A great loyal friend with attitude (West Highland White Terrier)

Member Name: ScottishWestie

Product:	West Highland White Terrier
Date:	20/07/09 (418 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, small but sturdy, great company

Disadvantages: Health problems

This is a review on owning a West Highland terrier, I made the plunge 13 years ago & it may guide a prospective owner on how to avoid the pitfalls that we didn't know about despite doing research. Firstly some information on this breed of dog:

THE BREED:

The white West Highland terriers for some reason are often confused with the black Scottish terriers which are about the same size & shape & nicknamed 'Scotties'. The West highland terriers are nicknamed 'Westies' and were originally bred to hunt rabbits, rodents & would you believe foxes. Apparently they make the best rat catchers & can out perform a cat.
They stand about 10"-11" in height, with strong muscular legs & shoulders; apparently they have the largest teeth for a small breed of dog with extremely powerful jaws. Their ears are normally upright & their white coats are usually quite wiry on top & softer below. Their tails are usually like an inverted carrot & stick up. They weigh around 9-10kgs.

GOOD POINTS:

They make great watch dogs; no they won't bring down your postie & maul him apart when he innocently walks to your front door one day with a collection of utilities bills. However there is little chance of someone dropping a cigarette butt outside your home without a Westie hearing it & reacting.

Their coats do not shed their fur like many other breeds so there are no problems of the house being covered in white fur. They adapt their exercise needs to suit their owners which is why they are just as popular with elderly people as they are with younger owners.
They are not chewers & once trained are unlikely to touch anything except for their own chewing toys or bones. They can be left on their own for 3-4 hours at home without any problems & make good travellers.
They can be good with children but if they haven't grown up with little children & then are put into the company of young children they need to be carefully monitored.
As with most dogs they are loyal, friendly although a bit excitable at times & loveable. They are full of character & cheek & are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
They live to an old age, 15+ years is nothing unusual, they are not toy dogs & they simply wouldn't allow you to treat them as such.

BAD POINTS:

They are stubborn dogs, if they don't want to do something, they won't, if they are bored with training, then that's it, nothing that day will change their minds. Give up & go back to it the next day. They are intelligent but their stubbornness over rules any intelligent behaviour. Consequently, they can be difficult to train as a puppy, not because they can't do it, just that they won't or can't be bothered, but perseverance pays off.
They have attitude, loads of it & strut around the house as if they own it. They are quite fearless in some situations, they tend to think they are bigger than they really are & can be aggressive with larger dogs no matter how used to the company of other dogs they are. They can sometimes be a little snappy if they feel threatened & children need to be careful should they decide to innocently pull a Westies tail as a bit of fun.

The male Westies can be quite hyper active when young; I was informed by the vet that once a male is castrated it quietens them down. I have to say that if my dangly bits were chopped off I would probably quieten down too!!
They can bark quite excessively although most owners I speak to inform me that the male dog is much worse than the bitches.

Finally, their health, Westies often suffer from eczema of the skin which can be so bad that there have been instances where they have to be put down. Fortunately there are ample products out there which can help, more about that later. When old, their eye sight often suffers with cataracts which lead to blindness. Their stomachs can also be sensitive especially with a sudden change of diet, although this can easily be overcome. In general the breed is healthy and robust.
Other problems not unique to this breed include hernias, cranio mandibular osteopathy, deafness and congenital heart disease. They can also be susceptible to cataracts, copper toxicosis, enzyme deficiency, inguinal hernia, and Legg-Perthes disease.

In 1996 we decided we wanted a dog, my partner had dogs all her life & was well aware of the responsibilities involved. As we lived in a small flat a large dog wasn't an option. We had a large garden & a park at the top of the street so there was ample opportunities for the dog to run around. We decided on a West highland terrier based on experiences with my grandmother's dog when I was a small child. This Westie proved to be great with children, behaved very well & was only aggressive to large dogs.

At the time we were looking for information on Westies, this was pre internet days so we purchased a guide book on the breed & was informed they had no known health problems. If only we had asked a vet!!
We planned to have a Westie taking into account the cost of insurance, food, the exercise regime, time spent training, playing with the dog & the best place to buy one.

We tracked one down at a local breeder & went to visit them, they were happy to allow us to wander around even with a camera & choose any puppy they had. They were happy to let us meet the mother & the conditions they all lived in. That alone put us at ease as we warned about breeders who won't allow you to do just that. The breeder only bred Westies & Scotties & she had about 10 puppies available.

My partner chose a small Westie puppy about seven weeks old & not ready yet to be separated from his mother. As you can well imagine at seven weeks old he was just a small bundle of fur small enough to fit in a shoe box. As she picked him up he very quickly got attached to her & stared to nibble her ears. He then started to whimper when she put back into the pen with his siblings.

We decided to have him & come back when he was ready to taken home which was the following week.
We paid £200 for him & took him home, by then we were all prepared with the necessary equipment, a bed, food, bowls, collar, & loads of newspapers for the anticipated accidents.

We named him Spike, once home he very quickly settled in, his first test was going to be at bed time. We decided he would sleep in the kitchen where the floor is tiled; we put his little bed in there along with newspapers & went to bed. We did figure that he may react badly without his mum, so I put a ticking clock under the blanket in his bed which apparently cheats them into thinking they are laying next to their mother.
As soon as we closed the kitchen door he started to squeak & pine, this was his first time on his own & it takes a hard heart to ignore it but it must be done or he will never be able to settle on his own at night. The squealing stopped after about 20 minutes & he fell asleep, this happened again for a couple of nights until he got used to it & the clock was taken away.
Spike grew up fast, very fast & life was exciting for him. His first walk with a lead was a pain as he constantly tried to pull it away but we won the battle of wills. The noise of passing traffic was his next challenge, you can just imagine what a double Decker bus passing by feels like for a little dog not much bigger than a rabbit!! As each day passed we would walk him into the city centre & the noise of buses & people didn't bother him very much, in fact he liked all the fuss being made by passers by.

Toilet training seemed to take ages but we got there in the end. He was hyper active & would constantly play until he was just keel over with tiredness, like his worn out owners.

We were advised to take him to the local vets once a month at night for a puppy party. This would give him experience sharing a room with other dogs of his age. A puppy party was one hell of a chaotic night but it sure got him used to other dogs which we were grateful of when he got older.

He was only three months old when we noticed two brown stains from the corner of his eyes. The vet diagnosed blocked tear ducts so at this early age he had his first minor operation to unblock the ducts. He appeared to take it all in his stride.
No sooner had he got over that when one night a wine glass fell off the kitchen top thanks to the vibration of the washing machine & smashed next to him. He picked up & swallowed a little piece of glass, so that was another unscheduled trip to the vet.

We took him for his first grooming & the lady groomer suspected he had the early signs of eczema. All was fine for a while until months later he started to lick his paws & scratch his hind quarters until they were bleeding. We took him to the vet who diagnosed eczema; he stated that he may have an allergy to something & that they needed to do a skin graph & blood tests.
Allergy to something? More like an allergy to everything, the tests confirmed he had an allergy to grass, leaves, pollen, turkey, chicken, duck, meat, wheat & dust mites!!! How on earth do I avoid him coming in contact with these?

The vet recommended steroids, strong ones, this he said would shorten his life considerably but would ease the scratching & give him a more comfortable life. Easy way out for a vet I suppose.
We thought differently, I didn't mind putting him on steroids for a short time but our aim was to try other more natural but time consuming measures.
His food diet was limited to lamb & rice or fish & rice, no problem there except these delicacies were difficult to find at the time although they are now generally available from vets & pet shops at premium prices.

Since one year old he has eaten lamb & rice every morning & fish & rice every evening, the vet told me that dogs never get sick of one type of food!! Just a well, although I have to say that the smell of lamb & rice even at 7am in the morning is actually quite tasty!!
Dust mites encouraged us to purchase a Dyson vacuum cleaner which helped this problem but grass & pollen is almost impossible. We were advised to rub his paws with Aloe Vera but no sooner had you applied it & he would lick it off.

We fitted the 'lampshade' around his neck to prevent that but there is a limit on how often this could be done. It didn't do his street credibility much good!!
We had to watch his weight, on steroids; any weight gain can cause heart problems along with a host of other organ failures.
We bathed him every two weeks in special lotion (Malaseb £17.00 a bottle) & within six months his skin had improved, he was put on weaker steroids & we kept up the strict regime. Now at 12 years old he is on the weakest steroids available but only every other day, we still keep up the regular bathing & he at least enjoys a decent life.

One problem with the eczema is that it often spreads to inside the dog's ears which means regular cleaning out, if its ignored it can lead to deafness.
Apparently eczema is common in Westies & found on many other breeds. It's bad enough on a human who understands the situation but it must have been difficult for a dog. During the worst periods he never became aggressive or grumpy, this appeared to be a happy dog despite his problems.
Thankfully, I had brought out pet insurance one month after getting him, the company (Pet Plan) stated that he would be covered for life. At first they covered most of the claims & even contributed to the cost of the special food. Thankfully the vets practice submitted the claims & everything was paid promptly. However the day he turned seven years old the company took a different attitude. From paying £100-£125 a year for insurance cover they increased it overnight to £750. They were certainly true to their word & were going to insurance him for life, but at what cost?

I spoke to their call centre in Ireland & it was a case of take it or leave it, I left it. I got cover from Marks & Spencer for £150 buy they wouldn't cover his skin complaints or any heart problems. For two years they insured him but with an excess of £50.00 for each claim & most of his vet bills around the £35.00 mark I ended up paying for everything. Two years later M&S increased their premium to £700 & I cancelled it. I was almost in a self insuring situation.

I opened up a separate bank account & put away £25.00 a month for future vet bills & ironically his health has improved dramatically since & so has that bank balance!!
In old age he appears to have quite a collection of warts under his fur, apparently it's quite common in old dogs & they often come off over time.

Also in old age arthritis has set in on his front leg which means shorter walks, a long walk leaves him hobbling for ages. My partner gives him a teaspoonful of cod liver oil in his food & this has improved things.
Old age has brought on cataracts & his eyesight started to fail. Dogs don't have good eye sight at the best of times & adapt to blindness better than you think, I am informed. If they do go blind we are advised not to move house or move the furniture around as any changes will lead to them bumping into things.

You'll be reading this thinking that's a right faulty dog you got there! Despite the vet bills & the health issues he has been a great dog, even in his old age he still ran about the house or garden like a puppy chasing his ball or bone. After a lousy day at work & not matter how much of a bad mood you may be in, you always get a warm welcome with a wagging tail as soon as the front door opens.

How much would owning a Westie cost? Probably less than it has cost us. I did track all the bills for a year which came to £1200. This covered vet bills (£30.00 for a basic inspection), food (£2.50 a day), grooming (£28.00 a time) & dog minders when we are on holiday (£7-£10 a day). The Daily Mail recently calculated a small terrier would cost their owner £18.000 - £24.000 over its lifetime; bigger breeds can rise to as much as £32.000!! That's enough to buy a small sports car, however it's debatable if you get the same satisfaction of ownership.

I would recommend a Westie to anyone but would advise choosing the breeder very carefully. There is plenty of information about them on the internet it's just a pity this wasn't available at the time when we were looking for one.

When Spike was nearly 13 years old he died just before Christmas with internal bleeding of the spleen. The house was a pretty empty place just after he died & it's then when you realise the impact animals have on your life. We'd had him since he was a puppy & we certainly missed our loyal friend with a big attitude running around the house.
We always said that when he goes we would get another West Highland Terrier but not from a puppy, our circumstances have changed & it wouldn't be fair on the dog or on us for that matter. If we were to replace him it would be with another dog & that meant from a rehoming centre, essentially a rescue dog.

I've always cringed at the thought of getting a rescue dog & from experience from my close friends & grand parents you would understand why. Over the years they have taken on dogs that have chewed them out of house & home, aggressive dogs, neurotic dogs & dogs that have been badly abused. They all needed an understanding owner that was willing to persevere to get the problems sorted out. In some cases it never materialised, but it didn't stop them from keeping the dogs & giving them a loving home.
Every now & then the right dog turns up that only require a limited amount of work to get its problems sorted out & that was what I was hoping for.

SEARCHING FOR A DOG

Where I live there is two small rehoming centres with thankfully a small number of dogs 'in stock'. I was prepared to travel to get the right dog but as I searched through the established rescue sites such as the RSPCA, SPCA, DAWGS on the internet it was becoming apparent that it's always the same type of dogs that turn up at these places. Dogs such as Pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, cross breeds / mongrels & the odd Jack Russell terrier, but very seldom a Westie.
Some of sites were up front & honest about what you are likely to get, e.g. a dog that wouldn't suit a family with children or other animals, a dog that won't travel well & disturbingly a dog that doesn't like men as its probably been badly treated by a male owner. During this credit crunch more dogs are being left at rehoming centres then ever before, one was even returned because it no longer suited the colour scheme of the owner's house!!!
When I did eventually stumble upon a Westie they fell into the category of being badly treated by a male owner & had become very aggressive. I was prepared to take on a problem dog with possible health problems but I lack the experience with behaviour problems.

I did find a rehoming centre dedicated to West Highland Terriers in the south of England of all places, in Swindon. I made contact & they sent me a four page adoption form. It may sound over the top but the young couple who run this place on a voluntary basis want their dogs to go to a good home.
The form asked questions such as the ages of the family members, the height of my garden fence, how far away I was from a park & how long the would the dog be left on its own.

I spoke to the owner of the site who agreed I would be suitable for adoption but because we lived 500 miles apart a home visit would be out of the question. I agreed to take a dog with reasonable health problems such as the common eczema in Westies as our old dog had it & we know how to handle it. I even agreed to take two dogs if they couldn't be separated but stated that I would prefer a younger dog with five years as the maximum age group.
I also stated that I was prepared to travel anywhere in the UK for the right dog & left my details with them.

MEANWHILE ON THE INTERNET

I then come across a website called pets4homes who specialise in finding owners for dogs. I don't how well these types of sites are regulated but I did find over 65 entries under West Highland Terrier. Most were puppies for sale with some dubious owners with probably dubious practices but the odd older dog was listed.
I was particularly interested in a 4 year old Westie that the elderly owner could no longer look after; her son advertised it on the site but left no photo.
I was a little concerned about this type of arrangement as elderly people sometimes don't give the dog the exercise they need & often spoil them with 'tit bits' which ruin the dogs health. For three days I tried to contact the owner's son & when I eventually managed to get him to respond to my messages he had by then decided to keep the dog for himself.

Next up was another Westie closer to home, the photo placed on the website was of a rather handsome dog but he looked a little tired. When I spoke to the owner he had changed his mind about selling him & decided to rent him out for stud, no wonder he looked so tired!
We planned to travel to Cambridgeshire over the New Year period & just before we left I found another dog on the same website. A rather good looking 18 month old male Westie who is KC registered & apparently is very good with children & other animals. The excuse for getting rid of him was they were moving to another property & wouldn't be able to take him.

Unfortunately they didn't leave any contact details but they lived in South Yorkshire which is where I would be passing on my way to Cambridgeshire. I tried in vain to get a message to them sending emails to the web provider & eventually after a few days they responded.

Over the phone they informed me he was well behaved, with no skin problems but needed his annual booster. They agreed to hold on to him until I was passing South Yorkshire on my way back to Scotland later in the week.
So with a nine hour car journey back to Scotland ahead we decided to stop off & see the dog & if he was want we wanted we would complete the remainder of the seven hour journey with him.

It was a gamble, there is no comeback if you take the dog & find out later on he has some incurable disease that would cost a fortune to maintain, but it was gamble we prepared to take. The last thing you want for the sake of the dog is taking him & finding you can't cope & having to pass him on to a rehoming centre............perish the thought.

MEETING THE DOG FOR THE FIRST TIME

We arrived at the owner's home & met Murphy the Westie for the first time & what a greeting we got. Considering my wife & I were both strangers to him (and they don't come much stranger looking than me!!) he took to us both right away.
My wife quickly noticed he had eczema & pointed this out to the owner who had told me over the phone that he had no skin problems. That annoyed me as he told me a blatant lie; however it wasn't as bad as our last dog's skin & we weren't going to be put off by it. The owner did say he had been feeding the dog everything & anything & as beef & poultry are the biggest contributors to eczema I reckoned this was the possibly part of the problem.

Everything else appeared to be okay & the dog was certainly very friendly so we decided we would take him & we paid the owner & collected his belongings. We were offered his bed (that is the dogs bed not the owners!) but we turned it down as we already have a dogs bed, but I was a little concerned that the dog only had a small lead, brush & a half bag of kibble to his name. I asked the owner for his toys but was told he didn't have any! 'What, no bone or ball?' Apparently not!!

I really suspect that they got rid of him because they couldn't afford to keep him which is nothing to be ashamed of but I would prefer if they had been more honest with me. They certainly weren't sad to see him go which is a little strange for such an adorable little dog.

We put him & his belongings in the car & headed straight for a park to allow him to carry out his toilet duties before the long journey home. My wife remarked about his coat shedding his fur & that her black trousers were covered in white fur. That is unusual for a Westie as they hardly shed their fur at all. We also noticed when we took him for his first walk that he had diarrhoea; it wasn't until later in the week when we took him to the vet that those concerns were linked to stress. The vet reckoned the dog had been suffering stress prior to us picking him up; the diarrhoea stopped the following day & his fur stop shedding after a week. He also had a bald patch on top of his nose & within weeks that started to grow fur, could this have been caused by stress too?

On the way home we noticed a funny smell coming from him & closer examination revealed his ears were 'bunged up'. Westie's ears need to be cleaned out on a regular basis as it can lead to deafness later in life. Maybe the owners were unaware of this but after a couple of days of putting ear cleaner through his ears that situation soon improved.

THE NEW DOG AT HOME

It very quickly became apparent that this dog was very friendly & adorable for a terrier. Once home we did expect problems, he took to our old dog's toys very quickly & went daft playing with a simple tennis ball. Had anyone ever taken the time to play with this dog I thought?
He didn't know what to do with rubber bone I placed in his mouth & it took another few days for him to enjoy playing with it. Now he's like any other terrier that won't let go of his prized rubber bone & just loves playing & running around the house & garden.

He was reluctant to walk very far which gives me the impression he was never walked that often, with a little coaxing he now walks for miles & judging by his reaction to be told he going out for a walk, he enjoys it.

His first night in our home as you would expect he was very restless but at least he settled down to give us a good night's sleep. By the second night he was sleeping well & has done since. Because I am up first in the mornings & it's me who walks him & feeds him he became very 'clingy' to me for days after. I even had to lock the bathroom door to stop him entering & keeping me company during my ablutions & toilet duties!

I told my wife that she needed to be associated with the 'good things' so that the dog doesn't just focus on me. So she started to feed him, walk him & bath him & over time he now splits his time between us both.

He was a bit nervous at first but after a couple of weeks he formed the typical feisty Westie character & staring to chase cats & wild rabbits. He did suffer separation anxiety with me at first but we think we are on top of that.

Being left on his own has proved more of a challenge. Our old dog could be left on his own without touching anything in the house; he even spent a couple of hours one day within two feet of an open packet of biscuits & never touched them; however things are different for Murphy.

Some days you can leave him without problems, the next he chews various things like show laces, slippers, tissue boxes & cushions. We bought a spray that dogs find offensive & it stops him chewing the items that we spray but after a couple of months he is no problem when left alone.

Two other problems have now come to light; one is that he snores like a human!! I often get a kicking during the night from my wife accusing me for snoring, after I rub my bruises I explain to her it's not me but the dog!

Apparently we just have to live with it as there is no cure. Its worse when he lies on his back with all four legs in the air so to get some peace during the night I have to roll him on his side to stop the snoring!!
His other problem is he steals the bird's seed from the bird table, the seeds go through his system like a Ferrari but I guess it must be upsetting the local bird community as I have noticed an increase in bird droppings on my car in recent weeks as a bit of revenge!!

FIRST VISIT TO THE VET

The vet confirmed he had eczema & suggested putting him on lamb & rice diet along with baths every two days using special shampoo, within two weeks there has been a significant improvement & she expected he would be in great condition within three months & he was.
His previous owners must have fed him sugary human foods as his teeth for an 18 month old dog were very brown; our last dog had better teeth after 13 years.

As we were going to get him neutered she suggested that when he is under anaesthetic that they will chip off the brown film on his teeth & return them to their original condition. We had him neutered for the sake of his health & to prevent him gyrating on strangers legs in the street.

He got his annual booster, got him chipped, gave him his flea treatment & had him wormed. After his first month we have seen a significant improvement in the dog & we genuinely think he his enjoying life.
As for my bank balance.....................

I feel if no one had taken this dog he would have ended up in a rehoming centre. All in all we have spent a lot of time, effort & money on Murphy since we got him but he is settling in rather well. We feel blessed that we have another Westie who has put his trust in us & in return we have given a good loving home.

However, would I recommend rehoming a dog? It's still a gamble which appears for us to have paid off but I would seek advice on a particular breed before you take the plunge.

As for Murphy..................well if only I could do something for the snoring!

Summary: Great little dogs