People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs for instance.
Well, I have no idea anything about how exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe 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 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 are certainly occasional spats to decide who’s going to be 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 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 accommodate a dog for a while, but the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One of the things that we insisted on from the beginning was that this new dog had to submit to the cats. This is especially true when handling terrier dogs such as the West Highland Terrier. No matter how lovable and cute they can be, deep down within their heart and soul these are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with game animals, and practically anything that runs from them qualifies as game. It does not mean they aren’t great dogs, but there’s 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 what they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.
This is exactly 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 needed to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word along with a tug on the leash was enough to do the job. It certainly helped that 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 many 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 is apparently more of a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing one another throughout the house its not unusual to discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or simply hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals will bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the first to actually 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 familiar with having a dog around. If your cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a rather different course. In a case like this I would recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get accustomed to one another. 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 provides control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Stick with the umbilical work for at least 1 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 is not really a threat to it.
Precisely the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into your house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, due to the fact they are more malleable and that will make your situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat are able to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep the dog on umbilical for a while.
Cats can coexist with Westie Terriers. They might 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 at first and everything will be well.
