Reply #12: my sister's is also a pup... [View All]

[progdonkey]

He's extremely smart and has just the right balance of being laid-back and energetic, plus he's a cinch to train. (I had him eating on command the first time I tried it with him! And when I command him to go into his crate, he goes, though he does it in this extremely slowly mosey, like he's hoping I'll change my mind before he arrives at the crate and he wants to leave enough time for that as possible. So cute!)

Though he seems to have entered a puppy terrible twos (I think he was born Nov. '04, so he's almost there): you used to be able to leave a plate of fresh, hot food right at the edge of the coffee table, and he wouldn't touch it, but now he's begun going through bags of sealed food (maybe he should be a drug dog, considering he can smell the food through the packaging!), barking and growling (total paper tiger, though), etc. Maybe giving him the snip-snip (or just threatening him with it... ;-) ) will settle him down.

My sister did everything right in choosing this dog; studied all the breeds, then found a good Westie breeder, spent a lot of time with the puppies, and this little guy was just perfect.

That's sad to hear about your first dog, though that's good that it was quick for her--better than having to watch her slowly succumb over a period of years, at least.