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 exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or a Guinea Pig, but I’ve got a wealth of knowledge about Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one thing that she was required 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 was required to find her place. She’s done that now. There are certainly occasional spats to determine who is top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey forward and backward 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 a long time and actually helped raise two of our cats from kittenhood. He’s gone now and the cats haven’t had to handle a dog for some time, however the old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire any kind of dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it really wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One of the things that Marilyn and I insisted on in the beginning was that a new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially true when handling terrier dogs like the West Highland Terrier. Regardless of how lovable and cute they may be, deep down inside their heart and soul these are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with game animals, and pretty much anything that runs 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 always to define what 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 beginning. It wasn’t hard to do. 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 our cats were 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 to start with. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its quite as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In fact it seems to be more of a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing each other 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 are going to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the first to actually chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and that set the stage for the others to follow.
Your position may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. In case your cats have never had anything to do with dogs, you will probably want to follow a rather different course. In a case like that 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 the 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 to the umbilical work for around one 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 this dog is not a threat to it.
Similar things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into the house. I’d recommend a kitten if at all possible, due to the fact they’re more malleable which is likely to make the 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 definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They might not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Make use of the umbilical, make the dog submit in the beginning and all should be well.
