Monday, August 18th, 2008
If you are thinking of buying a Westie my advice would be to only get one if you have older children aged 5 and over. The reason why I say this is because West Highland Terriers can be snappy little dogs if not trained properly and this means a small child could be bitten.
Westies will not tolerate their ears or tail being pulled by a young child whereas other breeds of dogs may not mind it.
Don’t be fooled into thinking because the Westie is small and cute it will be good with children. The majority of Westies are fine if trained properly, however if you have young children and the dog is in the same room you must always be there to supervise.
From my personal experience Mitzi has snapped a couple of times at my niece and nephews when they have gone to fetch one of her toys, but thankfully she’s never bitten any of them. Even to this day we always tell the children never to pull her ears or tail or annoy Mitzi because she could bite them despite being such a small dog, children sometimes think that because the dog is small it won’t bite
them.
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Sunday, August 17th, 2008
If you have just brought a Westie into your home you must make a plan on how you are going to go about training your dog.
Westies like to be clean so it is important that you toilet train your little dog once old enough. We were advised to toilet train Mitzi at around 4 months old. To be honest she was a quick learner and not long after we started to train her she was crying at the back door if she needed to go out.
When training your Westie to walk I would advise getting a small body harness for your dog. This harness will avoid hurting your dogs neck if it pulls, and you will have more control over him/her when out walking. It is a personal choice so make sure you do your homework on leads / harnesses etc before you buy one.
Mitzi is great when out walking, she will either walk at your side or just a few paces in front. If we let her off the lead within a safe area she will have a good run round but she will still keep an eye on you to make sure you are still there – bless her cotton socks!
Westies loves to play with toys, so the more they have the better, it will keep them active and healthy. Mitzi loves nothing better than having a good play with her toys in the house or garden. You will be amazed at how strong these West Highland Terriers are especially when playing tug of war with a toy!
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Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Just because West Highland Terrier dogs are small and cute this does not mean you have to move them away from the larger dogs when out walking.
From day one we have always allowed Mitzi to have the opportunity to meet other dogs whilst out walking. It’s only natural that your dog will be curious when it first meets another dog in the street. Don’t pull your dog away immediately. Assess the situation first and if the other dog looks calm and the handler is confident then allow your dog to sniff the other dog, it’s only animal behaviour. I’ve found that the individuals who don’t let their dogs socialise are usually nervous people themselves, and this nervousness is passed onto the dog.
Of course if you see a huge dog coming along with the white of its eyes showing and a great big jaw snapping – don’t even go near it! These types of dogs are certain to have behavioural problems so no doubt the owner of that dog will have it on a tight leash!
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