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Originally bred to catch small rodents, in the present day the West Highland White Terrier is thought for capturing the hearts of anybody who’s dedicated to canine. The breed is so beloved that they’re celebrated every year with their very own pet vacation: National Westie Day!
When is National Westie Day?
National Westie Day is noticed yearly on March 20. The date was chosen to honor the reminiscence of Colonel Edward Donald Malcolm, who handed away on that day in 1930.
The sixteenth Laird of the MacCullum-Malcolm performed a distinguished function within the improvement of the West Highland White Terrier.
Fun Facts About the Westie
To mark the event, we’ve fetched a couple of enjoyable info concerning the Westie.
Westie Coat Colors
As the breed’s identify implies, the West Highland White Terrier has just one coat shade. This choose shade could be traced again to the 1600s, when Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch shot and killed his dark-furred terrier, mistaking his four-legged looking companion for a fox.
Long Live the Westie!
The life span of the West Highland White Terrier ranges from 12 – 16 years.
The common feminine West Highland White Terrier weighs from 13 – 1 kilos and stands roughly 9 – 11 inches, whereas a male often weighs in at 15 – 22 kilos, and stands 10 – 12 inches tall.
What’s In A Name?
Before being dubbed the West Highland Terrier, the Westie was identified by two different names. As the breed originated due to the efforts of Edward Donald Malcolm, the sixteenth Laird of Poltalloch, the Westie was first known as the Poltalloch Terrier. As the Laird declined the honour, Westies have been renamed the Roseneath Terrier, after the Duke of Argyll’s property in Dumbartonshire.
Although the West Highland White Terrier little doubt holds the primary spot within the coronary heart of anybody who has been lucky sufficient to welcome a member of the breed into their coronary heart and residential, the Westie ranked forty sixth on the American Kennel Club’s 2021 listing of the most well-liked canine breeds.
In 1976 a Westie named Dianthus Buttons took dwelling Best in Show honors at Crufts, a feat that will not occur once more till Olac Moon Pilot stood on the prime of the rostrum in 1990. Fans of the breed must wait till Burneze Geordie Girl in 2016 to see one other West Highland White Terrier earn the highest title.
Known by canine devotees for his canine balloon sculptures, artist Jeff Koons created “Puppy,” a Westie within the type of a floral sculpture, in 1992. The largest topiary sculpture on this planet, “Puppy” sits outdoors of Spain’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Famous Pet Parents of Westies
Jennifer Aniston— Since 2011 the Friends star has sported a tattoo of the identify Norman (her late West combine canine companion) on the within of her proper foot.
Joan Caufield— Starring on the large display screen alongside such Hollywood heavyweights as BIng Crosby, Fred Astaire and William Holden, offscreen Joan Caufield’s co-star was a canine named Witty. The Westie even loved a second within the highlight alongside the actress in a 1944 difficulty of Life journal.
Lillian Gish— On a go to to Scotland the silent movie star obtained a Westie from Sir Ian Malcolm. In his honor, she dubbed the canine Malcolm.
Cary Grant— The main man in such Hollywood hits as Suspicion, To Catch A Thief and An Affair To Remember additionally starred because the main man within the lives of his Westies, Archie and Cholmondeley.
Robert Pattinson— The star of Twilight and The Batman grew up with a Westie named Patty, who he mentioned he regarded upon “like my sister.”
JK Rowling— The creator of the Harry Potter phenomenon turned to a fellow creator as inspiration for the identify of her Westie, who solutions to Anne in honor of Anne Bronte.
Christian Serratos— During her days portraying Angela within the Twilight movie franchise, the star of The Walking Dead and Selena had a Westie pup named Bolt as a four-legged pal.
Famous Westies
Did you realize that the emblem for the Juicy Couture style home consists of two Westies?
A West Highland White Terrier is the face of Cesar Canine Cuisine.
Although this well-known Fido was truly a Skye Terrier, within the 2005 movie Greyfriars Bobby the tailwagger within the title function was portrayed by a West Highland White Terrier.
The title character within the prolific youngsters’s creator Rosemary Wells’s sequence of McGruff books is a Westie.
Dodger, a rescue West Highland Terrier/Jack Russell from Dogs Trust, portrayed Buddy for a few years on the beloved British sequence Doc Martin.
A Westie named Olivia shared display screen time with Viola Davis within the thriller Widows, Jason Bateman within the motion comedy Game Night and Debby Ryan within the Netflix dramedy Insatiable.
Adopting a West Highland White Terrier
If you wish to welcome a rescued purebred Westie into your coronary heart and residential, you will get in contact with one of many nationwide pet particular pet adoption networks, akin to Westie Rescue Network or National Westie Network, which is a committee of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America.
If you want to undertake both a purebred or combined breed Westie, contact native rescue organizations in your space.
You can seek for adoptable Westies on-line at:
More Pet Holidays You Might Enjoy
We have lots of of canine consciousness days, weeks and month in our Pet Holiday Calendar together with:
National Yorkshire Terrier Day