Somemore one must remember usually there's diff size in a dog because one is nurtured into a show quality dog and one is used as a companion dog.... there are diff in both of them

Yah loh, this is true... show quality the fur thicker and the body looks compact. Muzzle also not so long I think...

West Highland White Terrier Breed Standard
Terrier Group

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 b****es. 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.

Taken from http://www.akc.org/breeds/west_highland_wh...rrier/index.cfm

Lol, that's the main reason I bought them. Oh yea, Chris called already. Thanks man.

westie are cute. i almost planning to get one for my gf. they look like maltese abit with pointed ears. but too bad la they fall under terrier, my gf will have hard time with them. anyway..our maltese too adorable now, and she can learn very very fast.

Nice choice Penny. My old dog was a Westie cross Maltese, and he possessed the best traits out of the 2 breeds. Smart, witty and relatively obedient, though the barking can be a problem.

So far I've come across 3 Westies in 3 different petshops, though they are rare indeed. Perhaps you can try Pets Wonderland in 1U, and another one in Petaling Street. I can't remember where I saw the third one...they carry pricey tags though, bout RM3k+.

This post has been edited by CrazyNut: Jul 12 2006, 01:01 PM

Thanks for the guide you posted, crazymouse_yyh. I read that already. Anyway, thank you.

Am I the only one interested with a Westie here? Anyone with a Westie and a story to share?

I just saw a male Westie for sale in Petaling Street, going at RM3880.

I think I've come across another thread on Westie in this section..

Actually, it should be asked inthe Terrier thread

Petaling street pet shops are a no no.

Basically all the terrier breeds are about the same, is it? If so, I can just close this thread and go to the terrier threads for my questions.

Yea, I dont trust petaling street pet stores too!

ahhaha..i guess you can maintain this thread coz groovemaster , me and few more guys are JRT owners.

What can I expect from a MKA cert?

A petstore is trying to sell me a Westie pup for 2.3k next week (is the 8th week), claiming that both its parents are imported, champion's breed. Unfortunately, the petstore owner say that dam and the sire is in Perak - he cannot let me meet the breeder.

*Understandable since he is middleman, wanna earn some money. But how can I know for sure that the puppy's parents are purebreed, imported or champion line??

Is it written in the certification? How to distinguish a truth and a lie?

Please help.

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Jul 13 2006, 07:46 PM

hey penny my fren's brother still hasnt call u up yet?

This post has been edited by sup3rfly: Jul 13 2006, 07:57 PM

MKA cert is just to show that the dog is 100% purebreed with 4 generations family tree.

For you to make sure it's imported or champion line, call up MKA and ask for the kennel name or ask for the sire and dam's m/chip no to verify

Penny!! You're into Westies as well?!?!?!

Owning a westie is my ultimate goal when I have a home of my own in the future. I absolutely love terriers (my current one is also a terrier), and there's no better terrier breed than the westie.

I can handle a barkish furkid alright. Mine knows how to zip it when I say "enough".

same here...i will get a westie when i have my own home... i cant even get a puppy now coz i m staying in a condo in shah alam

then i requote you that there's no better terriers than a Jack Russell Terrier

>_>

Ok lah...ALL terriers are awesome.

(;_;)

darn funny

Hmmm... your friend would be Chris right? Is it? I think he called but I forgot what he said already. So many people has been calling me and I have been calling so many people. So in the end, I only remember one lady and this one petstore my friend recommended. The others told me to wait... WAIT wat la, I dont have the patience man.

Since Chris is your friend, can you call him and ask him what he said to me? Refresh my memory since I've forgotten.

Okay, so I just have to make sure that the pup I get is MKA certified - to prove it's 100% purebreed with 4 generations family tree.

How to make sure import or champion line? Call up MKA and ask for kennel name? I do understand when you say ask for the sire and dam's microchipped no to be verified. But how to if I dont get to see the dam and the sire?

Yea, suddenly, I am into dogs... Was never into pets even! Westie is just handsome la... I will use it to kowlui! Bwahahahahaha... Now, I only got 3 worries - barking, pooing and peeing.

Lolx, I dont even have my own place but what the heck man. You want the dog, it does not matter where you live mar, right? Love it enough to just buy it!