Having been first bred in Scotland in the early 1700 makes the West Highland White Terrier a rather old breed. It was originally descended from the most common dog in Scotland at the time, a short-legged, wiry coated little highland terrier that may have been the root of several other terriers, including the Scottish, Skye, Cairn, and Dandie Dinmont terriers. The little dog came in several colors, though most people of the day preferred the dark ones.

Most Westie owners know the story of Colonel Edward Malcolm (1837-1930) who kept a pack of Cairn Terriers. One day while hunting, the colonel mistakenly shot dead his favorite dog scurrying after a rabbit in thick underbrush. From that day forward, Malcolm determined only 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 as “White Cairn 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 website, the “Poltalloch” and “Roseneath” terriers were combined into the West Highland White Terrier. It took a little time, however, for that name to stick.

Dog show classes for the terriers described as “white” were held as early as 1896, 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” as a breed name first appeared 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 1906, 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.

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