Elvis’ Girlfriend Was Furious When She Realized He Wanted to ‘Train’ Her ‘to Be a Good Pet’

Though Elvis Presley only married once in his lifetime, he had many girlfriends. One was his backup singer, Kathy Westmoreland, whom he dated on and off as they worked together. As Westmoreland began to express concern about their relationship, Elvis grew angry with her. His response to her worries made her realize he was trying to train her like he would a pet.

Elvis’ girlfriend felt that he was treating her like his pet dog

In the early 1970s, Westmoreland visited Elvis for a weekend and began to worry about their relationship. Elvis had other girlfriends, but he was still married to Priscilla Presley. She began to talk about how she “could find no valid excuse for committing adultery, love or no love.”

“That night, in the quiet stillness of each other’s arms after a flurry of passion, things began to go topsy turvy,” she said, per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “I think of the words we said to one another and to this day I regret what happened.”

Westmoreland said she thought they should end the affair, a suggestion to which Elvis did not take kindly.

“Does that mean I have to get someone else, train them just like I want them?” he asked her. 

Westmoreland was stunned by his cruelty.

“Am I some kind of dog or puppy that you housebreak?” she asked him. “I’m a woman, a human being … You will just have to find yourself another Gladys.”

Westmoreland believed that telling him to find another Gladys was an expression she’d heard as a child. She did not realize that Gladys was his mother’s name or that Priscilla Presley believed Gladys had been the true love of his life.

The musician’s friend said he treated Priscilla Presley the same way

Years before this, Elvis admitted to attempting to train Priscilla in the same way. He met her and pursued a relationship with her when she was just 14 years old. Elvis’ friend said he liked that she was young enough to do whatever he told her. 

As a result, she dressed and behaved according to Elvis’ instructions. While Priscilla was initially happy to please, she began to feel stifled. 

“Back at Graceland he had me model all my new clothes again for Grandma, who patiently sat through a long two hours of changes,” she wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “I was Elvis’s doll, his own living doll, to fashion as he pleased.”

Elvis later pointed a gun at his girlfriend

During one of her “off” periods with Elvis, Westmoreland began dating another member of the band. Elvis called her out onstage for this and, when she refused to go on with him because of her embarrassment, he threatened her. 

“He was sitting on his bed wearing his karate pajamas, and he had a gun,” she said. “He held up a gift-wrapped wristwatch in one hand and a gun with the other. He leveled the gun at me. ‘Which do you want, this or this?'”

Horrified, Westmoreland accepted the watch. Later, though, she told him it would be best if she stopped performing with him.