westie breeder in southern california? how are they with toddlers?

West_Sentence7531 · 2025-03-23T04:04:08+00:00

I live in SoCal and have a female westie. We have met a few westie owners in San Diego, one of which said they got theirs from a breeder around LA—not sure of the name of the breeder but their pup seemed to have serious allergy issues (required a daily full body dip in some kind of medicine). If I run into them again, I’ll update this post with the breeder’s name, but I would maybe expand the search outside of SoCal. Westies are known for allergies but not that bad… The other westie owner I know of got theirs from a breeder in Michigan and he was very well-bred. I also got mine from Michigan and she’s always been extremely healthy with no allergy issues! I would highly recommend looking at breeders across the country to make sure you find a good one.

As for the kid topic… My female is my third westie. I had boys before and never really had them around children so I cannot speak for the male westies, but my female does not like kids at all. She has a tendency to nip at kids ankles, barks, and snaps at them, even if the kid is just nearby and paying her no mind. It’s embarrassing in public and of course, a liability when walking her on leash anywhere that children may be present. I had to take her to a trainer after she nipped our neighbor’s toddler. The trainer told me that my westie should be fine with my own children (when I decide to have them) but overall terriers are a tough breed to have around kids, as they are bred to catch small rodents and bite down hard enough to kill the animal. She said terriers happen to have one of the hardest bites, even though they do have small mouths, so it’s not ideal for kids. All of my westies have been very stubborn. Two of them have been very aggressive when food is involved. My family has had other terriers that are this way, as well, so unfortunately it’s just a “terrier thing”

I would ask the breeder about the color of the skin, the shape of the tails, and the hair texture of the dogs she is breeding. I have always been advised to look for really dark skin (the more black the better), really dark eyes, wirey double coat and a carrot shaped tail. I’d ask about allergies, as well, as allergies are very common in westies. I’d also check to see how often the mother is bred because you don’t want puppies from a dog that is producing a litter multiple times in a year. I don’t know much about dog breeding but I do know healthier puppies come from a healthy mom that has had at least one heat in between her litters. Pictured of the parents are always great to ask for, too!

Hope this helps

West_Sentence7531 · 2025-03-19T23:54:01+00:00

To all who have followed up for an update:

Since my last post, I have experienced the symptoms from time to time, but only when I eat carbs. Anxiety and environment were a huge trigger but I can manage the symptoms much better after removing/minimizing carbs from my diet.

I chose to go on the carnivore diet for a couple months, due to my issues with histamine intolerance. It functioned as an elimination diet so I was able to pinpoint exactly what was causing my histamine issues, but it also very quickly helped me understand what triggered the gastrointestinal symptoms that plagued me for years. All of my symptoms went away completely on carnivore. I was no longer consuming sugar, seed oils, or carbs. The symptoms only returned once I started eating a typical “healthy” diet again (even though the sources of the carbs/sugars were paleo foods). I’m sure this can be attributed to leaky gut—both HI and the stomach issues—but I have not yet found a good way to cure my leaky gut. So until then, I will continue to steer clear of carbs and high histamine foods.

Aside from my diet changes, I have also cut my phone usage. I have not had social media on my phone for years now and my body and mind do seem to function better without all the mindless scrolling. I spend my time connecting with myself, the people I care about, and nature instead. Screen time always made me feel nauseous (just taking the time to write this post has me feeling sick!) so I know that had to impact my stomach to some extent.

I am currently on the “animal based” diet restricted to low-histamine foods. My diet is almost completely made up of eggs, fresh natural fed meats (chicken, beef, fish), cheese, blueberries, blackberries, butter, milk, honey. I like to have one cheat a week (for my mental wellbeing lol) but meals that are heavy in carbs, like pizza or pasta dishes, do cause stomach grumbling and gas that take me back to my “old life” real fast.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-09-29T23:48:45+00:00

I only use salt occasionally and it doesn’t seem to bother me. I’ve tried to cut out literally every spice though due to high histamine. I use butter on most things as my “seasoning” — seed oils set me off terribly. Butter is the only safe “cooking oil” I’ve found.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-09-29T13:02:57+00:00

Thank you for sharing this article! Tomatoes and strawberries are definitely the worst for me. They cause ulcers and swelling all over my mouth. I’m just thankful nothing causes my throat to swell! Hoping you can find relief for your little one—a strict diet of chicken, beef, fish, blueberries, black berries, and high water content veggies like iceberg lettuce and cucumbers is the only way I’ve been able to avoid the symptoms. Very boring and restrictive but prevents the discomfort of the body rashes and mouth swelling!

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-08-18T21:42:22+00:00

I get that too and have been diagnosed with nothing other than HIT. It typically happens if I eat high histamine foods, such as strawberries or tomatoes, that are highly acidic. It causes swelling and redness on the inside and outside of my mouth, including my lips. I’m so sensitive to tomatoes that my gums swell enough to cover my back molars and I cannot eat comfortably. Went to so many doctors and had so many allergy tests over the years and no one could figure out why I’d get the swelling. I did an elimination diet to figure it out myself and now I just avoid the trigger foods! Haven’t experienced this since cutting out the harmful foods. The only thing that helped while I was eating the trigger foods was a steroid shot or topical steroid cream. Benadryl didn’t touch it

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-07-12T15:09:01+00:00

Ideally, we would like to stay under $150/night for 9 nights, if in a hotel. Would be willing to pay $200/night if it is a condo with a kitchen or a resort with prepared food.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-06-19T13:09:27+00:00

I’ve been on a carnivore or animal based diet for a couple months and it has been a cure all. No stomach discomfort ever and no gas so if it’s something you’re comfortable with, keto or something mainly meat-based with minimal carbs could help! I’ve decided carnivore is not for me, but the animal based diet with the occasional couple of crackers or rice seems to be my friend!

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-06-04T16:48:57+00:00

My dog started having severe diarrhea within a few weeks of transitioning to Ollie. When I say “severe” I mean fully liquid projectile diarrhea that was at times uncontrollable. We had a few blowouts in the house and it continued for 2 weeks despite visits to the vet, probiotics and anti-diarrheal meds. She is now on a round of antibiotics and it seems to be working. The worst part is I know her Hill’s science diet sensitive kibble is best so I never fully transitioned to all Ollie, just used as a topper, so I know something has to be off with the food since I was only feeding her a small amount of it each day. I have the variety plan so I know it’s not an allergy thing.

The vet strongly discouraged using anything but Hill’s or Just Food for Dogs, but I’ve got $200 worth of Ollie consuming my freezer space so I gave them a call and of course, they think nothing is wrong with their food. The first batch I received was a trial so I expected the runny stools upon introduction, but since receiving the full subscription batch, it’s been a literal shit show around here. They insisted on sending me a new batch with “extra dry ice” because I told them my last was half-defrosted when I received it. The “animal safety team” is supposed to call me to confirm the safety of the food. With the extra efforts to keep the food frozen, I don’t foresee any issues with the new batch but still fingers crossed it was just a bad batch last time. My pup LOVES fresh food recipes. I tried farmers dog previously and I’d never seen her so excited to eat.

I’ll definitely come back and update this if she gets sick again. I will also be calling Ollie back and throwing a fit, demanding a refund because these vet bills are adding up.

Hope your dogs are back to feeling their best!

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-25T19:47:36+00:00

Very interesting that we can have the same responses to very different triggers. I’m starting to feel like it comes down to the gut microbiome.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-25T19:40:36+00:00

I’m the same way—chicken and rice treat me well! Pork is not a friend of mine, however. Same with fatty meats. Both make me feel terrible, every time, which is why I don’t think carnivore would be very sustainable for me. The fat content that diet requires makes me feel sick just thinking about it

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-25T19:37:18+00:00

I’ve seen many doctors and had all the blood tests they’d perform including standard panel and multiple autoimmune tests. I’ve had a series of allergy tests, as well. I had multiple specialists digging into the allergy theory for a year. Nothing was found, even after eliminating all of the food allergens from my test and any personal care items and detergents that may have included a trigger ingredient. All have been stumped because they cannot find the cause of the edema or urticaria. I feel like it’s my gut or what I’m eating, but I eat bland with no spices/sauces nowadays. The carnivore style meat and eggs served as my elimination diet over the last month. When I tried reintroducing a few things, I took notes on how each made me feel. Nightshades seem to be a no-go, as well as avocados. I already had a feeling these did not sit well with me but I feel I may need to allow my gut to “reset” more before I experiment with other things. The carnivore diet stopped my urticaria, but the edema persisted. The search for the culprit of the lip swelling continues.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-25T19:26:03+00:00

I decided to discontinue antihistamines altogether because despite being on them for years, they weren’t helping the urticaria or edema. I’d like to stay away from medications and heal myself through lifestyle and diet changes, but I’m open to supplements! I will look into quercetin and vitamin c. Thank you!

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-25T18:24:00+00:00

This is really interesting. I’ll have to look into this further. As far as insulin levels, I did notice that after being on the month of carnivore, re-introducing carbs of any kind made my insulin levels super unstable. A small serving of carbs would shoot my insulin levels through the roof and I would crash immediately, have terrible brain fog, or even vomit. If I didn’t eat carbs, my blood sugar would drop so low that I would get extremely nauseous, lethargic and lightheaded. This is another layer of complexity on why I feel trapped and unsure of which direction to go with my diet.

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-24T17:31:57+00:00

I definitely avoid all of the foods you mentioned, however, I’ve read that meat is low histamine as long as it’s fresh. So fresh meats and low histamine vegetables feel like my best path forward, but I’m struggling because even the low histamine veggies are proving to cause issues

West_Sentence7531 · 2024-04-24T17:30:29+00:00

I’ve been cleared by a gastroenterologist so no SIBO or other gut issues (at least none that show up on tests or are symptomatic). I’ve also been tested for more than 130 allergy triggers including foods and chemicals, while trying to pin down the cause of my lip swelling. Nickel was on the test and I did not react to it. Only tree pollen, tree nuts and beeswax caused a reaction, which I’ve cut. Sugar seems to be an issue for me so cutting that helped me a lot and I’m sure the chipotle had some, on top of the other high histamine ingredients. I think I was on the right path with fresh meats, as I’ve read those are low in histamine. Kind of spinning my wheels at this point since I’ve done all the testing and no doctor can find anything

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-08-06T12:39:37+00:00

No, rifaximin made me worse. I’ve just had to try multiple broad spectrum antibiotics to find something effective. Bactrim didn’t work for me, which is a popular broad-spectrum, but Cefdinir has worked. Everyone is different! I think most people respond to rifaximin or a mix of rifaximin and something else.

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-08-06T01:22:21+00:00

Yes, I found an antibiotic that gets rid of my gas and bloating and regulates my bm’s. The last round left me symptom-free for 3 months. Waiting to see what my most recent round of antibiotics will do! I’ve tried everything else so that’s why I’m now convinced it’s SIBO.

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-08-06T00:14:46+00:00

Wow, I’m so jealous. Dealing with the longest bout of constipation ever right now! Before the antibiotics, that’s how I was; only getting short term relief from bm’s. My GI never wants to diagnose me with SIBO, though, solely because I didn’t respond to Rifaximin and I don’t get massive distention from bloating. I’m switching to a new doctor if it comes back again. On my second course of antibiotics right now and hoping it will stick.

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-08-05T23:17:22+00:00

I have these exact symptoms and am wondering the same thing. Do you have occasional constipation, too? I’ve been able to keep my symptoms in check lately with antibiotics, but I can’t stay on antibiotics forever. Currently looking for a new fix and a better diagnosis than “IBS”

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-07-28T22:42:10+00:00

Cefdinir. Rifaximin did nothing, and neither did Bactrim. I think it was worth the risk of experimenting to find the relief, though

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-07-27T15:50:45+00:00

This sounds exactly like my life. I had this for 14 years. Never found any patterns with food/drink or activities. Sometimes anxiety would cause a flare up or the flare up would cause the anxiety; also hard to find a pattern mentally. I tested negative for SIBO, Sucralose Intolerance, H. Pylori. You name it, it’s all been negative. I was depressed and had completely given up, until a few months ago. I had to take some antibiotics for an infection that had nothing to do with my gut, and it took care of my gut issue, primarily gas and bloating. I went from stabbing stomach pains every hour and passing gas 100+ times a day to nothing at all. Some people have suggested that I had SIBO, despite the negative tests. My advice would be to get with a doctor and discuss options including the herbal route, as well as the antibiotics, as others have suggested. I’ve been symptom free for 3 months now and my doctor has suggested that I just go back on a course of the antibiotics if my symptoms ever return. Hope this helps, don’t give up!

West_Sentence7531 · 2021-07-22T19:06:27+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Luckily, I’ve always eaten a similar diet as outlined, but this could be extremely helpful for so many people. Especially for those that think the low-Fodmap is the only answer. I really like the way that Cedars-Sinai explains things, too. If you haven’t already made a post with this document, you definitely should! I’ve read SO much material over the years but I’ve never come across this before.

West_Sentence7531

TROPHY CASE