[Greatwhitewing]

Central MA, long time Siberian cat breeder bringing a new Westie pup home from Maine soon.
Looking to get off to a good start with new pup

 

[Greatwhitewing]

Exciting. If there is anything you want to ask, please do.

If you are new to dog ownership, the book Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy by Steve Mann is getting some great reviews. It doesn't suggest you squeeze your puppy, the title is based on the tag line from an old washing up liquid commercial.

Not new to dog ownership, been a while since we had a puppy but we do go through some kittens, not the same thing I know.

I guess my main question is it possible to have a Westie stay with you off leash at home in the yard/garage. Our last dog was great but impossible to keep him from exploring given any chance at all.

 

[Greatwhitewing]

I'm 99% sure my dog would stay. But, I'd never risk it. There's always that one, tiny chance that a cat would pass, he would chase, and end up under the wheels of a car. For your dog's safety and your peace of mind, use a barrier - or you could keep him on a tether of some kind. Tethers can be attached with ring to something like a rope between two poles or trees to give even more room to roam, but don't leave your dog unsupervised and always use a harness rather than a collar to reduce the risk of damage to the delicate throat area.

Bring up a point is how does one know their dog will stay? No directed at you specifically but in general. To me that is the ultimate pet that will stay close and come when you call in any public situation.
What breed(s) do yo have?

 

[Greatwhitewing]

None. Such a dog doesn’t exist.

Nature doesn’t come with a guarantee. Even my uber-loyal Chihuahua still wanders off to investigate something that catches her eye, or smells good, or, as happened the other day with a plastic bag, taps in to her prey drive (which is something that is vanishingly rare).

Dogs are sentient. Things spook them, they may run off. As Jo and now I have mentioned, things tap into their prey drive and they give chase. Something catches their interest, they may wander off to investigate. You can train a dog to be 99.9% reliable

My son way out in CO has a Sheppard that would follow him into he&& and stay all day where he told him to.. Maybe it's breed specific. He can take him off leash anywhere including construction job sites and stay all day in sight.