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Welcome
to Kenlakes Westies
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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.
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. 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.
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.
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