Does My Westie Need A Companion?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
Okay, heres the thing. We got my young little West Highland Terrier about 7 months ago. We have trained him well and he is very happy. We had him enrolled in a Puppy Training School and he did very well and met all the other small puppies and was always so excited to see them every week and was always so happy. Unfortunately, he is our only dog and now he seems lonely and seems like he is going into a “depression”. He isn’t as happy and bites us sometimes and he will walk around with his head down and is all lethargic. Should we get another puppy companion for him? I need proof for my dad that we should. Please let me know and give links to the puppy.
Thank you so much
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I wouldn’t get another dog just to cure the problems of the other. I know some people try that for a dog with seperation axiety, which is hard to defeat since it often happens when the dog is alone, and so they need someone to stay with it all the time, aka another dog. Still, that can backfire also if the new dogs developes SA too.
But what your saying is you have a dog whose temperment is a bit off kilter. Dogs CAN get depressed, often times due to not enough attention or exercise. But the biting? That should not be aloud “at all”. Another dog may simply learn this behavior of biting from the old dog, and you don’t want that. I would suggest working through these problems with your old dog becfore thinking of adding a completely new set of angles in with a new dog.
Try more exercise, try taking him to a dogpark so he can meet and play with other dogs now and then, perhaps try another training class, for continued obediance, or maybe something fun like agility. Try taking him to the vet and making sure nothing is wrong. Or if you have the money, seek out a behaviorist.
But getting another dog is not an end all, it could just as easily “add” to the problem, more than anything.
Work through the problems you have with the current dog before getting another one. Perhaps he is just lonely or under challenged since he is not getting trained as much since the puppy classes are over? Training is not something that ends with the puppy class, you need to practise it every day, or the dog can forget, just like how you can forget math formulas if not practised! It also challenges a dog’s mind and gives them a job, and gives them your attention while you train together.
So my advice would be to try all of the above first and formost, instead of trying to get another dog.
My westie pup was so lethargic when our senior dog died (and they didn’t even like each other) that we got another pup. Some dogs don’t do well in a one dog home and obviously others do. It was so bad that people coming into the house would comment on how depressed he seemed.