Companions for Westies
Posted in Articles on 03/27/2010 02:53 pm by Guest AuthorPeople often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for instance.
Well, I do not know anything about how a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe a Guinea Pig, but I’ve got a wealth of understanding of Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one thing that she was required to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to in excess of ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just needed to find her place. She’s done that now. There can be occasional spats to decide who is top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey back and forth amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog into the midst of a handful of cats who had never seen a dog before. Our Norwegian Elkhound, Saladdin was a key part of our family structure for years and actually helped raise two of our cats from kittenhood. He’s gone now and the cats haven’t had to manage a dog for quite a while, nevertheless the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it really wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One of the things that Marilyn and I insisted on in the beginning was that this new dog had to submit to the cats. This runs specifically true when handling terrier dogs such as the West Highland Terrier. No matter how lovable and cute they may be, deep down in their heart and soul these are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and pretty much anything that runs from them qualifies as game. It doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there is no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way right down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is to define the things they can chase and fight with and the things they can’t.
This is why we were so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the start. It wasn’t hard to do. If she got too frisky we had to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word along with a tug on the leash was enough to complete the task. It certainly helped that our cats weren’t particularly in awe of dogs and don’t mind demonstrating the use of their claws if she gets too feisty.
Things have settled into place now and we’ve been able to relax a lot of the boundaries we laid down to start with. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its equally as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In truth it appears to be more of a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing one another throughout the house its not unusual to discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or perhaps hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, you can never tell which two animals are going to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the very first to actually chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and set the stage for the others to follow.
Your circumstances may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. If the cats have never had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a slightly different course. In a case like this I recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get accustomed to one another. Umbilical training, where you have the dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is a very good training method under any circumstance. It provides control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Stick to the umbilical work for around 1 week and keep your dog in its crate when it’s not on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes that this dog isn’t a threat to it.
The identical things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into the house. I’d recommend a kitten if at all possible, simply because they are more malleable and that can make your situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat are able to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep your dog on umbilical for a time.
Cats can coexist with Westie Terriers. They might not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit at the start and all will be well.