It’s definitely true what they say about westies being among the friendliest and most affectionate of the tiny terrier group.
However, if you’re looking to welcome this furry friend into your family, you would need to assess more than just these two traits to make sure you have a great match.
Westies are pretty much an open book, and by this we mean, what you see is what you get.
Some of its traits you may love and others, maybe not so much.
At the end of the day, you need to be fully aware of the westie personality to make the best possible decision.
Making a Decision
While dogs are rarely ever as complicated as humans, they do have facets to their character that go beyond their treatment of their owners.
Welcoming a West Highland White Terrier means knowing exactly how this dog fits into your life, so you can help provide it the life it deserves.
You owe it to yourself, your family, and the dog to ensure that when you do welcome the westie into your family, you can bring happiness to the lives of everyone involved.
Westie Personality
We don’t think there’s a dog more lovable than the westie.
These adorable little pooches aren’t shy about showing you and, in some cases, even strangers, their affection.
We admit that the latter can be a bit concerning in some situations, which emphasizes the importance of truly being aware of every facet of this dog’s personality.
1. Energy Level
Look to the westie for a pure dose of energy and happiness.
These pint-sized dogs can bring life to your boring routines and lift your spirits with their excited expressions and wagging tails.
With these little guys around, you’ll always have a companion waiting for you to wake up and come home from work.
2. Playfulness
While westies aren’t exactly what you’d call too playful, they can really get into it when in the mood.
This quality also makes them great family dogs and excellent to have around kids.
They don’t bark too much and also take kindly to having other pets around, which is an excellent combination to have when having a get-together with fellow pet parents.
3. Ease of Training
Westies are fairly easy to train, which is always a good thing when you have kids around.
As pet owners, you must make your westies aware of the order they come in the pack.
In this way, they won’t try to establish dominance over your young children.
The common commands like sit, walk, and stay are essential, especially when taking your westie for a walk in the park or the neighborhood where they could potentially come across other dogs.
You want to make sure they behave well around people as well as other pets in the vicinity.
4. Friendliness
Being the proud parents of our Sami for quite some time now, there was a point when we asked ourselves: Is our dog too friendly?
There were times when it did seem that way, and we were, for sure, worried about it.
Westies will approach strangers. More than that, they can sometimes be too friendly towards strangers, including ones you might not like them being friendly to.
It’s all good when you have friends coming over to visit, but it’s an entirely different story when a dangerous person is lurking around your house.
Sure, your westies will bark, but you do tend to question if it’s a bark that says “stay away” or “come inside I want to play”.
This is an issue you can usually address through training.
5. Heat Sensitivity
Being a parent to a West Highland White Terrier means constantly being aware of the temperature of their environment.
These pooches are fairly sensitive to heat, so make sure never to leave them inside your car in the middle of the day and always make sure they have access to a shaded area when you leash them outside.
6. Watchfulness
Westies aren’t exactly the most attentive of the bunch, so don’t count on them to keep watch of people who could be lurking around the vicinity of your property.
If you’re looking to own a watchdog, then a westie is not necessarily the best choice.
While they will bark when they see someone, which, granted if they spot the person first, will alert you to the individual’s presence, but what’s probably going to happen is you’ll end up seeing the person first before your westie does.
7. Grooming
Dog owners usually don’t mind grooming their dogs since it’s all part of being a pet parent.
In the case of the West Highland White Terrier, you need to have quite a bit of grooming to do as these dogs are fairly high maintenance and can easily rack up the dirt and grime even after only a few minutes of outside fun.
Westies have a thick coat that you need to brush every day to keep it smooth and clean.
Their coats also need to be trimmed every few months to keep it at just the right length.
Make it a point to keep their fur short, particularly during the summer, since they have fairly high sensitivity to heat.
8. Exercise Requirements
Small dogs aren’t really known to require high physical activity, but westies could be an exception to that because of their high energy levels.
They need to put all that energy towards a healthy activity.
That can be walk in the park, an afternoon run, or even just a lazy stroll around the neighborhood.
This is especially great for pet parents who need to incorporate a bit of exercise into their lifestyle.
Final Thoughts
The westie personality is pretty easy to figure out.
They make awesome family pets because they’re friendly to everyone, including strangers, which is definitely something you need to work on during training.
Plus, speaking of training, at least in this aspect, you won’t have too much trouble with these breeds because of the ease in which you can get them to behave and follow commands.
Are you looking to own a westie?
Make sure you’re fully aware of what you’re in for before making a decision.
In this way, you’ll know if your new pet is indeed a great fit for you and vice versa.
