Well, we got our new Westie "Charlie" on Sunday. Angus the Westie came over to see his new "brother" and as they got on well we took him home with us from the foster home where he was for the last couple of weeks.

He's 6 months old and was rejected by his owners. They bought him as a Xmas present for their daughters but, as usual they got bored with him.

The vet checked him over and gave him a clean bill of health, although the vet noticed that he is wary of anyone touching his head, possibly due to him being hit at some point.

Also the owner's daughters appeared to have taken scissors to his face and he has lost the Westie "look". Hopefully the fur will grow back.

Charlie has a problem with other dogs in that he growls at them whilst on walks and, strangely, people on bicycles.  I put this down to the fact he was never socialised. 

He's not house trained but is learning fast. He is a lovely little fellow, (actually he is a big Westie pup), and I think will grow in to a really loving dog. Angus and Charlie spend most of the day playing with Angus telling Charlie he is the dominant dog.  

Good luck with Charlie, i am sure it will be hard work but worth it in the end.

my westie goes for people on bikes to, it;s shame people dont realise how much of a commitment dogs are.

Good luck with your new westie,it is sometimes hard to break a bad habit but with time and patience it can be done. Find out his favourite treat maybe liver and when he see something that upsets him get him to sit until he is calm again, then lots of praise.
just give him lots of love and his confindence with people will grow and give him a few weeks and he'll get his head furnishings back.

Just an update on Charlie. He's learning that he should not wee on the carpets(!) and now does it on newspaper by the backdoor. We are going get him out in the garden at the weekend so he starts to make the connection between his "natural breaks" and the outdoors. We've noticed that as he is settling in the Alpha dog scary fighting has started. This morning at breakfast the westies were chasing around when we head Angus give a shriek. We think Charlie bit Angus's jowl. Charlie can be a bit vicious which I put down to his poor start in life. Charlie is also a real foodie and has been known to push Angus out of the way to get extra food. He doesn't do it to Frank though (see below).

Frank the Dachshund went eye to eye with Charlie a few nights ago and Charlie backed off. It was if he was saying to Charlie "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough"! I think he realised that Frank is the real top dog of the three!

John