West Highland White Terriers, also called Westies by pet lovers, are a dog breed recognized for their distinctive white coat. They originate from Scotland and were commonly used for hunting and digging out small animals living in holes. This cute little dog could easily get into the hole and drag the animal outside.
Notwithstanding their small size of these dogs, they have amazing endurance and this is why Westies were used to hunt for foxes, badgers and other small size animals.
The breed has existed for a very long time, but, unfortunately, there is no information about the time of origin of this dogs. Most likely this breed derived from Scotch Terriers which also existed in Scotland.
Commonly, Westies have bright round eyes, small perky ears and are white in color. A male Westie usually weighs about 15-20 lbs and a female – 13-16 lbs. These dogs have wide chests, muscular legs, a large black nose and a very round and large face. The size of the dog is small enough to keep it as a home pet, and its wonderful friendly disposition and very cute looks win the hearts of many pet owners.
Westies live for about 12 to 15 years and during their lifetime they are very suitable for training of many sorts. Since the dog originally was trained to hunt underground where it can’t here its owner and has to rely only on its wits and reaction, these dogs are very smart, inquisitive, brave and very active.
Like many other terriers, Westies don’t shed, hence, these dogs need trimming and plucking once in a while. If owner take good care of the dog’s hair, it will grow stiff so that the dog almost never gets dirty when playing outside.