Washington State West Highland White Terrier [Westie] Breeder

Welcome to our website and thank you for visiting! Ailis is a Westie breeder in the greater Seattle, Puget Sound region of Western Washington State (Renton, which is immediately south of Seattle) Our Westies love visitors so if you are in our area, we hope you will drop by - just please email us so we know when you are coming! We are a small breeder, producing only 1 or 2 litters of Westie puppies each year.  Every one of our West Highland White Terriers and their puppies are house dogs and members of the family. Be sure to check out our pedigree database with over 36,000 Westies. You can search to find your favorite dogs raised by your favorite Westie breeders. Then click to 'view' and watch our database create a 5-generation pedigree! Or check out pedigrees for available Westie Stud Dogs.

History of the West Highland White Terrier:

The West Highland White Terrier, according to notable authors, originated at Poltalloch, Scotland, where they had been bred and maintained for more than 100 years prior to their appearance at dog shows. In 1916, Colonel Malcolm, a Westie breeder in Poltalloch, said that his father and grandfather both kept them. It is probable that the lineage of the Malcolm dogs goes back to the time of King James I, who asked for some "earth-dogges" out of Argyleshire. Colonel Edward Donald Malcolm, of Poltalloch, Argyllshire, Scotland, is generally credited with breeding the white dogs, although he took none of the credit for himself. He had kept a pack of light colored working terriers for hunting. As the legend goes, a reddish dog of his, emerging from cover, was mistakenly shot for a fox. Malcolm is said to have decided on the spot to breed only for white dogs that could be readily identified in the field. The first show held for the Westies was at Crufts in London in 1907. The first AKC registration was in 1908. Originally registered as the Roseneath Terrier, the name was officially changed to West Highland White Terrier on May 31, 1909. This name was chosen for the rugged character of the dogs and the area of their development. The Westie is all terrier – a large amount of Scotch spunk, determination, and devotion crammed into a small body. Outdoors they are truly sporty, good hunters, speedy, and cunning, with great intelligence. In the house they are all that can be desired of a pet: faithful, understanding, and devoted, yet gay and lighthearted.

The Westie: a Relatively Sound Breed

The Westie is known to be a very sound breed with less health issues than most other breeds. Their most common problem is skin problems. You can minimize this risk by acquiring your puppy from a responsible breeder. But if your Westie does develop skin issues, it's probably allergies. Click here to learn how we have successfully prevented such problems.

AKC Breed Standard for the Westie:

When preparing to do a breeding, Westie Breeders are trying to match the puppies to the AKC standard:

GENERAL: The West Highland White Terrier is 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. The coat is about two inches long, white in color, hard, with plenty of soft undercoat. The dog should be neatly presented, the longer coat on the back and sides, trimmed to blend into the shorter neck and shoulder coat. Considerable hair is left around the head to act as a frame for the face to yield a typical Westie expression. SIZE & PROPORTION: The ideal size is eleven inches at the withers for dogs and ten inches for bitches. A slight deviation is acceptable. The Westie is a compact dog, with good balance and substance. The body between the withers and the root of the tail is slightly shorter than the height at the withers. Short-coupled and well boned.
Faults--Over or under height limits. Fine boned. Please click to see the entire standard as outlined by the AKC: West Highland Terrier Breed Standard

The following site presents a photo representation of the breed:

The West Highland White Terrier by Joan Graber

Use Your Quiet Voice

Training your Westie puppy not to bark incessantly is very easy. Don't get angry or upset, just calmly pick him up when he is barking loudly. Tell him to use his quiet voice and place him in another room for a few minutes. Let him out in a minute or two [but not when he's barking]. It will take perhaps a day for him to get your message.

Other Westie owners use a squirt gun or spray bottle to train their Westie. Each time their puppy barks incessantly, they spray him with water. I understand this is also very effective.

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

There are many benefits of a small dog such as the West Highland White Terrier. It is much cheaper to feed them. Almost all the supplies you need for them (such as crates, toys, collars) are smaller and less expensive. They can stay in most hotels. They are easier to transport and can ride in the cabin of an airplane. There is much less to clean up after them and they will not rearrange the furniture when they run and play in the house! You will not have to worry about leaving food on the kitchen counter because they are too short for 'counter surfing' - a favorite pastime of my Labs. For the West Highland White Terrier breeder, the grooming is time consuming but well worth the extra work.

Socialization

The socialization a puppy receives during its first 12 weeks has more of an impact on its temperament than genetics. For this reason, all litters of Westie puppies we produce are kept inside our living area where each of the puppies receives the care and all the affection they need to be happy and well-adjusted when we send them home with their new family.  During the first 10 to 12 days, we hold and cuddle each puppy for a few minutes every day. We continue to cuddle and start to play with them during the period in which their eyes and ears open. From 3 weeks to around 12 weeks is the most important period for bonding with people and socialization. Once they are 3 weeks or so, we play with them daily and allow them to run around and explore the house. We encourage every family to visit regularly with our Westie puppies until the day comes for them to take theirs home. We often invite the neighborhood children over to help us [under close supervision of course] socialize the puppies by exposing them to new and different people on a regular basis.

Are You Tough Enough for a Westie? The Westie Personality

Westie's possess a great deal of self-esteem and believe they should be the pack leader. If you hesitate to take charge, they will not.

Assertive but cheerful, with the typical stubbornness and cleverness of a true terrier, the Westie must be shown that you are in charge, or he may become demanding and testy when he doesn't get his own way. He does respond well to positive, consistent, POSITIVE discipline and praise. Then they are wonderful, loving companions with an abundance of personality and character.

Commercial Dog Foods

The link below is to an article from the Animal Protection [now "Born Free"]Website. This is also why I feed my Westies and Westie puppies the same thing I eat. The only differences between what I eat and what I feed them is that I do not cook their meat or eggs. Here are a few sites about feeding raw and/or natural diets: Holistic and Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats; Healing Hope - Holistic Animal Health. Dr. Pitcairn's book is a must before you start feeding raw.

Whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fruits, vegetables and fresh grains are all the wholesome nutrition your dog or cat will ever need.
See the entire article Born Free.

Grooming your Westie.

For convenience sake, owners of pet-quality dogs often opt for clipping them every six to eight weeks although it softens the coat and makes it unacceptable for the ring. In-between care for the clipped dog, who tends to have more undercoat, includes a good brushing with a slicker brush and combing with a greyhound comb a minimum of once a week. When properly brushed, the Westie sheds less than most breeds and tends to have less dander than many -- a real plus for owners with low-grade allergies to dogs. Because clipping softens the coat and causes dirt and other debris to cling to it more easily, the clip groomed Westie should be bathed more often than the show dog. However, because of the adverse affect shampooing has on the hair,it should not be done more often than once a month. Instead, we recommend dusting the coat with corn starch baby powder and then brushing it out to remove soil and eliminate doggy odor. Another grooming essential for both the show and companion-pet Westie includes regular trimming of the nails, including the dewclaws. (Terrier nails tend to grow faster and stronger than those of other breeds.) Also trim the hair surrounding the anus to prevent fecal matter from collecting there. Owners should also regularly check for mats between the pads of the paws and trim them away with scissors. If exposed to the grooming process at an early age, Westies take to it quite well. Because the breed requires a fair amount of attention in this department, owners should make a point of conditioning puppies to accept grooming.

For our friends in the Bellevue, WA area looking for a good groomer for their pet Westie- my friends tell me that the best for Westies is der Pet Haus in Bellevue - located on Main Street near 148th. I have personally seen their work and agree they do a great job. Sorry they do not have a Website or email address but you can look them up Seattle City Search.

Click here for Grooming your West Highland White Terrier for Show

Example of a pet Westie groomed using clippers:

[photo provided by The Artful Canine, a company with gifts for your small dog that also provides grooming services]