West Highland History

Dear Dog Lady,

My Westie Jack has taken over my life in remarkable ways. I want to know everything about him. I’d love to learn more about the history of his West Highland Terrier canine kinfolk, but I’ve scoured nearby bookstores and can’t seem to find any books on the breed. Any suggestions?

-Craig, Des Moines, IA

Craig, you’ve asked a question that causes Dog Lady to trip all over herself with suggestions. Yes, there is a marvelous book, simply titled “West Highland Terrier” by Martin Weil (T.F.H Publications). The small tome is an excellent resource, crammed with photographs and filled with Westie history, breed characteristics and standards as well as grooming, feeding and training recommendations. The back pages of the compact hardcover are devoted to basic dog information, non-specific to Westies. If bookstores don’t carry it, you can probably get it through amazon.com.

If you want fanciful Westie tales to treasure then you also must get your hands on any books in the delightful McDuff series by Rosemary Wells, with illustrations by Susan Jeffers (Hyperion). Wells has created an episodic children’s story about McDuff, a spunky Westie, who falls off the dogcatcher’s truck and is adopted by inscrutable yuppies, Lucy and Fred. McDuff’s favorite foods are rice pudding and sausages. That should tell you everything wonderful and whimsical about Wells’ series. And the dog, McDuff, is as comical, quizzical, and intense as any Westie in literature (not that there are that many lit Westies but you know what I mean).

Illustrator Jeffers’ captures the unique Westie facial tics and bodily expressions beautifully. Her drawings of McDuff and his quirky world are works of art. Savor any edition in the series, from the first “McDuff Moves In” to the most recently published, “McDuff Goes To School.” You don’t have to be a kid, or a Westie lover, to be tickled by them.

Posted by Dog Lady at March 12, 2003 12:00 PM