Sea Side Scrap Book » Companions for Westies

Companions for Westies

People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for instance.

Well, I don’t know anything about how precisely a Westie would get along with an Iquana or perhaps a Guinea Pig, but I’ve got a wealth of information about Westies and cats..

When Willow came to us last summer one of the things that she was required to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to around ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just was required to find her place. She’s done that now. There are occasional spats to determine who’s going to be top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey forwards and backwards amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.

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We weren’t just dropping a dog in 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 cope with a dog for quite a while, nevertheless the old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have any kind of 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 we insisted on from the beginning was that a new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially true when handling terrier dogs like the West Highland Terrier. It doesn’t matter how lovable and cute they are, deep down in their heart and soul they are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and just about anything that runs from them qualifies as game. It does not 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 always to define what they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.

This is why we were so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the beginning. It wasn’t hard to accomplish. If she got too frisky we needed to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word and a tug on the leash was enough to get the job done. It certainly helped that our cats weren’t particularly afraid 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 some of the boundaries we laid down initially. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its just as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. The truth is it seems to be really a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing each other throughout the house its not unusual to find Willow curled up with one of the cats, or perhaps hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, you can actually never tell which two animals will bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the first to really chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and set the stage for the others to follow.

Your situation might be quite different from ours, because our cats were already familiar with having a dog around. If your cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you will probably want to follow a rather different course. In a case like that I would suggest keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get accustomed to each other. Umbilical training, where you have your dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is an extremely good training method under any circumstance. It gives you control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Keep with the umbilical work for at least 7 days and keep the dog in its crate when it isn’t on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes the dog is not really a threat to it.

Exactly the same things apply if you want to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, mainly because they’re more malleable and that will make your situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat get to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep your dog on umbilical for a while.

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. Make use of the umbilical, make the dog submit at the start and all ought to be well.