People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs as an example.
Well, I have no idea anything about how a Westie would get along with an Iquana or perhaps 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 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 are occasional spats to determine who’s 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 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 deal with a dog for some time, nevertheless the old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One thing that Marilyn and I insisted on in the beginning was that a new dog must submit to the cats. This runs specifically true when working with terrier dogs such as the West Highland Terrier. No matter how lovable and cute they can be, deep down inside their heart and soul they are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and pretty much anything that runs away from them qualifies as game. It doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there is 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 the things they can’t.
This is exactly why we were so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the very 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 and 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 a lot of the boundaries we laid down to start with. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its equally as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. The truth is it seems to be more of a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing each other 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 going to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 1st 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 circumstances 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 will probably want to 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 your dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is an extremely 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. Stick with the umbilical work for at least 7 days and keep your 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 really a threat to it.
The identical things apply if you wish to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten when possible, due to the fact they are more malleable which is likely to make your situation more managable. Be 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 coexist with Westie Terriers. They will often 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 at first and all will be well.
