Westies are the Besties

Response to Prompt: Our Animal Companions

Most of the time…..

When it came time to invite another animal companion into our family, it was definitely going to be another dog…but what breed? My previous canines had been large breeds — a Rhodesian Ridgeback and then a Golden Retriever. Both were mourned greatly when they passed over the Rainbow Bridge, but after a while, the need to add another dog to our family grew stronger. We are active walkers/hikers and it started to feel a little empty without a sidekick to explore and share these outings with us. And with a pilot partner who was away a lot, I wanted that companionship (and protection) for those times when I walked those lonely trails on my own.

Our first world problem was that the new car had leather seats, so was another large breed practical? Not really. So I started to educate myself on the different innate characteristics of smaller breeds. I checked rescue sites in our area as well, but at the time they only had large dogs, or dogs that didn’t like children (we had one of those), or cats (we also had one of those).

After quite a lot of researching and talking to local breeders, I settled on the West Highland White Terrier. These little dogs appeared to have big hearts, large personalities and made great family pets. After filling in a very detailed questionnaire with a local breeder, I was approved for one of her male puppies. I like male dogs and they just seem to have bonded with me in the past…or maybe it’s me that bonded with them?

Six months later I went to pick up Finn, sight unseen. He was 8 weeks old and the size of a rat. My heart melted…is it actually legal to sell something that small and helpless?

But helpless was he was not! He and his razor-sharp baby teeth proceeded to chew baseboards off the wall, full rolls of toilet paper, books and my favorite pair of boots. Trying to be responsible in choosing the most nutritious (and expensive) puppy chow was a joke. Finn was ready, willing and capable of chewing the hind leg off a horse.

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