West Highland White Terrier History

I have read and heard many stories how the westie was originally bred.

English sources tell us that the men in the mountainous regions in the the northern part of Scotland used the dark-coated ancestor of the present-day Westie, the cairn terrier, for hunting in the nineteenth century. Apparently, they had an aversion to white dogs and killed the light-coloured new-borns in each litter. Allegedly they were not equal to the demands of the hunt. One day, however, Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch had a dreadful hunting accident. He shot his own dark-coated dog, having mistaken it for the game he was pursuing. Deeply grieved, he vowed to raise only white terriers from now on. Unlike the other breeders, he kept the white, or almost-white puppies, in each litter and bred them exclusively, so that over the course of generations he eliminated the dark colour from his cairn terrier strain. His dogs, known as Poltalloch terriers or white cairn terriers, soon were held in high esteem. They proved fully as courageous and successful as their dark-coated cousins, and they had an additional advantage - their light colour made them easier to distinguish from wildlife, even in darkness and bad weather.

The name West Highland white terrier was adopted at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Scottish Kennel Club officially recognised the breed in October 1904, and recognition from the English Kennel Club followed in 1907.

The first Westies to appear in dog shows in Great Britain in the late nineteenth century were marked by battle scars acquired while hunting. The marks were not held to be a fault, however; on the contrary, they were considered a sign of particular courage or suitability for the hunt.

Although the Westie continued to be prized as a hunting dog, over time it became more important in the role of friendly household companion.