The West Highland White Terrier (commonly shortened to Westie) is a Scottish dog breed with a distinctive white harsh coat and somewhat soft white undercoat. It is a... medium-sized terrier but has longer legs than other Scottish terriers. It has a white double coat of fur which fills out its face, giving it a rounded appearance.
The Westie is intelligent and quick to learn. It is social and can be good with children, but rarely tolerates rough handling and sometimes prefers solitude. Having been bred to hunt small rodents on farms, it is an energetic and boisterous breed with a high prey drive and thus needs regular exercise of around one hour per day. The modern breed is descended from a number of pre-20th century breeding programmes of white terriers in Scotland. Edward Donald Malcolm, 16th Laird of Poltalloch, is credited with the creation of the modern breed from his Poltalloch Terrier, but did not want to be known as such.
The Westie is a cousin of the Cairn Terrier and is related to other breeds such as the Roseneath Terrier (bred by George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll) and Pittenweem Terrier (bred by Americ Edwin Flaxman). The Westie was given its modern name for the first time in 1908, with recognition by major kennel clubs occurring around the same time. The breed remains very popular in the United Kingdom, with multiple wins at Crufts, and has been in the top third of all breeds in the United States since the 1960s. Several breed-specific and non-specific health problems appear in Westies, including craniomandibular osteopathy, which is also called "Westie jaw" and is a condition in young dogs which causes an overgrowth of the bone in the jaw. The breed can also be prone to skin disorders such as the breed-specific condition hyperplastic dermatosis.
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