3 Stages To Training A West Highland Terrier

Training a West Highland Terrier is not such a
hard task as it might seem. The key is to start
early and make sure you have them well trained
to understand your rules before they develop any
bad behavior habits. In this case they may become
very difficult to train. For the most part you
shouldn't have a problem with them as they have
a fairly easygoing temperament and are not as
strong-willed as several other breeds. This
article describes the 3 stages to training a
Western Highland Terrier.

1. The first stage you'll want to go through is
house training. You should be prepared to be
patient however, as because the Westie is a
smaller dog than most it can take some time for
their system do develop far enough so they're
able to avoid going to the toilet. There are a
number of methods you can use to go about this.
One of the more common ones is crate training,
which involves confining your puppy in a crate
until they need to go out, though many people
are opposed to it because they see it as some
form of punishment. In general, you should try
to limit your Westie puppy's movements around
your home and take them out every hour so they
can go to the toilet. With enough consistency
they should be properly toilet trained within a
few weeks.

2. The second stage is socialization, and this
is arguably the most important. The sooner your
Western Highland Terrier gets used to all the
people, animals, objects, sounds and everything
else in their environment the much better
behaved dog they'll become as an adult. It's
important to note, however, you should only try
doing this after they're six months old. This is
because their immune system is still relatively
weak and there are many viruses they can catch
during this time that could make them sick. Due
to a Westie's terrier instincts, however, you
should never expect them to be able to get along
with smaller animals such as cats, mice or
hamsters. They see these as prey and often no
amount of socialization will change that.

3. Basic obedience training is the next stage
and this will also help ensure your West
Highland Terrier sees you as the leader of the
pack. Due to your Westie's relatively easygoing
nature this shouldn't be too hard, but there are
a few thing to keep in mind. You should always
try to remain positive - Westies typically don't
respond well to harsh training techniques like
pulling on the lead and so on. Teach them all
the basic commands such as sit, lay down, stay,
heel and so on in short training sessions of 10
minutes each day and soon enough you should have
a very well-behaved Westie.


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If you are inspired to learn more have a read of
this useful website:
http://heartmydog.com/west-highland-white-terrier/


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