Westie behavior
Do Westies bark a lot?
Are they good guardians?
Are Westies intelligent?
Are they hard to train and obstinate?
Are Westies sport dogs or lap dogs?
Are they easy to housebreak?
Is it true Westies dig in gardens and will destroy and make holes everywhere?
Can they be kept with other dogs and pets, such as a cat, mice, birds etc.?
Can we keep more than one Westie in the house?
Does a male make a better pet than a female?

Westie physical characteristics
Do Westies shed a lot?
Are Westie any other color than white?

Westie Care
Do you bathe Westies often?
How do you keep a Westie white?
How do you keep them neat?
Do you HAVE to strip Westies or can you keep them well groomed by some other means?
How often do you trim a Westie?
Do they need a lot of exercise?
Can they be kept in a small apartment?
Can Westies be left alone during daytime while I work?

Westies and people
Are Westies good with children?
Are they good with older persons?
If a person is allergic to dogs, is a Westie a good dog to have?

Getting a Westie
How much does a Westie cost?
Where do you get a Westie?

Do Westies bark a lot?

Yvonne says: It depends on the dog. In my experience, the senior female Westie in a group will need to alert the family to any strangers. My male is much more willing to just watch strangers go by the yard. However, it is very possible to teach your Westie to give only one bark and then be quiet. The trick, I think, is to never let the dog keep on barking. Bring him or her into the house, and even put them into the crate until he or she quiets.

Are they good guardians?

Yvonne says: Westies will alert to strangers coming to the house, and they will bark if allowed to. However, they are so friendly that I suspect they'd show a robber where the silver is hidden if it means they get some attention!

Are Westies intelligent?

Yvonne says: Extremely. Sometimes they are too smart for their owners.

Are they hard to train and obstinate?

Yvonne says: Are they hard to train? no. Are they obstinate? yes. Westies are intelligent, but proud, and strong-willed. In order to train them, it is important to be consistent. In addition, they are most easily trained using positive methods. When punishment-based training is used, Westies will often shut down and refuse to work, or they will work but look very unhappy doing it. I use clicker-training and my dogs all compete to be allowed to work with me.

Are Westies sport dogs or lap dogs?

Yvonne says: Both. Westies love to be involved in whatever activities their owners do. I know of a Westie who is a search and rescue dog. I know of several who are therapy dogs. Almost every Westie who is introduced to agility enjoys the activity. My own Westies like to come to work with me - at school and at dog obedience classes. I also know of a pair of Westies who live many weekends and during holidays on their owners' boat.

Are they easy to housebreak?

Yvonne says: Yes! Westies like to be clean. Any Westie will try to be clean, but it is important to teach them the right place to eliminate.

Housebreaking doesn't need to take a long time, but it is important to realize that until a dog is about 4 months old, his or her body is not mature enough to be housetrained, in the same way that a baby cannot be potty-trained until he can recognize the feeling of needing to 'go.' An excellent guide to housetraining is Shirlee Kalstone's How to Housetrain Your Puppy in Seven Days (link to bookstore, eventually!)

Be careful, however - puppies that are brought up in filthy conditions may take a little longer to train. It isn't the puppy's fault - he will think filth is normal if that's the kind of environment he was brought up in. Pet store puppies, because they are almost all bought from puppymills, often suffer from slow housebreaking.

Is it true Westies dig in gardens and will destroy and make holes everywhere?

Yvonne says: No, it is not true. Westies who do learn to dig are very hard to stop, because digging feels good to them. However, some Westies never learn to dig.

One year, I was digging in my flowerbed, when I noticed one of my dogs right beside me, trying to dig the next hole in the line of holes I was making and filling with bulbs. Now, I put my dogs indoors when I have to dig in the garden. The only dog I have had since then who liked to dig had learned it when she was a pup.

There are ways to stop a digging dog. Gary Wilkes, a professional dog trainer, has a video called The Doggie Repair Kit that shows how to stop almost any digger.

Can they be kept with other dogs and pets, such as a cat, mice, birds etc.?

Monique says: Westies were bred to chase small prey. All fast movements by something smaller than them or their own size (even on TV) awakens their strong prey instinct. Consequently, tame birds, rodents and small animals allowed to run loose in the house are not safe with them. However, Westies can become friends with the cats they live with if they are raised together.

Yvonne says: Sometimes Westies will get along with other animals quite well. In my experience, cats who live in the house before the Westie arrives do very well - especially if the Westie is a pup and learns to respect the cat. Cats who run away tend to make Westies very excited and want to chase them.

To introduce a cat to a house with a Westie already living in it, I would provide a safe place for the cat by putting up a strong baby gate, just 6 inches above the floor. The cat can get behind the gate by going over or under…. And the Westie has to leave the cat alone. And then I would let nature take its course. Eventually, the cat and the dog will develop at least a truce, if not a friendship.

As far as birds go, my dogs have not lived with birds - but when we visit relatives who have birds, my dogs really want to get the bird!

Can we keep more than one Westie in the house?

Yvonne says: I sure hope so. I have two, right now, and have had up to ten. I have friends who have six adults at least, at any given time, and they all live in the house (including the people!)

The only thing one must be careful of is keeping more than one intact male. A male who has not been neutered is at the mercy of his sexual urges and he cannot help having them when there is a girl dog in heat around. Owners do not always know when there is a girl in heat around, as she may belong to the neighbours, or she may just have walked by the house. If you have two males, they will want to argue about who gets to be in charge of the girl - even long before she is ready to breed.

So my advice is that if you want more than one male dog, be sure to neuter both of them. However - that would be my advice, anyhow. All pet dogs should be neutered. It makes them better pets because they don't think about reproducing, and neutering is a powerful way to reduce your dog's chances of coming down with a reproductive-system cancer. Click here to read an article about neutering for males, and here for the same about females.

Does a male make a better pet than a female?

Yvonne says: Some people think that male Westies are cuddlier, and more willing to be lapdogs, while the females tend to get up and go to do other things. Personally, my male is happy to lie down and just be with me, while the girls are more likely to try to get me to do something that they want to do (like go for a walk!).

Do Westies shed a lot?

Yvonne says: Not if they are kept groomed. Westies' old, dead hairs don't fall out. What will happen is that an unbrushed Westie will get bigger and bigger looking until eventually he looks like a walking bundle of hair. If he gets anywhere close to this look, the hair will rub off against objects the dog touches - walls, fences, furniture and human legs, just to name a few. If your dog is kept groomed and is thoroughly brushed once a week, you can be sure that there will be very little loose hair lying around!

Monique says: I have noticed that my Westies shed their undercoat twice a year for about two weeks. During this time, they need to be brushed thoroughly once a day. After that period is gone, they shed almost no hair.

Are Westies any other colour than white?

Yvonne says: Only when they're dirty! No, that's not quite true. Some Westies are sandy or tan-coloured along the back. This isn't really considered to be very good, but sometimes it happens. Sometimes on an otherwise white dog, you can find a black hair or two. And some Westies have a small tan spot on their tail. One of my puppy people thought the dog got his spot of colour when he went under the owner's motorcycle!

Do you bathe Westies often?

Yvonne says: I only bathe my Westies when they get dirty or if I have a dog show coming up. If a Westie is allowed to dig and roll, it may need to have frequent baths. House dogs who do not get to dig in the garden can go weeks and sometimes months without a bath.

A correct Westie coat is harsh and wiry. When a Westie gets dirty or muddy, the trick is to let the mud dry and then the dirt will brush right out.

Monique says: Many people will use a dry shampoo instead of a bath when their Westie is just a little dirty. Chalk and special whitening powder are also quite popular among Westie people who prefer not to bathe their dogs. You can get those at dog shows and special pet supply houses.

I recommend washing the feet and belly to get the salt out after walking your Westie outside in winter if you live in the city. Not only does the salt irritate them, but who wants to let a muddy Westie get dry by rubbing itself on the furniture and carpets?

Allergic Westies often profit from bathing because it washes the allergens away. In any case, always use mild shampoos specially formulated for dogs and make sure you rinse well.

How do you keep a Westie white?

Yvonne says: Mostly by brushing regularly. Dirt will fall right off, in most cases. I also use a shampoo that is formulated for white dogs, although I used to use an ordinary dog shampoo and it worked fine, too.

Westies usually form a little grain of 'sand' at the corner of each eye, every day - I gently take it off. If a Westie's eyes are weeping and making red marks on his or her face, take the poor creature to the vet!

Some Westies also lick or suck their feet… and the saliva turns the hair a rusty colour. Be careful if your dog has a lot of red spots on his legs and feet especially, it may just be due to being wet. However, it may also be a sign that your dog has skin allergies.

Westies' faces also often turn rusty under the jaw. Again, this is due to the hair being wet too often. I would do a number of things - first, trim the hair a little shorter. The second thing I would do is to take a towel and clean their faces after they eat. And I always trim out the dark red hair that forms just behind the canine teeth on the lower jaw - there is a fold there that tends to make any wetness drip down right there. Just gently snip it off if you don't want to look at it!

How do you keep them neat?

Yvonne says: I groom my own dogs. Several of the people who've had my pups do their own grooming, too. It is simple to trim the hair when you have a good picture of what you want, and you are willing to try.

If you have someone else groom your Westie, you should plan to take them in about every six weeks. In between beauty parlour visits, you should brush your Westie's coat at least once a week. This will pull out the dead hairs and keep your Westie from leaving those hairs lying around the house or on your clothes.

Do you HAVE to strip Westies or can you keep them well groomed by some other means?

Yvonne says: A Westie can be kept very well groomed by using clippers and scissors. Most professional groomers expect to do a clipper-grooming on pet dogs.

How often do you trim a Westie?

Yvonne says: Westies need to trimmed about every six to eight weeks, depending on how quickly the hair is growing. They need to be brushed much more often however, about once a week, to keep loose hair from building up in the house.

Do they need a lot of exercise?

Yvonne says: I find that my adult dogs tend to like being quiet indoors most of the time, but when it is time to go outside, they are active and ready to run and jump for as long as I will keep walking! One of my dogs lives with a person who exercises the dog by throwing a tennis ball down the hallway. Merry, the dog, runs to get her ball and joyfully brings it to her mistress, over and over.

Compared to other breeds of dog, they do not have huge exercise needs. Puppies need to be active. I also find that Westies have FRAPs - FRenetic Activity Periods. Most evenings, I often have a wild game of tag going on in my home and it generally involves every Westie in the house! It's more fun than watching television!

Can they be kept in a small apartment?

Yvonne says: Yes, absolutely. I know of several Westies who are happy apartment dwellers. The trick is to make sure to give them walks every day, and to take them outside often enough that they are not uncomfortable waiting for a potty break. Some owners of apartment dogs will train them to use paper or litter so that the dog does not have to wait to be taken out.

Can Westies be left alone during daytime while I work?

Yvonne says: I sure hope so, because I do it to mine all the time! I leave the radio on for them, so their environment isn't totally dead. My trustworthy adults, I just leave loose in the house.

For young dogs who cannot be trusted to not chew on things, I crate them with toys and a buster cube to keep them occupied. A buster cube is a toy that I can put food in. When the dog plays with it, the kibble falls out, a little at a time. I also use Kong toys - and put a tiny bit of peanut butter very far in, to give the dog things to challenge his or her mind while I am gone.

For puppies who will need to eliminate before I come home, I put out paper and confine them using a puppy pen, or a baby gate to keep them in a room that has a nonabsorbent floor.

Jackie says: Any crate should be large enough to allow the dog to move around, stand comfortably and stretch. I personally don't believe in leaving dogs unattended in crates unless I am on the premises and can check on them frequently. It is very stressful for a dog if it has an upset stomach and is forced to eliminate in its 'den'. When the dog(s) must be left at home alone, try this suggestion - puppies -or any dog of any age - can be gated in a secure room (without chewable surfaces if necessary - experience taught us that kitchen cabinets can be quite costly to repair) along with a bed crate that has the door removed, water in a tip-proof bowl, safe toys, and newspaper, and - please - no electrical cords at dog level plugged in! My choice of baby gate is the heavy duty plastic 'Fisher-Price' which can be set up and removed quickly and easily using one hand. Check this link to read an article about crate training.

Monique says: While it is true that you can have a Westie even if you work, no dog should be expected to stay alone in the home for lengthy periods of time - like more than 8 hours a day. If you expect to be away for long periods of time, provide for the dog to eliminate indoors, for example by putting papers on a nonabsorbent surface or on a large piece of tin covered by paper. Dogs crave for company. If your lifestyle makes for long absences and you still wish to have a Westie, think of having another dog to keep him company or of having someone to walk him while you are away.

Are Westies good with children?

Yvonne says: Given reasonable supervision, Westies are excellent dogs to have with children. They are active and cheerful and will want to be in the middle of whatever activity is going on.

However, no child should ever be allowed to play with a dog unsupervised. Children can do things that frighten or annoy dogs - and a dog has only two possible ways to ask a child to back off - to growl or to bite. Also, a child stumbling over a sleeping dog can make them wake up very grumpily - and too many times will cause the dog to be rather suspicious of the child. If it is not possible to supervise when they play together, it may be necessary to confine the dog to its crate.

Are they good with older persons?

Yvonne says: Westies get along with anyone, any age, any colour, and any sex. While I would not recommend that an elderly person have a puppy Westie, an adult dog would be ideal - Westies like to spend time with their people and are small enough to be on the couch or chair if the person wishes them to be there.

If a person is allergic to dogs, is a Westie a good dog to have?

Yvonne says: Sometimes! Many people who are allergic to dogs are not allergic to Westies. However, some people who are allergic do react to Westies. If you are allergic and are looking for a breed of dog that will not stimulate your allergies, you should make a point of visiting someone who owns a Westie and spend some time indoors with the dog. This is the best way to find out if you will react.

If you are allergic, it is even more important than usual to keep your pet properly groomed and brushed out.

How much does a Westie cost?

Yvonne says: Very few responsible breeders will discuss cost until they have already checked you out to see if your home would be suitable for one of their puppies. The first consideration is always for making sure the pup will be lovingly cared for.

The price of a pup may vary depending on whether you plan to show him or just have him as a pet. Older pups often cost more, as they have had more of their vaccinations (a pup generally needs 3) and are better trained, sometimes even housetrained. Generally, prices vary between $1000 and $2000.

You should know that in Canada, it is illegal to sell a pup for one price 'without papers' and a higher price if the 'papers' come with him. In Canada, any dog sold as a purebred must also have his registration papers. These papers do not cost much, so don't let a breeder tell you that it is too expensive to register the dog. It is also the breeder's responsibility to pay for the registration.

Where do you get a Westie?

Yvonne says: From a reputable breeder! I don't want to go into the problems of pet store and puppy mill puppies, but you need to know that these are very poor places to get a pup of any kind. To find a breeder, visit our breeders page to get a breeders list, contact the CWHWT Club's director for your area or the CWHWT Club's secretary. These people will refer you to member-breeders in your region. All the club members have signed the club's Code of Ethics, but you must still make sure the person is someone you are comfortable dealing with. Check out the breeders as carefully or even more carefully than the good ones check you out!

Jackie says: While we would be pleased to give you names and numbers to call, please understand that the CWHWTC do not and cannot endorse or guarantee these breeders. The names provided are members of this club, but the onus is always on the buyer to ask for and check out credentials, references, etc., and to ask to visit the dogs on the premises were they live. Beware of "breeders" located in the want ads of your newspaper who state that they will deliver anywhere, will accept only cash, have a number of different breeds etc."