Introducing a West Highland White Terrier with a Cat

No matter the misconception, a great deal of dogs and cats can live together peacefully. Follow these simple to follow steps to discover how to best introduce your West Highland White Terrier with a cat.

1. Ensure your West Highland White Terrier knows basic commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘down’ before meeting.
2. Set up a safe area for both your West Highland White Terrier and cat, where the other family pet can not go into.
3. Keep them separated at first, for the first couple of days. Ensure both West Highland White Terrier and cat have had the required shots.
4. Feed your West Highland White Terrier and your feline on opposite sides of a closed door. This helps make them affiliate each other’s presence with pleasant things.
5. Once they both can ingest calmly next to the door, begin having meet and greets in a common location of your home. Keep the very first few sessions brief and calm with your West Highland White Terrier on a leash. Treat both animals for excellent behaviour.
6. Proceed these face to face sessions on a daily basis. Make certain to save your family pets’ favourite treats for these sessions. If your cat wishes to leave, let them, but make sure your West Highland White Terrier doesn’t chase after. Attempt ending the sessions just before any animal reveals signs of stress or aggression.
7. When they look like they’re getting a long well, allow them to hang around in the room with each other. If any tension erupts, return back to the previous actions and redo them.

Why do West Highland White Terriers Hate Cats?

Not all West Highland White Terriers despise cats, some get along with them. When West Highland White Terriers do hate felines, of the most common factor is quite straightforward. Like all canines, West Highland White Terriers still keep some of the hunting behavioral instincts that they were initially reproduced for. This is why West Highland White Terriers like chasing all moving objects, whether it’s a toy, mouse, or a cat.

Since many felines will run away when they encounter, it’s easy to see why they are understood for not being friendly with each other. West Highland White Terriers in fact take pleasure in chasing cats not since they hate them, but mainly because a quick running animal sets off a strong, natural reaction to chase overcomes any training or socialisation.

How to Stop West Highland White Terriers Chasing Cats?

Training your West Highland White Terrier to quit chasing cats takes time, practice and consistency, but the benefit of not having to stress over them continuously chasing after is very well worth it. Here are the phases of how to stop your West Highland White Terrier from chasing felines.

1. Keep your West Highland White Terrier on a leash while loose when your cat remains in the same room.
2. Whenever your cat is nearby to your West Highland White Terrier, stop what you are doing and get your West Highland White Terrier’s attention. If he pays attention, offer him a reward!
3. Keep treating your West Highland White Terrier till the feline disappears. If the cat stays give your West Highland White Terrier a chew treat or toy so they stay focused on their treat.
4. Regularly repeat the above stages and you’ll see your West Highland White Terrier instinctively sit and look up to you when they see the feline. Don’t forget to keep rewarding them!
5. If they are now automatically taking a look at you each time the feline remains in the space, they’re all set to be using a longer leash. If they still try to chase after the cat at this point reel them in and return to step 2.
6. Finally, take the long leash off and allow your West Highland White Terrier and feline in the same area. At this moment your West Highland White Terrier must know not to chase after the cat, but if they do go back to step 5.

How to Stop West Highland White Terriers Killing Cats?

The very best technique to guarantee your West Highland White Terrier would never ever kill a cat is to raise them with felines when they’re a young puppy before 3 months old. At this age, they will normally want to play with the felines and won’t see them as prey.

If your West Highland White Terrier has actually killed a feline in the past, its ideal if you keep them in an open, enclosed space. When taking them for walks try to prevent going after dusk and before dawn since that’s when cats are most active and likely to be wandering the neighborhoods.