Westie Question

chavezychavez

Hi All,

I have been offered a 7/8 year old female Westie who was previously used for breeding and is no longer of use to the breeder.

The dog grew up on a farmyard and is currently being kept in a shed (this is where she was being kept when we went to see her).

My worry about her is that she might not be properly house trained after growing up on a farm.

Is she too old to be taught how to be house trained or for that matter trained to be on a leash as I doubt there was one ever put on her?

I must say, my partner and I fell in love with her when we saw her.

Can anyone give some advice on this? Should we give an old dog a home?

whitser

imo i wouldnt go near it. sounds like its coming from a puppy peddler and you just could be letting yourself in for all sorts of medical and mental prob's down the road.

fits

Well it sounds like this dog hasnt had the nicest life to date. Really, the breeder sounds unscrupulous to be disposing of a dog like that and I doubt if the 'breeding' was up to much either.

But that said, I'd probably take the dog in. House training might be difficult, or you might not have to do any at all. Both my dogs are rescues and needed no housetraining. It just came naturally to them not to mess in their own space.

Shes not too old to train, but she may have some health problems that come with old age and poor breeding (westies are notorious for skin problems) so you might want to think about that.

The Stig

This dogs sounds to have had it tough. you should definetly take her in.

I have two westies and 1 was rescued and had no problems house training either.
The scumbag that previously should be named and shamed to be threating the dog this way.
You could always have a word in the kennel clubs ear with the of chance theat they are a member.

glineli

Sounds like she has had a tough life so give her a chance and take her in.

Westies are great!! You might have trouble housetraining etc, but it will be well worth it as they are a class breed of dog.

And as said above, i would bring to the attention of the kennel club that this person has lept a dog in these conditions. Maybe there is nothing they can do, but you never know.

chavezychavez

I'm leaning towards taking her in all right, in spite of the issues, health and otherwise, that may crop up.

At least I could try to provide her with a decent second half of her life.

fits

glineli wrote: »

Sounds like she has had a tough life so give her a chance and take her in.

But only if they are willing to work through any problems that may arise. It *may* take a while for her to adjust to her new home. It *may* be a walk in the park.

whitser

that dog deserves a good home,thats true, but think long and hard before you make up your mind. sometimes old bitches coming from puppy peddlers will have incontinance problems and other medical issues coming from being over bred. it all well and good people sayimg take her in but you'll have to deal with any problems.
just think long and hard thats all im saying.

chavezychavez

Thanks for all the opinions and advice above guys and gals.

The owner is away until Sunday night so we have a bit of time to think this over before we give a definite response.

cobweb

wscues 2 weties years ago and have to say they addded to our family granted they didnt have as tough a background as this westie but we have suspicions as to how ours were treated but in the last 6 yrs we have them they have blossomed and are great little dogs

Good luck with your decision

kerrysgold

You have been given the chance to help this dog, you can't leave her in her current situation. It is possible to housetrain etc older dogs and 8 isn't even old for a westie, it's more like middle aged as they usually live to be about 16. I have one myself who came from a similar situation and they are brilliant little dogs.

Sigma Force

The important thing is don't offer this guy any money for the dog, tell him that if you take the dog you will have to spend a fortune on health care (getting her spayed etc) so you cannot afford to pay him as well, if he's not asking for money then at least that would be one good thing. You are doing him a favour and let him know that.

Depending on how this dog was treated would depend on some of the health problems, also depends on how 'well bred' the dog is as well.

She may not be house trained so you might be starting from scratch some dogs are quick to housetrain if she kept her bed area clean in the shed then that's a good sign. Be prepared for basic training though. Also walking on a lead etc you may have to start from scratch. I would go for a comfy harness instead of a collar/lead set up (although do get a collar for her with id tag and get her used to wearing it too).

Are their dog training classes in your area?

At the start though she might be scared of new noises like hoovers, general house hold noises. Who knows but do get as much background information from the owner as you can as this will help a lot.

Would be nice for the poor thing to live a happy life without being drained all the time from having litter after litter.

Bottom line though as said don't pay a cent for her.

kerrysgold

yeah I agree with not paying because then he might think oh I'll get more seeing as I can make money! you never know with these people. having said that though I'm a bit hypocritical there because if I had the chance to buy a really neglected dog to get it out of the situation I would but that's just me. I wouldn't unless it was 100% necessary though.