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West Highland White Terrier breed guide
The American Kennel Club calls the West Highland White Terrier or West Highland White Terrier, smart, confident and always entertaining at play, a diminutive but sturdy terrier that has charmed owners for over 300 years and is among the most popular small terriers.
With dark piercing eyes and a carrot-shaped tail wagging with delight, it hides a true working terrier of gameness and courage beneath a plush-toy exterior and the all-white double coat is hard to the touch.
Temperament
Alert and active, West Highland White Terriers show the traits of a plucky, self-reliant ratting terrier. Like all terriers they were bred to work alone and that independence can make training a challenge, though keen intelligence lets West Highland White Terriers take to patient, positive training.
With intelligence, energy and a can-do attitude, they excel in obedience, rally and agility.
Lifespan
West Highland White Terriers live 13 to 15 years. Breeders screen for cardiac disease and patellar luxation.
Care
Regular grooming is a must for a West Highland White Terrier. Stripping or plucking, the old dead hair is the traditional way to care for the terrier coat and the method needed for showing, while pet owners often have the coat clipped for neatness.
West Highland White Terriers love to romp and play and enjoy a nice walk. Since by nature they run after anything that moves, the breed does best in a fenced area or on a leash.
History
Nobles, landed gentry and poor farmers of the long-ago British Isles faced the same problem of rodents pillaging grain stores and carrying disease and the solution was a vast array of terriers adept at finding and dispatching rats.
The terriers of Scotland, including the West Highland White Terrier, Cairn, Skye, Scottish and Dandie Dinmont terriers, are thought to be branches of one family tree and one historian calls the West Highland White Terrier's forerunners cloaked within the mists of the Scottish hills.
AKC trait ratings
| Trait | AKC rating | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Level | 4 of 5 | Couch Potato to High Energy |
| Trainability Level | 3 of 5 | Self-Willed to Eager to Please |
| Shedding Level | 3 of 5 | No Shedding to Hair Everywhere |
| Barking Level | 5 of 5 | Only To Alert to Very Vocal |
| Adaptability Level | 4 of 5 | Lives For Routine to Highly Adaptable |
| Good With Young Children | 5 of 5 | Not Recommended to Good With Children |
| Good With Other Dogs | 3 of 5 | Not Recommended to Good With Other Dogs |
| Watchdog/Protective Nature | 5 of 5 | What's Mine Is Yours to Vigilant |