Last spring a 2-year-old West Highland white terrier named Reggie White, after the former Green Bay Packer's star, disappeared near his Kronenwetter, Wisconsin, home. The dog's owner, Pat Rondeau, told the Associated Press, "He is just such a friendly little dog, I thought someone just picked him up."
But before Rondeau put the blame on a band of dognappers, she should've considered the inherited traits of her beloved bundle of white. Reggie's ancestors - the first terriers - were bred for seek-and-destroy missions in the fox dens and badger holes surrounding the farms of their native Scotland. Although there are few dens left among the subdivided sprawl of America - except for the kind Dad takes a nap in - there is still a tempting hole or two around for a dog with burrowing on the brain.
Sure enough, after a four-day romp through the sewers of Kronenwetter, Reggie was discovered two miles away by children who heard his bark emanating from underneath a manhole cover. After a tearful reunion, Rondeau reported Reggie was in very good shape but "was really dirty." She covered the drainage culvert that Reggie mistook for a badger hole, but noted that "he keeps going back there to take a look."
Grit and Grime
That Reggie and other West Highland white terriers are often in the mood for a down-and-dirty adventure is not surprising given the history of the breed. From an early age, the terriers of Scotland were tested for gameness by their keepers. This test frequently consisted of dropping a terrier into a barrel with a badger. If the dog killed or wounded his adversary, it was added to the pack. If the dog did not survive the altercation, no tears were shed. There was no room on the farm for any creature, man or beast, who could not perform its role.
Today's Westie frequently shows the influences of this pugnacious heritage. One of the friendliest of the terrier breeds, the busy Westie is always in the thick of things - a rough-and-tumble rogue with a gleam in its eyes and bark in its heart.
This head-first attitude is evidenced by the usually grimy condition of the Westie's otherwise beautiful white coat. In fact, we might as well deal with the Westie's coat up front, because if you own a West Highland white terrier, or plan to get one, you will soon be on intimate terms with this wooly mass of white fur.
The Westie should be double-coated, with an outer coat of straight, hard hair that is slightly shorter on the neck and shoulders. The undercoat consists of cotton-like short hair, which forms a thick, close foundation for the outercoat. In earlier days, the double coat, especially the hard, straight outer coat, provided protection from a fox's teeth, as well as from the elements. Today it serves as an uncanny magnet for dirt. These conditions make the grooming demands of a Westie labor intensive.
Westies should be thoroughly brushed and combed twice weekly, working out knots and tangles with fingers or by combing gently. Brushing should include legs, chest, under areas and tails. The dog requires shaping every two or three months, either by clipping or handstripping. To add to the challenge, the dog should be bathed as little as possible, as bathing softens the hair texture and can encourage a tendency to curl. Although the typical owner may undertake this effort at home, it is easier to take the dog to a professional groomer. For all their hair, Westies shed relatively little - providing a slight reprieve from these otherwise intensive grooming responsibilities.
Underneath all that hair is a vigorous little dog. The American Kennel Club (AKC) breed standard describes the dog as a "small, game, well-balanced, hardy looking terrier, exhibiting good showmanship, possessed with no small amount of self-esteem, strongly built, deep in chest and back ribs, with a straight back and powerful hindquarters on muscular legs, and exhibiting in marked degree a great combination of strength and activity."
From this description the dog's hunting background is easily recognizable. The terrier had to be small enough to fit in the passageways of the typical fox den. These passages were often so narrow the dog could not turn around. Short, powerful legs aided maneuverability in these cramped conditions. Formidable teeth and jaws were required to face a fox in closed quarters, while the tail needed to be sufficiently long to provide a handhold by which the dog could be pulled from shallow holes.
From Fox Dens to House Dens
Today's owner is more likely to pull the dog off the couch than out of a fox hole, but the same qualities that made the West Highland white terrier a popular companion to the farmers of Scotland make it a popular occupant of American homes and apartments. Eager, active and fun-loving, the Westie is a nice companion. The dogs like people and will usually glad-hand anyone they meet. City dwellers find the Westie's small size and good manners make it an excellent breed for an apartment, although the dog does need at least one walk of several blocks daily. As a suburban or country dog, the Westie's natural instinct for hunting can become evident. It may not be friendly toward small animals and can be aggressive with other pets. Generally, however, Westies, as long as they do not feel threatened, get along well with other canines.
The Westies' natural vitality and alertness make them excellent guard dogs. Despite their small size, their bark can be threatening. Around children, they are unlikely to become overly rough and generally remain patient provided they are not handled harshly. They love human company and are happy to take a walk, ride in the car or simply watch TV as long as they are in their owner's company. However, they can also function well without an abundance of fuss.
Obviously, those who should steer clear of the breed are people who want minimal grooming responsibilities. Potential owners should also realize the Westie is often an independent dog, with a wide stubborn streak. It barks and digs and misbehaves in other typical terrier ways.
Vision in White
Although modern-day Westie enthusiasts may have a love-hate relationship with the dog's distinctive white coat, they should remember that the breed would not have emerged if it weren't for the grime-attracting hue.
Back in the badger-in-a-barrel days, the terrier existed as a general, nonspecific breed. The cairn terrier is often cited as the forebear of many of Scotland's other terrier breeds. Early cairn terrier breeders habitually destroyed any white, creamy or lighter colored pups at birth, thinking them to be less hardy. However, in the late 18th and early 19th century, several different types of white terriers began to emerge, thanks to the efforts of dedicated breeders and enthusiasts. One such enthusiast was Colonel E.D.
Malcolm of Argyllshire, Scotland. Colonel Malcolm kept several hunting terriers, and favored the whites because of a hunting accident. Sometime around 1860, the colonel was hunting hare with one of his reddish brown terriers. While running through the brush, the terrier was mistaken for the rabbit and shot. The incident prompted Colonel Malcolm to declare that he would propagate only white terriers in his kennel so that they would be easily distinguishable from game, thus avoiding similar unhappy experiences.
Colonel Malcolm's white terriers were soon known by the name Poltalloch, after his family seat in Argyllshire. While the Poltalloch is, by far, the most documented of the white terrier breeds, there were several other white terriers bred under different names. A white strain of terrier named Roseneath, named for the seat of the Duke of Argyll in Dumbartonshire, Scotland, was bred in a similar fashion by a man named George Clarke, who was a head keeper at numerous Scottish estates.
The names Roseneath and Poltalloch were used interchangeably until about 1900 to describe white terriers. We can assume that they looked alike. As early as 1903 Colonel Malcolm was sponsoring the adoption of the current name in an effort to bring about a more collegial feeling among the various breeders of the dog. The name is indicative of the native habitat of the breed - the rugged West Highlands of Scotland.
The White West Highland Terrier Club, with Colonel Malcolm as chairman, was formed in Scotland, in 1905. Soon afterward a group of English enthusiasts formed the West Highland White Terrier Club. After considering both applications at its meeting on November 20, 1906, the Kennel Club committee decided that the breed was to be called the West Highland White Terrier and that "The Scottish Club, if they wish, can be registered as The West Highland White Terrier Club, and the South of England might be registered as the West Highland White Terrier Club of England." Registrations started in 1907, with three dogs and four bitches. By the end of the first year, 63 dogs and 79 bitches had been registered as West Highland white terriers. Three Westies gained their championship classes in 1907.
The United States was not far behind Scotland in recognizing the virtues of the Westie. The American Kennel Club first accepted the breed for registration in 1908. Interestingly, for the first year the dog was listed as the Roseneath terrier, the name given to the dogs owned by the Duke of Argyll in the very early years of the breed. In 1909, however, the name was changed in accordance with the now-accepted British name. That same year the West Highland White Terrier Club of America was formed.
Ready to Rumble
The Westie's natural good looks and spunky attitude quickly made it a favorite in the American show ring and as a household companion. Today the breed is one of the more popular terriers, ranking 25th out of 146 breeds in AKC total registrations in 1998 with 5,341 new registrations. In 1997 it ranked 28th with 4,983 registrations. Among terriers, only the Yorkshire terrier and the Boston terrier saw more registrations in 1998. Thankfully the West Highland white terrier no longer has to enter into mortal battle with a badger to earn its place in American homes, but that doesn't mean the Westie has lost the instincts honed on the rough terrain of Scotland's West Highlands. As owners and enthusiasts of the breed will tell you, this gutsy, agreeable flash of white fur is always ready for a good rumble.
Healthy Westies
The Westie is usually a healthy dog but is not immune from a smattering of diseases. Like other white dogs, the Westie often has problems with skin allergies, usually caused by fleas. Other major concerns include: Globoid cell leukodystrophy, a gradual deterioration of white matter in the brain that is eventually fatal; Legg-Perthes disease, destruction of the head of the femur bone because of a decrease in blood supply; cranio mandibular osteopathy (lion jaw), a painful though temporary inflammation of the jawbones in juveniles. Minor concerns include hernias and cataracts. Also occurring in Westies is patellar luxation, an abnormally shallow groove in the knee so that the kneecap slips in and out of position, causing lameness. This is painful for the dog and costs about $600 to fix. A typical West Highland white terrier has a lifespan of 12-14 years.
The Cairn Connection
The close relationship between all of the terrier breeds can be witnessed through only a brief look at the pedigrees of early West Highland white terriers. In a 1907 pedigree of a Westie, the names of Callum Dhu and Seafield Rascal appear. Both were widely known Scottish terriers, found frequently in the extended pedigrees of present-day Scottish terriers. This same pedigree is also known to have been the exact lineage of a cairn terrier, Inverness Sporran. The confusion in the extended pedigrees of early dogs of several terrier breeds only proves more strongly that the early Scottish terrier breeds came from common blood and frequently were found in the same litter.
Interbreeding of the cairn and Westie continued unabated until about 1917 when the American Kennel Club decreed that no cairn could gain registration if its pedigree carried a West Highland white ancestor within the first three generations. This action led to a similar edict by the Kennel Club (England). Thus interbreeding was stopped, although its effects were noted years later.
Reggie was my grandmothers dog!
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