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 exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of information about Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one thing that she had 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 are actually occasional spats to determine who’s going to be 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 bunch 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 accommodate a dog for a while, however the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have a brand new 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 we insisted on in the beginning was that the new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially valid when working with terrier dogs such as the West Highland Terrier. It doesn’t matter how lovable and cute they can be, deep down inside their heart and soul these are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and basically 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 to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is always 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 accomplish. If she got too frisky we were required to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word and a tug on the leash was enough to do the trick. It certainly helped our cats are 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 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. In actual fact it seems to be really a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing one another around 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 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 circumstances may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. If your cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you will probably want to follow a slightly 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 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 gives you control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Stick with the umbilical work for around seven days 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 isn’t a threat to it.
Exactly the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into your house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, since they’re more malleable which 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 might not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit from the beginning and everything will be well.
Cmanreally