The power of the dog/The West Highland White Terrier
"Alas! they had been friends in youth,
But whispering tongues can poison truth."
Coleridge—Christabel
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIERS
"Tissie" & "Tanner"
Owned by Mrs. Lionel Faudel Phillips
THE WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER
As ever lap a sleugh or dyke,
His honest, sonsie, baws'nt face,
Ay gat him friends in ilka place."
Burns.
WE have already mentioned Scotland's terriers, the tale of which, however, is incomplete without some references to the wiry coated white tyke, the West Highland White terrier, whose winning ways have got him friends in every place. Though little known south of the Tay until quite recent years, he is now highly favoured of fortune, few varieties of terriers enjoying a more genuine popularity. In his native country, the wild land of Skye and the western parts of Inverness-shire, he has proved his worth for generations, none coming to us with sounder credentials. Foxes, badgers, otters are his sworn foes against whom he has waged unceasing warfare, just as his Scottish terrier cousin has done. Mrs. Cameron Head has well explained his vocation: "In the old days, before deer forests extended over such a large area in the Highlands, and the land was principally under sheep, fox hunters used to traverse the country from one sheep farm to another, and days were organised for attacks upon special cairns in which foxes were known to be. The fox hunter himself kept a strong, varmint breed of terrier, and the shepherds and keepers on each estate did the same, so that when an onslaught was organised upon Reynard the stiffest and hardest duty fell to the terriers, for they were expected to go into the cairns and tackle the inmates single handed, deep in the bowels of the rocks, where no man, and indeed no other dog, could enter because of the narrowness of the passages. The terrier generally selected for this stern conflict was not the white one, who was regarded as weaker than his brethren with more colour in their coats---though we think that in this his breeders did him an injustice."
In those days sandy and brindled dogs were looked upon as the hardier, but one or two families in the Isle of Skye made a habit of preserving the white or sandy and destroying the brindles. Among these were the Macleods, Lairds of Drynoch. As a daughter of Norman Macleod, born in 1800, was wont to declare that her father and grandfather kept terriers of this colour, we are taken back into the early part of the Eighteenth century. This seems conclusive, but so much conflicting evidence has been brought forward during the last two or three years that it is difficult to unravel the truth from amid the tangled threads of controversy. Probably most of the modern dogs are largely indebted to terriers from the mainland. Colonel Malcolm's strain at Poltalloch, for instance, has existed for a long period, and Brogach, whose name figures in so many fashionable pedigrees, was of the breed taken to Portree in 1896 by Mr. James Mackintosh. They were only called "white" by courtesy, the real colour being a cream. For practical purposes this is near enough, the pure colour being obtainable by selection, and capable of being more or less permanently established in the course of a few generations.
Many of the characteristics of the West Highland White Terrier are similar to those of the Scottish. He is dead game, a glutton for work, and he, too, is exclusive in his attachments, with a dignity of demeanour that is particularly charming. He has not the demonstrative fussiness of some of the terrier family, for which reason he is a welcome member of the household. In his education firmness is needed to overcome a highly strung nervousness, which is only accentuated by correction. Indeed, a severe rating or a thrashing will make him for ever suspicious. Treat him with kindness tempered by a decisiveness that marks you out as his master, and he will be your devoted servant.
So great has been the demand for these dogs that puppies, even of moderate pretensions, command a high price, and the best are capable of fetching several hundreds. Mr. Viccars' Champion Kiltie was purchased by an American for 400 guineas, and others have made half that sum. Time being young, so far as attempting to breed in conformity with a certain standard is concerned, we must not be surprised to see still some divergences in type, one judge preferring one kind and another another. One thing is positive—-the dog must not be bred on the lines of a Scottish Terrier, although when he was first introduced the idea was prevalent that he was but a white edition of the older dog. The West Highlander is smaller, somewhat shorter in the back, and with legs a trifle longer. He is altogether more active. In the head, too, differences may be detected. This is broader in skull, and has a more clearly defined stop beneath the eyes, and the muzzle is not so long and powerful. His coat should be longer than that of Scottie—-about two and a half inches long to be exact—-and it must be hard and wiry without any suspicion of curliness or waving. The shaggy hair on the face prevents earth and sand getting into the eyes when he is busy underground in his efforts to dislodge fox or badger. A profusion of soft undercoat has wet-resisting value. Finally, a good terrier must move with plenty of liberty. 