How to groom your West Highland White Terrier

It's white colored, stringy hair is about 5 cm long, and it consists of a rough outer coat and short, soft, thick undercoat. The breeders, exhibitors used to bath the Westie only in ultimate need, in spite of its white color, in order to prevent the fur from losing its characteristic, hard feeling. Trimming the body is done according to the terrier shape, the only difference is that they leave a “skirt” for the dog, that is located at the bottom part of the body where they do not remove the hairs. The ears may be cut with a machine, however, in the end, it has to be formed pointy with the aid of scissors. There are characteristic, round shaped hairs left on the head, which is finalized with scissors. On the bottom part of the tail, the hairs may be cut with a machine and it is cut heart-shaped at the backside. The top part of the tail is trimmed in a manner that should provide an as “full impression” as possible. The paws are shaped to have a roundish, cat paw-like form. The front is always straight, which they also achieve with trimming, the same way as the shape of the legs. When trimming the skirt attention has to be paid not to remove too much hair.