After he's gone to do whatever he pleases for the hundredth time you start wondering how in blazes are you going to get hold of him, how do you train a West Highland Terrier? Well, it's no secret that Westies are just a "little bit" naughty, they have their own little mind and I dare saying, at least from my own experience, that they think they are a lot bigger than they actually are.
They are lovely dogs, extremely cute too, and that can be part of the problem, don't you think they don't know, they do, and they use it very well, they are mischievous but we do love them.
Still, dog training for a Westie is not very different than it is for any other dog, specially if you start training your dog when he's still a puppy.
Of course it will take a little bit of time and a fair amount of patience, but ultimately you'll be able to get your Westie under control without too much trouble.
As I said before, the first thing we need to train a dog is patience, you cannot expect things to happen straight away, and you cannot get upset at a behavior just because.
We need to understand why they poo in the corridor or why they scratch the walls or rip off our leather sofas.
Many times they have their reasons and that is the way they express themselves.
They cannot talk, and boy, do I love them for that? The next thing, always use positive reinforcement.
West Highlands in particular and every dog in general won't react good to the opposite.
They way to train your dog is always being positive.
Do not call your puppy to tell him off or he will be hesitant to come back to you again, if you call him, give him a nice treat, that way the dog will know that coming to you is a good idea.
A final note of advice, learn a bit from your westie, or any other dog, the way the live their lives is fantastic, they love, they play, they run, and they do everything now and for today.
That is good,