How to Potty Train Westies

West Highland White Terriers, or Westies, are frankly adorable. Their little white face with black eyes and nose, coupled with their relatively small size and go-to personality, have lured many an unsuspecting patsy to fall for the breed and take one home.

However, the "terrier" part of the breed name should alert potential Westie puppy owners to the fact that they can be very hard to train. Unlike, say, golden retrievers, who were bred to work closely with their humans, terriers were bred by breeders wanted dogs who would think and act independently of their owners -- after all, you can't very well turn around and ask your human for guidance when you're 10 feet down a rat hole.

Things You'll Need

• Clock or timer
• Treats
• Leash
• Crate

Instructions

1. Have realistic expectations. Puppies are babies, and can't be expected to "hold" it all day while you're at work. When you're not home, asleep, or otherwise unable to supervise your Westie puppy, crate her. This is not cruel -- dogs love a warm, safe "cave" that's theirs and theirs alone to sleep in.

   Puppies won't pee or poop where they sleep, so your Westie pup is less likely to have an accident in her crate. Be realistic, though. Come home at lunch and take her outside, and get up in the middle of the night and do the same. Her bladder isn't very big.

2. Keep to a schedule. If you always feed your Westie puppy at the same time every day, chances are he'll have to "go" at the same time every day. Take him outside after meals, when he wakes up from a nap, and after every play session. Set an alarm or a timer if you have to, to remind yourself to take him out if it's been a couple of hours.

   If he doesn't do anything when you take him outside, come back in, wait with your puppy still on his leash for 10 minutes or so and try again. And again. And again.

3. Do not get angry at your puppy. Westies are sweet and loving, but they're also independent as can be. If you punish your puppy for making an accident, he will learn to make accidents where you can't find them, and may even come to fear or dislike you -- and you don't want that.

   Also, unless your catch your Westie puppy in the act of making a mess (and this applies to chewing the sofa, as well as peeing on it), there's no point in yelling or punishing him. Three seconds after he's done, he won't remember he did it, and therefore cannot (not "will not," but CANnot) understand why you're angry at him.

4. When your puppy pottys outside, praise her. Use a high-pitched voice; play with her; treat her; act as if she's just won the Nobel Prize for pottying. Your neighbors will think you've gone mad, but your dog will realize that pottying outside: a) brings her good things (like praise and treats); and b) makes you happy. It will help her figure it out, eventually.

5. Don't expect overnight success. Puppy housebreaking is measured in weeks, maybe even months (for the puppy to grow up and develop "holding" control), not days. But don't give up -- one day, that cute little stubborn face will come up to you and clearly ask to go outside.