- Tip #9 --
Westies and Children
- Each Westie has its own unique personality
and experiences. Some do very well with children but many do not.
Unfortunately, for many Westies, a child is something to be feared or hated.
Westies will NOT TOLERATE even
unintended mistreatment from a child.
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- Westies will not put up with typical child
handling such as pulling of ears or tails nor will they tolerate taking or
"sharing" of the dog's bones, food and toys.
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Imagine
if you were a small puppy and a child pulled your hair, hurt you or teased
you. You might remember this and react to it for your entire life.
When a different child comes along who is gentle and caring, the Westie
who was teased while young may not be able to make that distinction.
And some Westies who were bred without any regard for temperament may simply
not be able to contend with the constant activity and fast movements of
children.
Westie Rescue of Northern California
will not place a rescue Westie in a family with children under seven years of
age. We often do not know the background information pertaining to
each Westie's previous experiences with children. And sometimes when we do
know the dog's background we find the Westie has been placed into rescue because
of problems with children. For the safety of your children (or
grandchildren), our policy is
to not place Westies into homes with young children.
For those families with older
children, a good book to read is
Child
Proofing Your Dog by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson.
Children must learn to respect the Westie's
body and understand the dog has feelings, too.
It is important to remember
that all interactions between Westies and children must be carefully supervised by
adults.
When you can’t supervise, it is best to put your Westie in his crate or
another room. Children should be instructed that this crate or room
is the Westie’s space and they are not allowed to bother the Westie while he is there.
Below are excellent
articles providing great tips pertaining to the interaction between children
and dogs.
Preparing
Westie for Baby!
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