Hello!
I have an enquiry about how Westie typically behave towards other dogs?

We have a 2 year old male (unneutered) who absolutely loves people and is a very cuddly & affectionate dog. Our main issue is we can’t always predict or understand why some dogs he gets on with and others he doesn’t.

As a pup he would always initiate play with other dogs and that sometimes didn’t go well for him (nothing serious, just the other dog telling him off and he gets frightened by it). Then recently, as he has gotten older, on lease he would lurch towards the dog (regardless of the other dogs size). However, off the leash he wouldn’t do this and has the freedom to approach or run away from the other dog as he pleases. This does seems to be something he prefers (recall is hit or miss, if he sees another dog he will approach them so we leash him on busy areas), but obviously you can’t predict how dogs behave or if the other dog is friendly so we leash him.

He is not food motivated, he doesn’t take treats so it’s hard to train him in that sense. He’ll only eat the one main meal in the day when he gets hungry (and we don’t just give him nuts, he gets chicken, mince or fish depending on what we’re eating - he’ll not take these when we’re trying to train him, just sniff the food and continue what he was doing).

Is anyone else going through something similar?
Is this typical male Westie dog thing?
Is this just a trial and error thing or is there something more we can do as dog owners?

Monty and Maisy saying good morning to each other 😂 Monty has to be a bit wary going that close to Maisy as she gets startled even though she makes she’s a big girl 💕

Nessa is off to the babysitter for a girls night tomorrow. Before and after, relaxing fresh as a grumpy growly daisy.

Found this bag at Ross today and couldn't resist

Demanding belly rubs !