How to Groom a Westie (West Highland White Terrier)

My husband and I had a Westie named Heidi from when she was a puppy in 1987 until she passed away in 2000. West Highland White Terriers are wonderful dogs. They are obedient and easy to train as house pets, instinctive, playful and friendly. Westies thrive on love and give love, and they enjoy attention. We miss Heidi.

West Highland White Terriers are thought to have originally been brought to Scotland from Spain in the 1500's. They became popular as scavenger or hunting dogs. They are a close cousin to the Cairn Terrier which is usually cinnamon/salt and pepper-colored, while the Westie is pure white. Westies generally weigh around 13-20 pounds for a female and 15-22 pounds for a male.

Westies can be groomed in two basic styles - Show style and House Pet style:
1. Show-grooming: Grooming a show Westie should be best left in the hands of professionals. The show-groomed Westie's head should have a wide, round balloon shape style to the fur and be very evenly trimmed all around with no stray hairs. Its head should look bigger than its body from the front. Its body and cute little legs should be thick with fur. The tail should stand erect with a thick but closely cropped coat of hair but no hair drooping down. See a show-cut Westie here.

2. House pet style grooming for a Westie is much more common and popular, and that's where we'll concentrate in this article. After a first good cut from a groomer at around 4-5 months old, your Westie can often be groomed at home without looking too unruly.

-The house-pet Westie's charm is to look a little scruffy! Its facial hair will grow straight out to the sides. When it starts drooping down and looking more like a Fu-Manchu moustache, it's time for a trim.

-The body hair on a Westie will be relatively straight, but can have a fluffy look as it grows. Westies have a thick coat which should stay at about two inches long, a little shorter at the neck. It should not be closely shaven. The body structure should not show through except when wet. The hair on the legs and tail should also have a thick but not overgrown (drooping) appearance.

-If you groom your Westie at home, overgrown Westie hair is best trimmed with your fingers and fingernails. You can spot the too-long hairs and snap or pluck the drooping ends off easily, but don't yank. Westies should be brushed or combed regularly, which will also remove loose long hairs and keep the coat from getting matted.

-Pure-bred Westie ears are perky and erect. The hair in front and on the ears shouldn't cover this look or droop over. Hair in the ears should be trimmed or plucked, so as not to attract mites and fleas. Q-tips can be used to clean gently inside the ears, but not going too deep.

-Westies can be very prone to seasonal dry, itchy skin all over. We used a tar-based dog shampoo which alleviated this condition for weeks at a time. But if you see them scratching a lot, first make sure it's not fleas. Fleas can be easily spotted on the Westie's underbelly near the genital area which has thinner to no hair, or by parting the hair on the back.

-After a bath, towel drying works well, but our Heidi loved the warmth and feeling of the blow dryer, like leaning her head out the car window to feel the wind. Give the Westie a good brush after drying, again to remove loose hair. Westies will like baths better if they get a good-dog treat afterward.

-Westie nails tend to grow with a curve. You must have a curved nail clipper. As with most dogs, it's important to stay away from the vein that runs in the nail, as this is painful for the dog when cut, and invites bacterial infection.

-Our Heidi was once mistakenly trimmed like a Scottie by a groomer! Westies should not be groomed to look like Scotties, with close-shaven faces except for a thick brush around the mouth. That is all wrong. However, don't panic! When the Westie's hair starts growing again, it will assume normal Westie shape.

I am not a professional groomer. If you have the guts to groom your own Westie or must do so for financial reasons, see many cute Westie photos here as examples, or pick up a book on this wonderful dog breed!

Sources:
Wikimedia Westie photos: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/West_Highland_White_Terrier.
Show-cut Westie: CACB Show - Warsaw 2009: http://www.achnamara.pl/graphics/westie_achnamara_nela_warszawa1.jpg.
Book: "West Highland White Terriers," Beverly Pisano, Neptune City, N.J: T.F.H. Publications, 1988. No direct quotes.