History

West Highland White Terriers, commonly known as Westies, are a breed of dog known for their distinctive white coat. Originating in Scotland, the breed was used to seek and dig out foxes and badgers.  The Westie came to the United States in the early 1900s and was originally called Roseneath Terrior.  Today, Westies are one of the most competitive dogs in the show arena as well as one of the most popular Terriers for family homes.

Appearance

Commonly, Westies have bright, deep-set eyes that are dark in color. Their ears are small, pointed, and erect. A male typically weighs between 15 and 20 pounds and a female between 13 and 16 pounds. The average height is 9 to 11 inches at the shoulder blades. The Kennel Club has recommended that their tails, typically “carrot-shaped”, should never be docked; hence the tail should be between 5–6 inches. As you can tell from these dimensions, this is a cute little guy or gal to have in your home.

Temperment

The Westie is a very happy and curious dog that is happiest in the middle of everything that is going on.  The Westie is also known to be stubborn and will demand affection by barking.  If you have a family that is wants to constantly play with their dog, this is the one for you.  US owner surveys put the average lifespan of a Westie at 10 to 11.4 years so you can look forward to having your Westie as a family member for quite some time.

Daily Routine

To keep this guy happy you will need to make sure that he recieves daily exercise, either by playing a game in your fenced backyard or by taking a walk with on a lead.  This makes the Westie the ideal dog for families that live in either a home or an apartment.  As with most other dogs, Westies generally require around thirteen hours of sleep per day. In order to acquire their needed sleep, Westies will usually follow the sleep patterns of their human companions and also take several naps during the day.  The Westie should be given a place inside to sleep in all but the mildest climates.  Ideal grooming for the Westie consists of combing the wire coat two or three times a week, plus clipping every three months.  Despite all this grooming, it may be difficult to keep the coat white in sime areas.

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Domestic dogs inherited a complex social hierarchy and behaviors from their wolf ancestors. Dogs are pack animals with a complex set of behaviors related to determining each dog’s position in the social hierarchy, and they exhibit various postures and other means of nonverbal communication that reveal their states of mind.   These sophisticated forms of social cognition and communication may account for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations, and these attributes have earned dogs a unique relationship with humans despite being potentially dangerous apex predators.

Today, dogs have many different roles in our lives.  Most commonly dogs are kept as pets and beloved members of our families.  According to the statistics published by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in the National Pet Owner Survey in 2009-2010, it is estimated that there are 77.5 million dogs owners in the United States.  Also, the same survey shows that nearly 40% of the American households own at least one dog, from which 67% own just one dog, 25% two dogs and nearly 9% more than two dogs.  Now that is a lot of family friends.

“Man’s best friend” is also a valuable worker in our lives.  They have been bred for herding livestock, hunting (e.g. pointers and hounds), rodent control, guarding, helping fishermen with nets, and pulling loads, in addition to their roles as companions.  Service dogs such as guide dogs, utility dogs, assistance dogs, hearing dogs, and psychological therapy dogs provide assistance to individuals with physical or mental disabilities.  Some dogs owned by epileptics have been shown to alert their handler when the handler shows signs of an impending seizure, sometimes well in advance of onset, allowing the owner to seek safety, medication, or medical care.

There are even owners who breed dogs just for competition.  In conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, a judge familiar with the specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for conformity with their established breed type as described in the breed standard. As the breed standard only deals with the externally observable qualities of the dog (such as appearance, movement, and temperament), separately tested qualities (such as ability or health) are not part of the judging in conformation shows.

With all of these purposes it is easy to see how there are so many different breeds of dogs out there.  Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses at perfoming the above tasks.  It is important to find the breed of dog that matches your family the best.  This ensures that every member of the family, human and animal, will live a happy and healthy life.  In the coming weeks we will outline different breeds of dogs and show what type of enviornment they need to be the most happy.

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