West highland terriers - info needed General Chat

I pm peeps because had a rather hurtful experience one on this site unfortunately, sad isnt it? Jules

I know a lady who has one and she wished she had researched more into the breed before buying as hers has skin problems.

My family used to have Westies and loved them-they wre all called Angus for some reason! We had a change and got a Cairn terrier and they're available in much more practical colours. I've had 3 and none of them were yappy at all and they were very trainable.

they do suffer a lot with skin problems,that is a down side to them.

http://westiesinneed.co.uk/adoption-and-fostering.html

The 2 Westies in our village are adorable, my favourites.

They play with my male Akita lovely and are never on lead, and old chap owns them, along with 2 other dogs. They did both run off chasing a cat once though and no screaming and shouting would stop them, noone was hurt.

hi i have just bought a 7 week old westie so this thread had been really interesting any advice you could give me would be appreciated thankyou sam xx

How lovely they are so cute. I have a little rescued terrier cross so not really in a position to advice.....Wish you all the best with your new adorable furry friend...Jules x

My sister has a Westie, she is hilarious. ATM a squirrel has moved into their yard, and Annabelle has a melt-down every time she goes outside! She also goes nuts when animals are on TV, though so does my deaf terrier x, Scout... no westie in her though. Annabelle is 2.5 years old, and has no skin issues, she's feisty, and though not yappy all the time, she can get quite annoying when she's playing.

I have a 9 month old westie , she took a bit of training with the barking thing, even now the odd time something on tv sets her off! She is the most adorable affectionate dog and very contented, I am so glad i got her i cant imagine being without her ! Was never a dog person really but i adored her when i got her at 7 weeks and have since become dog friendly lol , i get where dog owners are coming from now , i love it .
One thing with her, she still wees in the house from time to time , i never scold her for it , i just claen it up and go to the door to tell her to go outside .
Any advice ?

Fling

my westie is 11 and has always done this. i think it is because she drink a lot but only has a small bladder. its only a little amount each time so i just clean it up. not worth stressing you or the dog over

I have had lots of different breeds of dogs in my life, from little to large but for me the westie is right up there at the top of my favourites list. I am the proud owner of two females, one who is 5, one who is 2. The elder one is very bossy but if the younger one cries out in her dreams she is there in a flash to check her out. Yes, they can be yappy but we bought training gas to stop the unnecessary barking, now if we just hiss it stops them. They are highly intelligent so need plenty of stimulation but when it comes to love of their owners I think they are top class. Why don't you try fostering from westie rescue, a short term foster would answer all your questions but I say you will be delighted you took one on.

Westies do bark as it's in their breed genes to let their master know when they have found the rats etc. If they were stuck in a hole underground then the master could find them because of their bark. It's something that is very hard to stop, so be very aware of that.

They are not lap dogs, but will be very loyal companions. If the bark will be a problem, because you live somewhere with lots of neighbors, then I'd suggest a different breed.

Cannot agree that Westie's are not lap dogs, everyone of my beautiful dogs have battled to get on mum's lap first. When we read up on the breed we did read the same thing but we have never had a problem getting our girls to curl up with us on the sofa. Guess we have been exceptionally lucky.

Hi, new to the forum and looking for advice. I bought my first Westie pup last December for my kids. He's a great dog and we love him. We had to drive 5 hours round trip to pick him up and paid $1350 for him. We bought him from a registered breeder and at the time were told his papers would arrive in 6-8 weeks. After not hearing anything from the breeder after 6 months I called her. She seemed frazzled and said that she unfortunately was unable to get papers for our dog because she had lost touch with the woman whom she bred her male dog to (whom she got the puppy from). She claims she had been trying to get in touch with her but could not. She offered me a FULL refund at the time. I told her I would speak with my wife further about it and get back to her soon. I called her back a few days later and asked for $1000 refund. I figured paying $350 for an un-registered dog was more than fair. She told me she thought she could have gotten $700 for him even unregistered which is think is totally bananas. In fact, there are plenty of registered Westies in Texas on puppy finder for She asked me for a week's time to see if she could try and contact the woman whom owns our dogs mother again, and also said she was going to try and contact AKC to see if she could get info on this woman. I'm not sure what to do now. I do not think that she intentionally sold us an unregistered dog BUT we obviously would NOT have driven 5 hours nor paid $1350 for an unregistered Westie. Not only do I believe that it is rude that she has backed off of her offer of a full refund (even though I thought I was being generous declining that), but it seems like she could loose her breeding license for this. Does anyone have any advice for me?

If she owns the dog who is the sire of your puppy and not the dam, then would not the owner of the dam be the breeder and not her?

I have no idea. She has been kinda sketchy about the whole situation. When we bought the puppy she told us none of this information and just said the mother of the pup was "unavailable" and she could only show us his father.

This is quite a common story in the UK, where it often turns out that the person selling the puppy is not the breeder, but a dog dealer. You really should only buy a puppy after seeing it with its mother - but that is water under the bridge now, at least your puppy is healthy, so many of them are not.
You have been patient enough, and are entitled to what you have paid for - a registered puppy - or adequate compensation. You say that this person is a registered breeder, but registered with which organisation? The AKC, (I am assuming that you are American), The American West Highland Terrier Club, some private registration club like UKC, or the local authority?
You may find that this person is known to members of the breed club, in this case they may be able to advise you how to proceed. Otherwise I would write to the lady, giving her a set time, (say 30 days), to either produce the AKC papers for your puppy, or the amount of compensation that you have requested. If nothing happens, consult a legal Beagle, I am in the UK, but I am sure you will turn out to have a just case.

Thanks!

My Westie barks at any little noise. He seems to have a barking fit nearly everyday in the evening, but fortunately it doesn't last long.

Hi Angie, I'm afraid the post by NewRoc84 is eight years old, so you are unlikely to get a reply. Welcome to the forum anyway, please feel free to post wherever you wish.