36 Fun Facts About West Highland White Terrier

How should the ears of a West Highland White Terrier be carried?

Erect and pointed: the small ears must stand up on their own and are never cropped, and the first Poltalloch terriers already had them while their coats were still sandy rather than white.

A show Westie's head is groomed to give which outline when seen from the front?

Round: the standard asks for a full frame of hair around the face, with just the eyes and ear tips showing, because that frame is what gives the typical Westie expression.

Colonel Edward Malcolm reportedly began breeding white terriers after one of his reddish-brown dogs suffered what fate?

Mistaken for a fox and shot, as the legend goes, so Malcolm resolved to breed only white dogs he could tell from the quarry, the very colour other Highland breeders had been culling at birth.

A 2005 film angered breed purists by casting a Westie as which famously loyal real-life dog?

Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh's graveyard dog, is usually said to have been another Scottish breed, and its club protested; the producer said a Westie's white coat showed up better in the dark.

A Westie called Olivia stole scenes in two 2018 films, the comedy Game Night and which heist thriller?

Widows: Viola Davis, whose character carries the dog through the film, said she had dreaded working with one, yet within five minutes she was kissing Olivia.

King James VI once had terriers from Argyll, claimed as Westie ancestors, sent as a royal present to which country?

France: James, by then also King of England, wrote to Edinburgh asking for half a dozen of Argyll's terriers to be sent there, and both Westie and Scottish Terrier histories now claim the dogs as their own.

The breed was first officially listed as the West Highland White Terrier in 1907 at which British dog show?

Crufts listed the breed under its new name in 1907, the year the Kennel Club recognised it; 'West Highland' was chosen for the rugged north-west of Scotland where the little white hunters had made their name.

Until the 1920s Westie pedigrees could still include which close cousin?

Cairn Terrier: Westies began as the white puppies of Cairn stock, and the two were interbred so freely that the kennel clubs had to close the door between them, in America after 1917 and in Britain in 1924.

A Westie's short, sturdy tail is traditionally described as shaped like which vegetable?

A carrot: the standard wants the tail short, thick at the root and carried upright, never docked, and one that is long, thin or curled over the back is marked down in the show ring.

Hunters reputedly prized a working Westie's sturdy tail as what?

A handle to pull it from holes: a Westie stuck down a burrow barked until its owner traced the sound, and it could then be hauled back by the tail, reputedly without injury.

What colour are the nose and footpads of a newborn Westie puppy?

Pink at first, the nose and pads darken as the puppy grows, and by the show ring the standard expects the opposite: a black nose, with black pads and nails preferred.

Despite its plush-toy look, how should a Westie's outer coat feel to the touch?

Hard and straight: the harsh outer hair, about two inches long over soft underfur, makes a weather-resistant jacket, and judges fault a Westie whose coat is soft or curly.

Besides pure white, what slight colour variation is seen in some Westies?

Light wheaten tipping is tolerated in the ring: the standard would rather see a little wheaten in a coat of the correct texture than a pure-white coat of the wrong one.

AKC Earthdog tests are open to small terriers such as the Westie and to which hound breed?

Dachshund: like the Westie it was bred to follow quarry underground, so the tests send both breeds down buried wooden tunnels to find the scent waiting at the far end.

Which word does the Kennel Club's breed standard use for the appearance a Westie should have?

Varminty: the standard has used the word since the breed's first decades, a nod to a terrier built to go to ground after foxes, badgers and other vermin.

Both the British and American breed standards say a Westie is possessed of 'no small amount of' what?

Self-esteem: it suits the breed's old job, in which Highland terriers were sent in alone after their quarry, deep among rocks where no hunter or other dog could follow.

The nickname 'Westie jaw' refers to which inherited condition of puppies?

Craniomandibular osteopathy: extra bone thickens a puppy's jaw while it is still growing, until opening the mouth and chewing become painful.

'Westie jaw', a painful inherited condition of terrier puppies, shares its other nickname with which big cat?

Lion: vets also call the condition 'lion's jaw', and it is passed on as a recessive fault, so a puppy is affected only when both of its parents carry the gene.

Hyperplastic dermatosis, found only in Westies, is colloquially known as what?

Armadillo Westie Syndrome: the skin thickens, darkens and loses its hair, and because the disease is seen only in Westies and runs in families it is thought to be inherited.

'Westie lung disease', which slowly makes it harder for a dog to breathe, is properly called pulmonary what?

Fibrosis: scar tissue slowly replaces the working tissue of the lungs for reasons nobody has pinned down, and the disease has been studied more closely in Westies than in any other breed.

'White dog shaker syndrome', a tremor illness first tied to Westies and other small white dogs, is usually treated with what?

Steroids: most dogs stop trembling within a week or two of starting prednisone, and despite the name the syndrome has since turned up in dogs of any colour.

Westies share with Bedlington Terriers an inherited tendency to store too much of which metal in the liver?

Copper: dogs with the fault cannot clear it, so it builds up in the liver until the organ becomes inflamed and fails, and the Bedlington is the breed vets know best for it.

In 1942 Wolvey Pattern of Edgerstoune became the first Westie to win Best in Show at which American dog show?

Westminster: Wolvey Pattern belonged to Constance Winant, wife of America's ambassador in London, and the judge said the Westie 'asked for it every minute in the ring'.

Which Westie from County Durham, known at home as Devon, won Britain's biggest dog show in 2016?

Burneze Geordie Girl was still short of her second birthday, and breeder Marie Burns called her 'a typical terrier, a bit of a tomboy' and the first Westie to win in more than 20 years.

By 2010 the Westie had slipped to third in UK terrier registrations, behind the Border Terrier and which breed?

Staffordshire Bull Terrier registrations led the group in 2010 with 8,663 puppies, while Westie numbers had roughly halved in eight years, from just over 10,000 to 5,361.

Which artist's 'Puppy', a 12-metre Westie covered in living flowers, guards the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao?

Jeff Koons built the giant terrier on a steel frame packed with soil and watered from inside, so its coat keeps growing, and gardeners replant its thousands of flowers twice a year.

Which country's kennel club recognised the Westie in 1909?

Canada: its kennel club registered its first Westie in 1909, two years after Britain's and one after America's, as the little white terrier came into fashion on both sides of the Atlantic.

A famous whisky label pairs a Westie with which other dog?

A black Scottish Terrier: James Buchanan is said to have thought of the pairing on his way home from a dog show in the 1890s, and the two terriers became the trademark of his Black & White blend.

What kind of bite should a Westie have?

Scissors: the upper teeth close tightly just over the lower ones, and the standard wants them large for so small a dog, because a working terrier needed strong jaws.

In AKC Earthdog tests, a Westie crawls through a buried tunnel to reach which safely caged quarry?

Rats wait unharmed behind bars at the end of the tunnel, and the dog earns its pass by 'working' them, which means barking, digging or scratching at the cage.

How does the AKC breed standard describe a Westie's eyes?

Almond-shaped and dark: set deep under heavy eyebrows, they give the piercing look the standard asks for, and full or light-coloured eyes count as faults.

Under which name, taken from a Duke of Argyll's estate, did the AKC first register the Westie in 1908?

Roseneath Terrier: the name came from the Dumbartonshire estate where the Dukes of Argyll bred their own white terriers, and the AKC dropped it on 31 May 1909 for the one used today.

Westie Elfinbrook Simon took America's top dog-show prize in 1962, ending a run of four wins in six years for which breed?

Poodle: Time headlined the upset 'The Poodle Dethroned', noting that those four wins since 1956 had helped to make poodles America's most popular breed.

How did Edward Malcolm respond to being named as the creator of the Westie?

He declined the credit: white terriers were being bred on other estates in Scotland too, and the breed went on to drop the name of Malcolm's own estate for the one used today.

How is the outer coat of a show Westie traditionally removed as it matures?

By hand-stripping: the old, dead hairs are plucked out by hand to make room for a fresh coat, the method a show dog must have, whereas most pet Westies are simply clipped.

In the early 20th century, Westies were so popular they changed hands for hundreds of what?

Guineas: Champion Kiltie, one of the first Westies sent to America, was bought by an American for 400 of them, and other dogs of the day fetched half that sum.