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People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for example.

Well, I do not know anything about how precisely a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe a Guinea Pig, but I have 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 around ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just had to find her place. She’s done that now. There are certainly occasional spats to decide who’s going to be 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 handful 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 quite a while, nevertheless the  old habits were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, nonetheless it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.

One thing that we insisted on from the beginning was that the new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially valid when working with terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. Regardless how lovable and cute they may 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 basically anything that runs away from them qualifies as game. That doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there is no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers should be 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 beginning. It wasn’t hard to do. 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 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 a lot 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. Actually it looks like it’s really a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing one another throughout the house its not unusual to discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or perhaps hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals are likely to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 1st 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 situation may 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 should probably 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 used to one another. 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 will give you 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 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.

Precisely the same things apply if you want to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, as they’re more malleable and that will make the situation more managable. Make 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 some time.

Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They may not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit in the beginning and everything should be well.