West Highland White Terrier

The West Highland white terrier, more commonly called "westie", is a breed of dog of Scottish origin known for its personality. He is the mascot of the César dog food brand, as well as the "Black and White" whiskey brand, in the company of a black Scottish terrier (the "westie", as his full name suggests, being him always white).

The westie is Scotland's most recent terrier, although dogs of the same type were recorded as early as the 17th century as white doggies. His two ancestors are, in a certain way, the cairn terrier, and more hypothetically the Maltese, survivor of the shipwreck of the Invincible Armada in the 16th century on the Isle of Skye. The latter would be at the origin of the white color of the westie. Originally, cairn pups carrying this color were systematically eliminated at birth, as they were considered unfit for hunting. It was chance that was at the origin of the creation of the westie. One day, in the 19th century, in Argyll, Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch went on a rabbit hunt with his cairns, and by accident killed his best dog which he had mistaken for his prey. Very affected by this tragedy, he decided from that day on to raise only white cairns so that no confusion would arise. With patient selection work on his fawn cairns, he obtained very light sand-colored dogs, which were the first westies. The color was not perfected until later. The westie was officially recognized in 1906 by the English Kennel Club. With the recognition of the cairn terrier in 1912 the two breeds, which at the time were only two varieties, could cross. These crosses were banned [By whom?] in 1924 and the westie, which was then only a "white cairn", acquired its own characteristics to move towards a more sophisticated model [What?], while the cairn remained in the original type. Now with more than 2,500 annual births, the Westie is the most popular Scottish terrier in France.

This breed belongs to the Terrier family. The Westie has not denied its origins as a hunter in the harsh regions of Scotland. A ruthless hunter of vermin, he is a great sportsman, the ideal companion for the jogger. He is not an apartment dog. Extensive outings in nature, or sports such as agility, do him the greatest good. At home, he is an affectionate, playful and very cunning dog. He needs company. He is very close to his master. He is not a guard dog at all but he still wants to do his job as a dog (guard dog) because he is basically sociable and friendly to everyone. He can be very calm when his master asks for it and be very active. The Westie is a fairly dominant dog, so his education must be carried out firmly. But do not expect to have a dog as obedient as a shepherd, because it is not in its nature.