Here is a cute video of a westie playing with the hose. Seems like no matter how many he bites the water, it just keeps on spraying everywhere. Poor little guy!

Conversation Between the Young and the Old

Watch the 10 year old Westie give a lecture to the little pup. Unfortunately the little guy can’t help himself but interupt, just like the young ones often do.

Shhh! I’m watching TV!

Watch this video of a dog watching a video about dogs. Well actually it’s a movie that he is watching. Notice how he isn’t just sitting there and watching, he is actually getting excited or angry during certain scenes!

What Your Puppy is Up to While You’re Gone

Here is a video of a Westie puppy being left home alone. Watch him chewing on pillows, howling, barking and whining out of boredom.

*To any one that thinks this is cruel or mean, here is a response from the owner:

“I am working from home so I am with him almost 24/7. This was just an experiment few hours to see if he is doing something bad while we are out, when he is alone. He was 5 month old puppy then when this is filmed.”

Start Obedience Training Early

The most important advice that I can give you is start training early. There are two reasons as to why you shouldn’t wait until you begin teaching your puppy how to behave:

• They are more eager to learn while they are younger.
• If you start teaching them early, they won’t have the chance to develop bad habits.

Don’t worry if your Westie is not a puppy anymore and already has developed a bad habit or two, it’s not too late for you to fix the behavior. All I’m trying to say here is that the sooner you start training your dog, the sooner you will start seeing results.

Be the Pack Leader

A lot of people confuse what I mean by be the pack leader. When I say that you have to be the pack leader I don’t mean that you have to be mean, cold or abusive towards the dog. I’ve seen too many websites and dog training books recommend a lot of cruel “training” techniques and I’m definitely not advocating any of them.

Instead I want you to think yourself as the puppy’s role model or teacher. The job of the wolf pack leader is to teach and guide the rest of the pack – which is exactly what a responsible dog owner should do. And if the dog doesn’t see a clear leader in the family, he will try to take on the role of the leader himself for the good of the family.

Start off With the Basics

When training your Westie, always start off with the easier stuff first and then work your way up. Jumping straight to the complicated tricks is bound to leave you frustrated and your puppy feeling discouraged or confused. On the other hand if he starts learning the simple stuff first, the praise and the rewards will encourage him to keep on learning.

Here are some of the basic obedience training commands that you can get started with:

• Come on command
• Sit
• Stay
• Shake

After your Westie has learned those commands you can move on to other tricks like:

• Down
• Play Dead
• Roll over
• Fetch

Lucky for you grooming Westies isn’t that big of a chore. They are actually pretty easy to keep well groomed at home on your own and save yourself a few bucks on a professional dog grooming service.

Bath and Shampoo

Did you know that it’s actually a bad thing to give dogs baths too often? Their furs have special oils protecting their furs so that loose dirt can just fall right off, and too many baths can wash that protective layer off. So you should only give your Westie a bath when he absolutely needs it, or about once every six months.

Another important thing to note about baths is that you should always use dog safe shampoos and soaps. Human shampoos and soaps have too many rough chemicals which can damage the protective layer even more than frequent baths.

Brushing

Since you can’t bathe your Westie every week without harming his coat, the next best to keep him clean in between baths is weekly brushing. Brushing his coat once or twice per week will keep his fur looking clean and remove loose hair and dirt. So that means less dirt and fur for him to spread around the house.

Nails

You can’t neglect clipping your pooch’s nails. It’s easy to forget about this part, but it’s very important. Nails that grow too long can cause discomfort to the dog and are a lot more likely to break or split – which is unbearably painful. Just make sure you clip the dead part of the nail and not the quick – which is the sensitive fleshy part that’s inside the nail.

Dental Hygiene

Even though your Westie isn’t eating too many sweets, at least he shouldn’t be, he still needs his teeth to stay clean to avoid painful cavities. There are two ways you can go about this problem, use a doggy toothbrush with special dog toothpaste to clean his teeth or get some dental chews. The toothbrush approach is a little trickier to get your dog used to it, but you have more control and can get a better clean than the chews.

Other Grooming Tips and Suggestions

In addition to the bigger things up top, there are some little things that you will have to take care of. Here is a short list of a couple more grooming tasks for you:

• Clean the Westies Ears – use cotton balls or special wipes instead of qtips to do this. Also while you’re doing this, inspect the dogs ears for any foul smell or other signs of an infection.
• Use plain water to keep him clean between the baths – Since you don’t want to bathe your pup too often, you can use just plain water without any shampoo or soap to wash him if he gets too dirty from playing outdoors.
• Wipe down watery eyes – it’s not uncommon for dogs to get watery eyes, but if it happens too often then it could be a sign of allergies.
• Avoid perfumes – I know it might be tempting to spray your Westie with your favorite perfume or cologne when he starts smelling like a wet dog, but you really shouldn’t. The scents are too strong for their sense of smell and can really irritate their little noses.

Personality and Behavior of the Westland Highlander White Terrier

Everyone knows the quote “Big things come in small packages” and nothing could describe the Westie personality better than that. Although these dogs are small in size compared to some of the larger working dogs, they behave just as boldly as their distant larger relatives.

Westies are very confident and independent. They love the sense of adventure, excitement, play and are always looking for something interesting to do. So be prepared for a dog that will follow you gladly on any adventure that you take him, sticking his nose in places he probably shouldn’t. Don’t think for a second that just because they have short legs, they won’t be able to keep up with you.

Overall Westland Terriers are very active, independent and friendly dogs. Their bold personality is something to keep in mind since it can be bothersome if you don’t start training them early. However if you spend just a few minutes a day to get basic obedience down, their stubbornness won’t be a problem at all.

Physical Characteristics

Westland highland Terriers are furry white little dogs that proudly sport the terrier distinct look.

Coat

Westies have a white thick coat that’s covered in fur. The fur actually gives their face the round look that you often see. The length of the fur varies on their coats, but it can grow in length up to 2 inches long.

Size and weight

Male                      Female

Size                        10-13 inches       9-12 inches

Weight                 15-22 pounds     14-16 pounds

Interesting facts

• Their little paws are slightly turned out to give them better grip on rough and rocky terrain.
• Their bodies have a wedge shape with a small narrow front and wider back so that they don’t get stuck in small crawlspaces
• Their tail is designed to be strong enough so that you can pull on it, if they do happen to get stuck somewhere, without hurting them.

Health and Lifespan

Westies are a healthy breed and with proper care of their health, good diet and plenty of exercise they can live up to 15 years. Of course they are still susceptible to some genetic health problems just like any other dog breed, but in general they are one of the healthier dog breeds.

Need and Requirements

These dogs are actually not that hard to take care of if you compare them to some of the more demanding dog breeds out there. Besides their need to exercise and play, they are actually pretty low maintenance.

Health

A good diet is very important to keep your dog happy and healthy. Some store packaged dog food is not exactly ideal when it comes to nutrition and health so make sure you read the labels carefully. Even the dog food brands that are targeted towards the breed don’t always include all the required nutrition that they need. If you’re not sure about which dog food to feed your Westie, be sure to talk to your vet about it.

Exercise

Like I said previously, these dogs are working dogs and not lapdogs. That means that they need quite a bit of exercise to keep them happy. Take your Westie out for plenty of walks daily to make sure he gets the exercise that he needs. If you have a large enough fenced backyard then you can let them run around there. Just make sure to inspect the perimeter of the fenced for any holes and don’t leave them unsupervised for too long since they are pretty good at escaping.