Advice needed about a Westie.

margaret_marshall · 05-13-2007, 06:03 AM

I'm currentley having problems with my 4 month old west island terrior. This is my first dog and I'm having problems with potty training. Sometimes she will be fine and go accordingly but other times she will just go without warning.

The worst part is that her waste is quite diahrroea like, but I don't understand why!! She only gets fed her food, and nothing extra.

I have tried changing food and all aspects of her diet. I have looked across the internet and follwed all the information as best I can but nothing seems to help.

Any help would be greatly received.

skelaki · 05-13-2007, 08:16 AM

1. Take a fecal sample to your vet so s/he can check for internal parasites.
2. What are you feeding? She may have allergies to one or more of the ingredients.
3. Put her temporarily on a bland diet of boiled, skinless chicken and rice. This will help clear up the diarhea.

As far as potty training goes. Keep her on a strict schedule. take her outside to potty. While outside waiting for her to go, walk back and forth with her in the potty area repeating a word or phrase (such as get busy) over and over until she does her business. This will eventually teach her to go on command. When she does her business, lots of praise.

Supervise her constantly and crate her whenyou can't watch her. Clean any accidents with an enzyme cleaner to destroy the odor at the molecular level.

Ginny01OT · 05-13-2007, 08:42 AM

I had a west highland terrier for 13 years and I can tell you that they can be quite difficult to housebreak. You must put him/her on a schedule with crate training. If you are dilligent about it she/he should be housebroken within three months but you must be dilligent and watch them like a hawk when they are out of the crate. The minute you see them go to "assume the position" in the house you have to grab the leash and take them right outside (it helps to keep a leash on them when they are out of the crate so you can react more quickly if need be). Good luck.

briteday · 05-13-2007, 04:56 PM

Four months old is still quite young in the scheme of potty training. I would be diligent but not concerned about some accidents at this early stage.

The stool issues are addressed above. I highly suggest a visit to the vet, taking along a stool sample. If you have to collect the stool sample more than an hour before the visit....collect it in a clean container (you can use a disposable yogurt container or similar, run through the dishwasher or wash in really not water, dry), keep refrigerated until you go to the visit. Put it in a brown paper bag if it disturbs you to put it in your food fridge. You could also keep it cool ina bag with a blue ice or bag of ice cubes.