People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs for instance.
Well, I don’t know anything about how a Westie would get along with an Iquana or a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of knowledge about Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one of the things that she had 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 backwards and forwards amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog in to the midst of a number 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 some time, however the old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have any kind of dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, nonetheless it 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 a new dog was required to submit to the cats. This runs specifically true when dealing with terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. It doesn’t matter how lovable and cute they may be, deep down within their heart and soul they are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with game animals, and basically anything that runs from them qualifies as game. That doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there’s 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 should be to define the things they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.
This is exactly why I was so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the very beginning. 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 plus a tug on the leash was enough to do the trick. It certainly helped 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 some 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 appears 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 maybe hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals are likely to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the very first to really chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) which set the stage for the others to follow.
Your situation might be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. If your cats have never had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a rather different course. In a case like that I would recommend 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 a very good training method under any circumstance. It offers 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 around one 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 the dog is not a threat to it.
Precisely the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, as 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 time.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They might not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit from the beginning and all will be well.
Filed under General by Commentator