The breed is derived from hunting dogs: cairn terrier – a dog with reddish

brown hair and a Scottish terrier. Among these breeds, sometimes white

puppies were born They didn’t take part in hunting as considered to be weak

and cowardly.

White terriers began to be selected at the beginning of the 19th

century, but the first mentions of them come from the 17th century.

Some sources say that creator of the breed was Colonel Edward Donald

Malcolm from Poltalloch, in the county of Argyll. Duke who allegedly shot

his dog during the hunt(he mistook it for a fox), wanted to create a new

breed by selecting and crossing only white dogs.

White hunting terriers for a hidden in burrows animals such as otters,

foxes, badgers or pests have quickly gained recognition among hunters. To a

large extent, thanks to their efforts in 1904, the West Highland White

Terrier was recognized as a separate breed.

Westie quickly gained a lot of popularity, and for several years it has

been gaining an ever-growing group of die-hard devotees.