Puppy Love

Yesterday I visited a friend's house, and she had a very special surprise! A new puppy for Christmas! Holly, which was the puppy's name, was a West Highland Terrier. Seems familiar from the Cesar dog food advertisements. Remember the cute fluffy dog with seemingly immaculate soft fur? As puppies they are teeny tiny balls of cuddly soft cuteness, but these docile breeds grow up to  14-16 inches in height, and from what I have read, they live 12-16 years.

West Highland Terriers, or Westies, as they are more popularly known, originated from Scotland. The name "Scottie", and "Westie" can confuse you into thinking they are two different breeds, but the names are all for the same dog. Right? Wrong. Just remember that the dog with a mustache is a Scotland Terrier. The dog with a beard under his chin is a West Highland Terrier. Also, the two differ  in the length of their snouts--West Highland Terriers have shorter muzzles, while Scotland Terriers have very long noses.                        

So cute....so fluffy.........Who doesn't want one?


Even the cutest puppy still needs for his puppy pads to be cleaned, his bed to be washed, and his fur to be cuddled. Before you rush off and buy your pup before you finish reading this post, you need to know about them. So come on and please please don't stop reading this, because we have just started.

Consideration #1: The Amount Of Care. When they get older and they can actually run outside, Westies are frisky breeds and should only be for people who have enough time to let them outside to play fetch often. They are active dogs that love to run and play, which is surprising since they have really short legs! Westies also are very courageous dogs that will do anything, even if it means death, to protect you and your home--another surprising fact since a lot of small dogs get easily frightened.

Consideration #2: Other Pets. Westies are known as "rat dogs" because they were used for hunting rats underground when they were first introduced to the U.S.  Therefore, any small rodents could get stressed around a dog like that, and to make matters worse, he could possibly be killed. Just because there isn't any rats in your home doesn't mean nobody will get "hurt". Animals get jealous about the attention others recieve. You may notice your cat is more in hiding than usual when you first bring your pup home. Other dogs aren't as jealous, but they probably will do something considered naughty to get extra attention, and they probably don't know that "going" on the floor and chewing the puppy's toys will cause the wrong kind of attention! Avoiding this is easy. Spend one-on-one time alone with your jealous pet often, and it surely will wear off.





To learn more about Westies, go to www.wikipedia.com/west highland terriers. Thanks!