Westie Terrier Blog

It has been about 1 week since i brought a 6 month old west highland terrier dog from an animal shelter. He was very badly abused by his previous owner, who is now serving time in jail. He was beaten and severely injured. He still has scars and burn marks on his back.

I notice he keeps on trying to hide. He hides from me and other people in family all the time. He seems to have some kind of fear in him which really doesn’t exist anymore in reality.

How to help him overcome shyness or fear?

Time, patience and alot of love is the answer, you need to earn his trust poor thing, at the moment he see’s humans as bad and you need to teach him that we’re not all like that. No loud noises etc, soft gentle tones when you talk to him. If you want to get near him try getting down to his level, don’t tower over him, maybe just sit on the floor treats in hand and gently call him to you. Nothing will work over night but I’m sure eventually he will learn to trust and love you, don’t take it personally, this poor dog has had an awful life and well done to you for wanting to make it better for him.

I want to get a dog,and west highland white terriers are my favorite breed of dogs.Does anyone know the pros and cons of these dogs?

I’ve met someone at dog obedience class who has one and they found him to be very stubborn. I know they are very cute but this one was hard to train. The little guy weighed about 10 pounds but was harder to train than my 40 pound dalmatian.
I know they are prone to skin problems. They need to be groomed often.
Look up this web site everything you wanted to know about westies:

http://www.westieclubamerica.com/

I’m taking a poll on peoples opinions on west highland white terriers. Let me know yes or no, no description is needed.

Yes – loved my boy dearly & specialized in grooming them since.