People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for instance.
Well, I do not know anything about how a Westie would get along with an Iquana or perhaps a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of understanding of Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one of the things that she needed 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 needed to find her place. She’s done that now. There are occasional spats to determine who’s going to be 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 bunch 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 manage a dog for quite a while, nevertheless the old habits were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have any kind of 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 Marilyn and I insisted on from the beginning was that the new dog needed to submit to the cats. This is especially true when managing terrier dogs like the West Highland Terrier. Regardless how lovable and cute they are, deep down inside their heart and soul they are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with game animals, and virtually anything that runs from them qualifies as game. That doesn’t 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 the things 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 accomplish. If she got too frisky we had to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word plus a tug on the leash was enough to complete the task. It certainly helped that our cats weren’t particularly in awe 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 initially. 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. In truth it looks like it’s really 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 discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or maybe hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals will bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the very 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 used to having a dog around. If your cats have not had anything to do with dogs, you will probably want to follow a slightly different course. In a case like that I would suggest 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 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 the dog in its crate when it’s not on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes the dog isn’t a threat to it.
Precisely the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, due to the fact they are more malleable and that can make the 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 the dog on umbilical for some time.
Cats can coexist with Westie Terriers. They might not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit to start with and everything ought to be well.
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