People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs as an example.
Well, I have no idea anything about how precisely a Westie would get along with an Iquana or possibly a Guinea Pig, but I’ve got 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 around 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 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, nevertheless the old habits were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it really wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One thing that we insisted on in the beginning was that the new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially true when managing terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. No matter how lovable and cute they can be, deep down within their heart and soul these are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and practically anything that runs away from them qualifies as game. That 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 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 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 get the job done. 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 most of the boundaries we laid down in the beginning. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its equally likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In actual fact it seems to be more of a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing one another throughout 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 never tell which two animals are going 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) and that set the stage for the others to follow.
Your situation may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already used 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 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 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 at least 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 the dog is not really a threat to it.
Similar things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, as they are more malleable and that is likely to make your 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 a time.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They may not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Make use of the umbilical, make the dog submit from the beginning and everything will be well.
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