Chapter One<br > CHOOSING A WESTIE<br > ORIGINS<br > The West Hiqhland White Terrier originated in the North West of Scotland.<br > and was bre~J for its working and sporting qualities. The famous Victorian<br > anima! paintel Sil Edwin Landseer gives proof of this in two of his paintings.<br > dated around ] 839， His painting Sporting Dogs includes a West Highland<br > White. 1errier. and his celebrated Dignity and Impudence shows two dogs.<br > one a Bloodhound. the other， Impudence". unmistakably a Westie.<br > The， original working terriers were used for hunting fox， badger and otter.<br > The main imperative， therefore， was for a small， active dog that could follow its<br > quany ov~:r rough and heathery terrain， a.nd through narrow crevices in the<br > ~ocks.Fhe value of these little earth dogs is illustrated by a story from the early<br > part of the seventeenth century King James I of England and V of Scotland<br > sent a gift of a number of dogs to the King of France. and gave instructions for<br >them to be transported in two different ships， in case one ship foundered.<br >1 HE WHITE TERRIER<br >fll fi~e late nineteenth century， white terriers were being separated from their<br >b~i Jdle， black and red cousins: these latter developing into Scottish Terriers and<br >Cairn I erriers.<br > it took a mishap， so the story goes， to break through the custom of<br >destroying any white or lighter-coloured pups. Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch.<br >Argyllshire: had a favourite reddish-coloured terrier. This dog was accidentally<br >shot when it was mistaken for a fox， so Colonel Malcolm determined to breed<br >white-coloured terriers， which could be more easily recognised.<br > Having pioneered the breed as working terriers， Colonel Malcolm developed<br >the whites into a distinct strain and type， resembling the modern breed of West<br >Highland White. They were known as Poltalloch Terriers. However， the Cairn<br >Terrier and the Westie continued to be mated together until 1917 in the<br >United States and 1925 in Britain and， even today， there is still a possibility of<br >white hairs in a Cairn and black hairs in a Westie. Small white terriers， known<br >as Roseneath Terriers， were also bred by the Duke of Argyll on his estate at<br >Roseneath. These were reckoned to be of similar breeding to the Poltalloch<br >Terriers， and soon they were Qroun~d tr，~oth L . ，<br >