ok, here goes... Im sorry to admit this but my mum bought a westie (from a puppy farmer) and has left it to live in the yard. i went up for dinner today and ended up bringing the poor little sod home with me.

She is a lovely pup but due to living in the yard (still sickens me) is not house trained, doesnt know her name and lacks any basics what so ever.

She is 6 months old and i know absolutly nothing about them at all.

any advise would be greatly appreciated - she is my first pup and obviously i didnt have time to research first.

Andy

How is she getting along with your Irish Staff ?

Start from the beginning ..TAKE her out for the loo ..praise when she performs and say nothing when she has an accident. Watch for the signs that she wants to go . Clean any accidents with biological soap powder and hot water.

I am sure one of the Westie people will be able to tell you more about the breed...

Melody

Remember she will mostly need to go to the loo after eating, sleeping and playing so take her out side after doing each of those and tell her to go, think of a name for toilet and use that every time you take her out and when ever she goes give her a big praise.

Dont worry Andy it will come together:) Morse came to us at 6 months from similar circumstances knowing nothing and we started from toilet training too. She will learn her name because youre going to use it all the time to call her for meals etc and follow Mel and Zoes advice on toileting and she will get there. It took us longer than other people with younger pups, but hey, you may be lucky!:D Stick to name, toilet and learning your a good person to have around first, then play with her often - youll have to teach her to play with you - so when you boil the kettle, at an ad break on TV etc call her and play to develop a bond. Im sure I dont need to tell you this, but dont forget your first dog needs special attention too. Hopefully she will look at your dog and follow her. Well done for rescuing the wee soul - whats her name?

Good on you Andy for taking pup under your wing :)
She will learn her name in time - dont worry on that one . We took in a stray cat last year and had no idea what-so-ever of her name but she certainly knows her new name now :)

her name is holly. Up to now her and Kara are getting along reasonably ok considering she has not been socialised at all - They are laid together at my feet as i type lol.

Thanks, sometimes it helps to hear someone else say it was the right thing to do....

oh and Merry Chrismas

Andy :)

Well done Andy, get her on some socialisation and basic obedience classes just to get her used to as many different types of dogs as possible and of course for the training which she will respect you for :) - Get her checked out by a vet which will also give you the opportunity to ask him/her any questions you may have - westies can be prone to skin problems and I'm guessing no thought went into her breeding!  As mentioned the toilet training will hopefully come together, we couldn't leave our pup for two minutes without her weeing somewhere for her first week - Also remember she will probably find the garden very interesting to begin with..Far to interesting to pee in and consequently wee in the house when she gets in after being outside for an hour!!! (yes thats from experience :D)  You totally did the right thing - she is a very lucky westie!  You have taken the trouble to ask us for advice and you clearly care for her well being - Good on you - any prob's just keep on at us champdog's lot :D
Sarah

Just being nosey but how old was your ISBT when you got her?

I'm sure the westie will be fine after a couple of months and she might even prove easy to train as she'll be very eager to please :) 

Good luck with her.

I like Westies and the only one I have close contact with belongs to my next door neighbours daughter and her family they got him at 9 months (I think) and he was  the same kept in a shed by his previous owners and had no contact with anyone. 4 years on you couldn't meet a better mannered dog. He's a darling and Sal adores him when he comes to stay next door. He's called Bruce, although he ddn't have a name when they got him. The previous owners were two men who were going to breed from him but they had a falling out and somehow when they split up he got left behind, with one of their friends who didn't want him. 

Good on you for taking responsibility for Holly I'm sure she'll do fine.

Karen   

Im actually suprised at how well it is going, only a couple of accidents in the house (dont think she was as untrained as they were making out). recall is an issue at the moment but am working on it.

Took her out today with a friend and his 2 dogs (ridgie pup and a dally) poor little sod was petrified and never went more than 2 feet from my legs.. Well, until she found some bread she wanted lol.

Have taken to keeping them seperated whenever i cant keep an eye on them as holly is having a bit of a snap if kara doesnt stop bugging her.

All in all going better than i thought though.

Kara was around a year old and although IMO wasnt receiving the care she deserved was house trained and pretty sociable already.

I'm sure a westie won't be a problem for you then! You took on an ISBT as an adolesent :D

I have taken on two rescue dogs and the last one was a real pain.  As soon as she came into the house she went to the toilet.  She was constantly wetting her bed and weeing in the kitchen.  We were having to let her out every hour to make sure she was going.  Any accidents it doesn't take long to boil the kettle and mop it up.  She is now really quite good.  She has learnt to follow Jasper in a lot of things and is now staying dry during the nights and we can leave her in the house for a couple of hours while we go shopping without an accident.  I think a lot of it was just finding her boundries in her new surroundings.
Well done for rescuing the poor thing and I'm sure it will work itself out in time.  I rescued both of mine when they were adults.  Jasper was 4, we've had him now for 18 months and Tammy is 5, we've had her for 5 weeks.

Good luck.

Hi Andy,
I've took on loads of rescues over the years, although no WHWT's, good luck. At least she is in a better place now with someone who obviously wants the best for her. Hope you enjoy her for ever.
D4wn