West Highland White Terrier
A Scottish working terrier bred to bolt fox and vermin from rocky ground. Small but genuinely energetic and self-directed, and prone to atopic skin disease that needs lifelong management.
- Weight
- 6.8–9.1 kg
- Lifespan
- 12–16 years
Weight and lifespan are reference ranges from the breed guide. They vary by sex, lineage and individual dog and do not predict your dog’s ideal weight or lifespan. Read the care descriptions alongside the individual dog’s history.
Background and characteristics
The West Highland White Terrier comes from the western Highlands of Scotland, where it was bred to go to ground after fox and vermin among rocks and cairns. The white coat was a working decision: it let a handler tell dog from quarry in poor light. A dog that had to make its own decisions underground is still the dog you get today — confident, opinionated, keen to dig, and quick to chase anything small that moves.
Westies are friendly and cheerful, but anyone expecting biddable obedience has the wrong breed in mind.
Exercise and play
Exercise needs run higher than the size suggests. Plan forty-five to sixty minutes a day, and add outlets that use the instincts: scent games, a sandpit that is allowed to be dug, a flirt pole. Under-exercised Westies dig and bark instead.
Training works well in short, well-paid sessions and badly as drilling. Recall around squirrels and cats is unreliable in most individuals, so a lead in open ground is the sensible default.
Coat and everyday care
The coat is double, with a harsh outer layer over a soft undercoat. Shedding is light, but maintenance is not. The traditional method is hand-stripping to keep the outer coat harsh; in practice most pet owners clip every eight to ten weeks, which is easier and cheaper but softens the coat over time and can leave the skin more reactive.
Either way, brush two or three times a week.
Coat and everyday care (2)
Skin is the headline health issue. Westies have a strong predisposition to atopic dermatitis, and the pattern of paw licking, red ears and inflamed belly, often complicated by secondary yeast infection, is familiar to every vet who sees the breed. Treat it as a lifelong management cost rather than a one-off illness, and ask breeders directly about skin in their lines.
Also discuss idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, craniomandibular osteopathy in puppies, patellar luxation and Legg-Calve-Perthes disease.
Home environment and care planning
Day to day the breed suits a house with a garden better than a flat, mostly because of digging and barking rather than space. If you do live in a flat, invest early in habituation to doorbells and neighbours, keep the garden or balcony boundary secure, and dry the feet and belly thoroughly after wet walks — damp skin is the trigger that turns a manageable itch into an infection.