Training a West Highland Terrier is not such a hard task as it might seem. The key is to start early and make sure you have them well trained to understand your rules before they develop any bad behavior habits. In this case they may become very difficult to train. For the most part you shouldn't have a problem with them as they have a fairly easygoing temperament and are not as strong-willed as several other breeds. This article describes the 3 stages to training a Western Highland Terrier.

1. The first stage you'll want to go through is house training. You should be prepared to be patient however, as because the Westie is a smaller dog than most it can take some time for their system do develop far enough so they're able to avoid going to the toilet. There are a number of methods you can use to go about this. One of the more common ones is crate training, which involves confining your puppy in a crate until they need to go out, though many people are opposed to it because they see it as some form of punishment. In general, you should try to limit your Westie puppy's movements around your home and take them out every hour so they can go to the toilet. With enough consistency they should be properly toilet trained within a few weeks.

2. The second stage is socialization, and this is arguably the most important. The sooner your Western Highland Terrier gets used to all the people, animals, objects, sounds and everything else in their environment the much better behaved dog they'll become as an adult. It's important to note, however, you should only try doing this after they're six months old. This is because their immune system is still relatively weak and there are many viruses they can catch during this time that could make them sick. Due to a Westie's terrier instincts, however, you should never expect them to be able to get along with smaller animals such as cats, mice or hamsters. They see these as prey and often no amount of socialization will change that.

3. Basic obedience training is the next stage and this will also help ensure your West Highland Terrier sees you as the leader of the pack. Due to your Westie's relatively easygoing nature this shouldn't be too hard, but there are a few thing to keep in mind. You should always try to remain positive - Westies typically don't respond well to harsh training techniques like pulling on the lead and so on. Teach them all the basic commands such as sit, lay down, stay, heel and so on in short training sessions of 10 minutes each day and soon enough you should have a very well-behaved Westie.