By around the 1700s, the Isle of Skye and other highland regions in Scotland were already breeding lots of small terriers. Scottish breeds were separated into two sorts: the Skye terriers and the Dandie Dinmont terriers.

The Dandie Dinmonts were categorised as a solitary breed, whereas the Skyes were deemed to include the Scotties, the Cairns and the West Highland White Terriers also called Westies.

West Highland White Terriers were hybrids of crossed Cairns, Scotties and Dandies terriers. These hybrids were reckoned to be decent hunters and loyal. In fact, lots of members of the Scottish royal family owned terriers that were very much the same as the Westies of today.

One folktale is about a Westie that stopped a mother from persistently shouting at her daughter. Every time the mother shouted at her teenage daughter, the Westie would bark at the mother. The dog's aggression got to such a degree during the years that the mother gave up yelling at her daughter.

It turned out that the girl was stroking and rewarding the dog for his protection after every bawling out from her mother. lots of people might say that the daughter was able to help her mother to modify her violent moods although she was also helping herself by rewarding the dog for its behaviour.

West Highland White Terriers can live in or outdoors, so are very adaptable. They have a wiry coat of roughly two inches in thickness covering a dense fur coat which is capable of keeping them warm. Westies are basically small dogs of between 10 and 12 inches in height and 13 and 22 pounds in weight.

West Highland White Terriers like to dig and bark, but they also like company. They like well-behaved children and they like to chase cats. They defend their property and territory vociferously.

As a breed, they can suffer some diseases such as: chronic skin issues, Perthe's disease (hip issues), jawbone calcification, cranio-mandibular osteopathy (lion jaw), patella luxation, a disorder in the kneecap, liver ailments, deafness and congenital heart disease

However, there are measures that you can take to look after your Westie. For instance, they ought to be brushed frequently using a brush with stiff bristles. You should bathe them only when you have to, but their whole coat should be shaved at least twice a year and trimmed every four months. The fur surrounding the eyes and ears should be trimmed too.

Records show that in 1620, King James 1 asked for some small white dogs from Argyleshire, Scotland. Colonel Malcolm, who was considered the originator of Poltalloch terriers, which are very similar to the Westies of today, unintentionally shot his dark terrier. From then on he vowed to have only white ones.

In the 19th Century, terriers that were very much like the Westies were called Roseneath terriers in honour of the Duke of Argyle's interest and patronage of this breed. Roseneath was the name of his estate at Dumbartonshire.

In the first ever dog show, organised in the late 1800s, the Westies were known as White Scottish Terriers. In 1904, they were reclassified as West Highland White Terriers.

During the mid-1900s, breeders of the Cairns in Argyle picked white puppies from the litters and interbred them to derive white Cairns. However, in 1917, the American Kennel Club ruled that Cairns could be listed if they have the Westies' lineage.