Our Westie dog called Pepper is lovely and white ( Ops - I’m looking at that westie photo again). To be honest, he has stuck his head in a bucket of soil or it looks that way. I’m afraid that it’s bath time again young man. God you were so cute when you were a puppy.

It’s so funny that you forget all the places and parts of the garden where he dug up in the adventure that he was on that day when he was a puppy. You forget that you were going to bury him in the same garden that he dug up. I think he knew that whatever he done you would still love him. For me it was his eyes. You can almost forgive everything when you look into them.

In keeping him reasonably clean and white; in the overall west highland grooming and health process; I find that brushing him regularly helps greatly, because the dirt and any dead hairs, usually fall off. I would recommend that you try and do this once a week. It then becomes a habit and as we all know, habits are easier to follow. This is just part of the process in how to groom a westie.

In the washing process, my wife uses a shampoo especially formulated for white dogs and this seems to do the best job. It is recommended that for a west highland terrier, they should be groomed every 6-8 weeks and especially in the summer. You have to to imagine what it would be like wearing a fur coat in the hot summer days. it’s cooler with the westie haircut.

We have noticed that Pepper’s face has turned a rusty sort of colour under his jaw. Our vet has told us, that this is due to the hair being wet too often. As he seems to drink copious amounts of water, I try to dry this part as often as I can, following the vets instructions. I have found that Pepper has little black grains( for want of a better description) in the corner of each of his eyes on most days and therefore will I remove them. It’s all for a better healthier and happier dog.

My last recommendation in this overall grooming process to keep our westies at optimum health, I have also found that his scratching decreases if I gave him cooling tablets. Always check with your vet if you are unsure of whether to give yours these tablets.

I hope that this article has been of use to you in helping with your westies health.

(Disclaimer: Any information contained in this site relating to various medical, health and fitness conditions of Westies or other animals and their treatments is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own veterinarian. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing the health of any animal. You should always consult and check with your own vet or veterinarian.)

jeff cuckson is author of numerous unique westie reports. for your free “westie secrets ” 5 day mini course go now to: mad about westies

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