Companions for Westies
People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for example.
Well, I have no idea anything about how precisely a Westie would get along with an Iquana or 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 needed to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to over 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 forward and backward amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog into 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 a long time 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 a while, 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 thing that we insisted on in the beginning was that a new dog was required to submit to the cats. This is especially valid when managing terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. Regardless how lovable and cute they can be, deep down inside their heart and soul they are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with game animals, and virtually anything that runs from them qualifies as game. It 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 what they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.
That’s why we were so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the beginning. It wasn’t hard to do. If she got too frisky we needed 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 that our cats were not 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 many of the boundaries we laid down in the beginning. 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 is apparently really 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 find Willow curled up with one of the cats, or just hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, you can never tell which two animals are likely to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 1st to actually chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and that 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. If the cats have never had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a rather different course. In a case like this I recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get used to each other. Umbilical training, where you have the dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is an extremely good training method under any circumstance. It offers 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 a week and keep the dog in its crate when it isn’t on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes that the dog isn’t a threat to it.
Precisely the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into your house. I’d recommend a kitten when possible, since they’re more malleable and that will make the situation more managable. Make 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 some time.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They may not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit to start with and everything will be well.
