANY given time with a terrier. A quick fix shock collar can stop unwanted behaviors, until the day your dog uses their terrier resiliency to decide that enough is enough, and now, your entire family is at risk of a violent attack “out of nowhere.” But is it really out of nowhere? Behavior is like water. If there is a leak, you need to regroup and work on the system. Patches to the system will result in unexpected and often disastrous leaks when you least expect them. Please, please please for the safety of your children, do not rely on quick fixes. They aren’t real.
Planning Ahead
Once you’ve read this and you feel like you are a good candidate, the next step is to prioritize early care and training routines. When I decided to dedicate my life to helping people with terriers, my early clients over a decade ago where all people with terriers that were over a year of age. Every year since, the numbers of people booking me before they even have their terrier grow and grow, and I couldn’t be more elated.
When you put in the care and work early, the results are glorious! Terriers are so smart and so hardworking, that if you think of your puppy’s first year like a piggybank of good learning, you will be the happiest dog guardian. These dogs absorb every early routines. I take immense pleasure seeing puppies flourish in my puppy programs. With these dogs, if you are the right fit and are prepared to make adjustments to your life, the sky is truly the limit. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn’t met Miles. These dogs are like people: when we take their lives seriously, we benefit enormously and the payoff is more than you could possibly imagine — it is more than I can put into words… So, I will abruptly end this article here! I hope it has been helpful.
If you want a predictable dog, seek out a very intelligent breed that isn’t a terrier — believe me, there are so many outstanding possibilities! If unpredictability is what you crave, a terrier will change your life.
Feel free to share your story, your thoughts, or your questions below in the comments!
