The History of the West Highland White Terrier...

History of that White Terrier by Hugo.

I know that many other breeds have their history well documented. I am sorry but that is not so for me, the West Highland White Terrier. My history is like my character ;-). I will trie to give you here on this page a few historical facts and also some legends about my ancestors. Keep in mind that this history is as foggy as the Scottish Highlands themselves (hehe). Actually I must rely on stories that have been written down or went through the ages by telling from mouth to mouth to mouth to mouth etc..
I will mention a few of those stories here below which I read in some books I have in my bookcase in the garage.

One storie is telling that small white dogs were seen on the ships of the Spanish Armada. In 1588 as the Armada was scattered in defeat by the Dutch, one or more ships carried northward along the western coast of England to run aground on the western shores of the Scottish Highlands. It is told that on board these ships there were a number of small, white terrier-like dogs used by the sailors to catch rats on board. That was fact one.

Another nice story is the one that the english King James I, requested 6 of "those earth-dogs" out of the Highlands to sent them to the King of France as a gift. He ment with "those earth dogs" the small rough terriers ofcourse. In the mean time we know ofcourse that someone who is giving away 6 dogs as a present is very very stupid :-). Never give a dog as a present!

Also there are other references and some paintings of early Westie type dogs. I found one but don't blame me for the bad quality ;-)

The 19th Century.

In the 19th century, Scottish game-keepers and farmers bred these Scottish dogs because they where very good rabbit and rat hunters. And when one of the dogs became stuck in some rabbithole, the owner could easily tier him out again with the help of his strong tail. But frequently they killed the white pups, because they simply thought that the light-colored pups were inferior and undesirable to their darker fellow ones. We know in the mean time that the white ones are cool :-)

Than Colonel Malcolm came up...

The legend which wasn't a legend at all.

Sofar the early history of the Westie, how the Westie furtheron became a selectively bred for his white coat is an interesting legend. The short-legged terriers of Scotland are now recognized as the Scottish, Cairn, Skye, Dandie Dinmont and of course the most cool and beautiful of all; the West Highland White Terrier. All with no doubt at all actually, descend from the very same roots. All of these dogs were valued as fine hunters of small game. Originally, their coat colors ranged from black to red to cream or white.

And those white ones are interesting for us :-)

Dog shows began in 1859 and all terriers from Scotland were shown under just one name, "Scottish Terriers". In 1899 the White Scottish Terrier Club was formed but the breeders of the white terriers were not in agreement about the name.

It is Colonel Edward Donald Malcolm, of Poltalloch, Argyllshire, Scotland, which is generally given the credits. He had kept a pack of light colored working terriers for hunting. As the legend goes, a reddish dog of his, emerging from cover, was mistakenly shot for a fox. Colonel Malcolm decided immediately to breed only the white dogs that could be readily identified in the field. In 1907, several years before the official listing of the Cairn Terrier, the breed became officially listed as West Highland White Terrier at the
thosedays famous Crufts Dog Show in England. The rugged character, the area of his development and ofcourse his white coat is the obvious reason for his three-prefix name, which makes him the only terrier with three a three-prefix name.

Registration was there.

The first registration was in 1908 by the American Kennel Club. Actually it was wrong registered as the "Roseneath Terrier" (The name "Roseneath" was taken from the Duke of Argyll's place in Dumbartonshire, Scotland), the name was officially changed
to West Highland White Terrier on May 31, 1909. Unofficially this breed was also known under the names "Poltalloch Terriers", "Pittenweem" and "White Scottish Terriers".

Before the official registrations, the Cairn Terriers and West Highland White Terriers were commonly interbred. When litters were born bearing both darker-colored and white puppies, the colored dogs were deemed Cairn Terriers, and the whites West Highland White Terriers. The American Kennel Club and the Kennel Club soon took measures to end this crossbreeding. But in spite of no crossings of the breeds since that time (early 1900s), many similarities between the West Higland White Terrier and the Cairn Terrier
still exist.

Other people which I want to mention in the early history of the Westie are: Dr. Flaxman (He bred bred a strain of white Scottish Terriers that were lighter in build than the Scottie) and the Duke of Argylle from Roseneath. Here you have that Roseneath guy again :-) (He produced lots of dogs with that soft, white coats).

The 20th Century

After the official introductions our breed continued to thrive and grow. In the years 1914 till 1918 the war was there and by the end of it, the breed had been badly affected. Dog shows ceased in 1916, and breeding was prohibited in 1917. During these horrible years, due to rationing, many dogs had to be destroyed. Mrs. May Pacy wrote in her book that she had to put down 15 Westies in one day rather than see them starve. By the end of the war very few Westies remained and the breeding process had to start all over again. Some people had been able to keep some of their more promising prospects going and it was these few that made up the breeding stock after the war.

Dogshows started again in the "roaring twenties". With the outbreak of the second Worldwar, dogshows in many countries were again suspended, but this time breeding wasn't banned. Many agree that our breed was at its best time between the wars.

Now I am one of many thousands West Highland White Terriers belonging to:
Group 3 - Terriers of the FCI-standard No. 85 date 24/06/87

To put some colour in this black & White historie lesson. I now draw a frame here. Uh the text is in color that is ;-)

On the left and right side are some very old Westie-pictures I found on the internet.