For Westie Owners, Now And After?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I’ve had my lil baby since April now and he’s already a year old. I was just wondering how have your westie’s behaviour become? Mine tends to bark quite much & is somehow snappy. He has alot of energy, sometimes TOO MUCH. I’m still training him, he “understands the commands” but sometimes doesn’t come right away when he’s off leash. I was just wondering how it was like for every owener to raise a westie? do they ever become truely obediant? do they ever calm down abit? i’ll never give mine away, but i just need to know how much more I need to work on.
Related West Highland White Terrier posts:
You answered your own question in “…my lil baby….”
It’s a DOG,not a baby & will remain a BAD dog until you TRAIN it to be civilized!
Try working with your local Westie Breed club. See the attached links to the National Breed Club.
The local club up here does rescue, obedience, agility and much more. They have great suggestions on proper feeding and training facilities. Westies ARE terriers (or as some call them – Terrier-ists!!) So, you must remember that your breed is predisposed to bark, dig and be feisty!!
The American Kennel Club (AKC) offers competition for obedience titles at their shows. The Titles for different levels of competition, including (in ascending order of difficulty) a CD (Companion Dog) title; CDX (Companion Dog Excellent); and UD (Utility Dog). Additional titles are offered for advanced obedience work. Over the years, Westies have earned nearly 900 CDs, 211 CDXs and 48 UDs. Proof-positive that Westies can be and actually ARE obedient!!
Keep working – go to a actual obedience class – Westies like working; so keep him occupied!!
Westies can be very independent and stubborn. They demand a lot of your time. He may settle down after a couple of years. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need another one to calm the first one down. My son & daughter-in-law thought that and it didn’t work. The 2nd one -a female- is still worse than their first – a male. It might be a really good idea if you could get into a dog obedience program with your Westie. It might help. Good luck!
Westies are not that popular. Now you know why.