06/03/2026
And since it’s Westie Wednesday - how about the history of this remarkable breed!!!
The White Cairn Terrier?
Having roots in the small working terriers of Scotland’s Highlands going back several centuries makes the West Highland White Terrier a rather old breed type, even though the modern Westie was really shaped in the 19th century. It was descended from a short-legged, wiry-coated little highland terrier that many fanciers believe was the common ancestor of several Scottish terriers, including the Scottish, Skye, Cairn, and Dandie Dinmont terriers. The little dog came in several colors, though people of the day often preferred the darker ones, while white dogs were sometimes set aside or bred separately.
Most Westie owners know the story of Colonel Edward Malcolm (1837-1930) who kept a pack of small working terriers. As the story goes. one day while hunting, the colonel is said to have mistakenly shot dead his favorite red dog scurrying after a rabbit in thick underbrush. From that day forward, Malcolm reportedly determined to breed only white dogs because they were easier to see than the unfortunate red dog he had killed. His white terriers were originally called Poltalloch Terriers after Malcolm’s estate in Argyllshire, Scotland, but they were also known informally as “white Cairn-type” terriers.
Around the same time, George John Douglas Campbell, the 8th Duke of Argyll, began to breed white dogs he called “Roseneath” Terriers after the name of his own estate. Later, according to the clan MacCallum – Malcolm Society and other breed historians, the “Poltalloch” and “Roseneath” terriers, along with closely related white Highland strains, were brought together under the name West Highland White Terrier. It took a little time, however, for that name to stick.
Dog show classes for terriers described as “white” were being held by the late 1890s, but the 20th edition of the AKC’s The Complete Dog Book indicates that under its modern name, the West Highland White Terrier was first exhibited at the 1904 Scottish Kennel Club. As far as we know, “West Highland White Terrier” (or “West Highland Terrier”) as a breed name appears among its earliest printed uses in L.C.R. Cameron’s Otters and Otter Hunting published in 1908. Interestingly, when the breed was first shown in the United States in the early 1900s, it was still as the Roseneath Terrier, and initial AKC registrations fell under that name. The first of the breed to be registered (not shown, but registered) as West Highland White Terrier by the AKC was a bitch whelped in England in 1906 named “Sky Lady.” Three years later, the breed name for the show ring finally changed to the West Highland White Terrier.
Image: Moss Art by Mary Sparrow – HangingtheMoonShelby
www.marysparrowsmith.net
