General Appearance
The West Highland White Terrier is a small, game,
well-balanced hardy looking terrier, exhibiting good showmanship,
possessed with no small amount of self-esteem, strongly built,
deep in chest and back ribs, with a straight back and powerful
hindquarters on muscular legs, and exhibiting in marked degree a
great combination of strength and activity. The coat is about two
inches long, white in color, hard, with plenty of soft undercoat.
The dog should be neatly presented, the longer coat on the back
and sides, trimmed to blend into the shorter neck and shoulder
coat. Considerable hair is left around the head to act as a frame
for the face to yield a typical Westie expression.
Size, Proportion, Substance
The ideal size is eleven inches at the withers for dogs and
ten inches for bitches. A slight deviation is acceptable. The
Westie is a compact dog, with good balance and substance. The
body between the withers and the root of the tail is slightly
shorter than the height at the withers. Short-coupled and well
boned. Faults-Over or under height limits. Fine
boned.
Head
Shaped to present a round appearance from the front. Should be
in proportion to the body.
Expression-Piercing, inquisitive, pert. Eyes-Widely
set apart, medium in size, almond shaped, dark brown in color,
deep set, sharp and intelligent. Looking from under heavy
eyebrows, they give a piercing look. Eye rims are black. Faults-
Small, full or light colored eyes. Ears-Small,
carried tightly erect, set wide apart, on the top outer edge of
the skull. They terminate in a sharp point, and must never be
cropped. The hair on the ears is trimmed short and is smooth and
velvety, free of fringe at the tips. Black skin pigmentation is
preferred. Faults-Roundpointed, broad, large,
ears set closely together, not held tightly erect, or placed too
low on the side of the head.
Skull
Broad, slightly longer than the muzzle. not flat on top but
slightly domed between the ears. It gradually tapers to the eyes.
There is a defined stop, eyebrows are heavy. Faults-Long
or narrow skull. Muzzle-Blunt, slightly shorter
than the skull, powerful and gradually tapering to the nose,
which is large and black. The jaws are level and powerful. Lip
pigment is black. Faults- Muzzle longer than
skull. Nose color other than black. Bite-The
teeth are large for the size of the dog. There must be six
incisor teeth between the canines of both lower and upper jaws.
An occasional missing premolar is acceptable. A tight scissors
bite with upper incisors slightly overlapping the lower incisors
or level mouth is equally acceptable. Faults-Teeth
defective or misaligned. Any incisors missing or several
premolars missing. Teeth overshot or undershot.
Neck, Topline, Body
Neck-Muscular and well set on sloping
shoulders. The length of neck should be in proportion to the
remainder of the dog. Fault-Neck too long or too
short. Topline-Flat and level, both standing and
moving. Fault- High rear, any deviation from
above. Body-Compact and of good substance. Ribs
deep and well arched in the upper half of rib, extending at least
to the elbows, and presenting a flattish side appearance. Back
ribs of considerable depth, and distance from last rib to upper
thigh as short as compatible with free movement of the body.
Chest very deep and extending to the elbows, with breadth in
proportion to the size of the dog. Loin short, broad and strong. Faults-Back
weak, either too long or too short. Barrel ribs, ribs above
elbows. Tail-Relatively short, with good
substance, and shaped like a carrot. When standing erect it is
never extended above the top of the skull. It is covered with
hard hair without feather, as straight as possible, carried gaily
but not curled over the back. The tail is set on high enough to
that the spine does not slope down to it. The tail is never
docked. Faults-Set too low, long, thin, carried
at half-mast, or curled over back.
Forequarter-Angulation, Shoulders
Shoulder blades are well laid back and well knit at the
backbone. The shoulder blade should attach to an upper arm of
moderate length, and sufficient angle to allow for definite body
overhang. Faults- Steep or loaded shoulders.
Upper arm too short or too straight. Legs-Forelegs
are muscular and well boned. relatively short, but with
sufficient length to set the dog up so as not to be too close to
the ground. The legs are reasonably straight, and thickly covered
with short hard hair. They are set in under the shoulder blades
with definite body overhang before them. Height from elbow to
withers and elbow to ground should be approximately the same. Faults-Out
at elbows. Iight bone, fiddle-front. Feet-Forefeet
are larger than the hind ones, are round, proportionate in size,
strong, thickly padded; they may properly be turned out slightly.
Dewclaws may be removed. Black pigmentation is most desirable on
pads of all feet and nails, although nails may lose coloration in
older dogs.
Hindquarter-Angulation
Thighs are very muscular, well angulated, not set wide apart,
with hock well bent, short, and parallel when viewed from the
rear. Legs-Rear legs are muscular and relatively
short and sinewy. Faults- Weak hocks, long
hocks, lack of angulation. Cowhocks. Feet-Hind
feet are smaller than front feet, and are thickly padded.
Dewclaws may be removed.
Coat
Very important and seldom seen to perfection. Must be
double-coated. The head is shaped by plucking the hair, to
present the round appearance. The outer coat consists of straight
hard white hair, about two inches long, with shorter coat on neck
and shoulders, properly blended and trimmed to blend shorter
areas into furnishings, which are longer on stomach and legs. The
ideal coat is hard, straight and white, but a hard straight coat
which may have some wheaten tipping is preferable to a white
fluffy or soft coat. Furnishings may be somewhat softer and
longer but should never give the appearance of fluff. Faults-soft
coat. Any silkiness or tendency to curl. Any open or single coat,
or one which is too short.
Color
The color is white, as defined by the breed's name. Faults-Any
coat color other than white. Heavy wheaten color.
Gait
Free, straight and easy all around. It is a distinctive gait,
not stilted, but powerful, with reach and drive. In front the leg
is freely extended forward by the shoulder. When seen from the
front the legs do not move square, but tend to move toward the
center of gravity. The hind movement is free, strong and fairly
close. The hocks are freely flexed and drawn close under the
body, so that when moving off the foot the body is thrown or
pushed forward with some force. Overall ability to move is
usually best evaluated from the side, and topline remains level.
Faults Lack of reach in front, and/or drive behind. Stiff,
stilted or too wide movement.
Temperament
Alert, gay, courageous and self-reliant, but friendly. Faults-Excess
timidity or excess pugnacity.
This information from the AKC
The West Highland
White Terrier Club
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