Lakelands are known to be highly intelligent terriers, but they don't boast a very good attention span. With this said, they also have a bit of a stubborn streak and are quite capable of turning a deaf ear to a command if they find something more interesting to get involved in. Their training and socialisation has to start as early as possible, because if left too late, these little dogs might start to show a more dominant and unruly side to their natures which can make dogs that much harder to handle.
In the right hands and with the right amount of socialisation which has to include introducing a Lakeland to as many new situations, people, other animals and dogs as possible once they are fully vaccinated as possible is essential. Much like other terriers, they are quite sensitive dogs by nature and as such they do not respond well to any sort of harsh correction or heavy handed training methods. They do answer well to clicker training and positive reinforcement, but they need to be handled firmly, always fairly so that dogs don't get the upper hand.
The key to successfully training a Lakeland Terrier is to always be consistent and to persevere showing a young dog a lot of patience and understanding when their training starts in earnest which ideally should be when a terrier is around 10 weeks old. Many Lakelands have earned Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme Gold Awards which is proof they can be trained to be obedient, well-behaved terriers when they are given the right sort of direction and guidance.
