Westie and the rat

glineli

hi

we have a male westie, he is almost 3. we also now have a rat, surprise surprise!!!

we both work and the westie normally goes outside during the day just for a few hours.

i would imagine its safe enough to leave him out there, even if the rat comes into the garden, i guess its the rats safety i should fear for!!! or will a rat come in with the smell of a dog?

thanks

peasant

Depends on how strong the instincts are in your dog.
If he's a "killer", it's the rat that's in trouble ...but if he just wants to investigate/play with the rat, he could come home with a bite.

kylith

Most terriers have a pretty strong 'kill it' instinct , but it does depend on the dog.

If you're worried I'd suggest getting rid of the rat with a good, strong trap, put somewhere that the dog can't get at it.

glineli

i have a feeling he has a good instinct, he was gone mad to find him when he picked up his scent. but in saying that i cant be sure.

a bite could be very dangerous i guess, if in the wrong place.

the rat is coming over the neighbours wall and going back, but i dont want to call in and say they have rats!!!

mymo

Just say to the neighbours casually that you have seen a rat going over and back across the wall into their garden and have put out a trap your side of the wall, but they might want to put one their side too.
I'm sure as hell that if my neighbour told me that I'd be straight out to get a trap(it would be one brave rat to come in my garden with 2 cats and 2 dogs, all of which would go crazy to catch a rat).

stevoman

ginoglineli wrote: »

hi

we have a male westie, he is almost 3. we also now have a rat, surprise surprise!!!

we both work and the westie normally goes outside during the day just for a few hours.

i would imagine its safe enough to leave him out there, even if the rat comes into the garden, i guess its the rats safety i should fear for!!! or will a rat come in with the smell of a dog?

thanks

a westie is a terrier that was initially bred as a rat and vermin killer so if your dog comes across that rat, it will go for it and most probobly kill it.

dont expect your dogs instincts and bred for purpose not to kick in. centuries of selective breeding have made the westie and other terriers this way and i dont beleive they can be taken out of a dog in a few decades.

anyways its great a breed of dog doing a job its been designed for.

glineli

Thanks everyone.

Well the westie is on high patrol today. it was my fault for leaving his food out.

I have also moved his kennel out from the wall, out to the middle of the garden. So if the rat is brave and comes over the wall, it will taek a look and decide its not worth it!!

kylith

Sounds like he's a good ratter so! I predict that you'll find bits of rat in your garden before too long. Only bits though; all the flavour's in the back half, as far as I can tell from my pair's killing habits.

glineli

latest update is he isnt quite mental but plenty of barking which is unlike him. you can tell that something is annoying him.

no sign of a body yet anyway.

i reckon rat came and had a look and has taken off.

sambuka41

My westie was a total softie,i had a hamster and he used to lick the hamster. Our vet was in shock when he seen it, brought all the trainees in to see how they sat together no problem!!:D

BUT he hated rats!! Would go crazy in our local park trying to kill them. I worked in a pet shop and we had fancy rats,i would be stalked on the nights i went home after handling them:p Follow me everywhere smelling my clothes.

boodlesdoodles

Westies are instinctually ratters, its what they were bred for originally. My fella found a mouse the other night. He jumped up about 4 feet into the air with the fright and then went on a mission to find him! Now every toilet excursion to the garden is also a serious investigation. My doggie won't get it but next door's cat definitely will.

RosieJoe

Have 2 westies myself and have had dead rats/crows and magpies in our garden because of them! The younger one is the main culprit for the killings though

meathstevie

Let the terrier be a terrier and kill rats. A trap might be of more risk to him than tackling the rat with his teeth.
A couple of scrapes from a handling with a rat is not going to kill him.