I wonder if anyone can offer me any advice. I purchased a Westie 2 weeks ago, at 9 weeks. I am positive he has a bad streak in him. He is extremely hyper, and playful which is acceptable for a pup, but daily we are getting the aggressive growls from him. I know puppies need training, but I am becoming increasingly worried regarding his temperament, as I feel that if he is like this just now, what will he be like in another few months. I also have two children in the house aged 10 and 12, so obviously this is a concern. It is our first dog, and I feel that I am not doing very well with the training.
He is male, and also is blind in one eye.

Any help or advice would really be appreciated as I don't want to give up on him, but have my doubts.

Nikki

He is just being a typical westie male puppy, they are all like that, find out where your nearest training classes are, I always recommend anyone buying a pup from me goes totraining, whether they are going to show or not, its good for the dog, and take the children with you as they will also need to learn how to handle the dog properly, have the children thought when the dog has been playbiting, hey! this is fun and encouraged the dog to do this, most children do and then when the pup starts to nip with its razor sharp teeth, then its said the pup is agressive and biting, which is not the case, most westie pups also growl, I think its a dog thing with them, my older male still does this, but we have learnt that a lot of the growls are him "talking to you", again though you will have to be very firm with him, dont let him away with the growling a loud NO should help, but please do not let this pup suspect that you are getting scared of him, they do sense this. When my dog was a puppy round about the 15 wk age I had a half hour fight with him over who was going to be the boss, I was as determined as he was, I had him pinned down on the settee and he was growling at me and im shouting NO at him, but in the end he did stop and when he did I let him go, 2mins later he is back licking me. Please e mail me if you need any more advice and buy some books about the westie, if you click on my name my e mail addy comes up.
Irene-Westyholm Westies.