People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs for example.
Well, I have no idea anything about how precisely 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 of the things that she needed 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 actually occasional spats to determine 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 in to the midst of a lot 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 some time, but the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have a new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, nonetheless it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One thing that we insisted on in the beginning was that the new dog had to submit to the cats. This is especially true when dealing with terrier dogs like the West Highland Terrier. No matter how lovable and cute they are, deep down within their heart and soul they are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with game animals, and practically anything that runs from them qualifies as game. That does not mean they aren’t great dogs, but there’s no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers should be to define the things they can chase and fight with and the things they can’t.
That is why I was so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the beginning. It wasn’t hard to accomplish. 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 our cats were not particularly impressed by 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 most of the boundaries we laid down initially. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its quite as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. Actually it seems to be more of a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing one another around the house its not unusual to find Willow curled up with one of the cats, or simply hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, you can actually never tell which two animals are going to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 1st 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 position may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. In case your cats have never 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 used to each other. Umbilical training, where you have your dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is a very good training method under any circumstance. It will give 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 1 week and keep the dog in its crate when it’s not on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes that this dog is not a threat to it.
The identical things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, mainly because they’re more malleable and that can make the relationship more managable. Make sure that the dog and cat get to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep the dog on umbilical for a while.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They will often not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit at the start and all will be well.
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