Information on AKC West Highland White Terrier Puppies
West Highland White Terrier Breed Standard
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--Round-pointed, 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. Faults--Neck
too long or too short. Topline--Flat and level, both standing
and moving. Faults--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 so 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.
Forequarters
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. Light 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.
Hindquarters
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.
Approved December 13, 1988
Effective February 1, 1989
