West ​Highland White​Terriers

Welch's Jolly Westies - Dog Breeder

Welcome to Welch's Jolly Westies, a parish permitted kennel, home based breeder. We look to breed our Westie puppies for health and personality along with appearance. Our puppies are breed in a family home environment with constant supervision and care. We try to provide the best puppies possible for people who love and appreciate the breed.

A Special Companion Breed

The West Highland White Terrier (Westie) is described in Ruth Flaherty's book, "Westies: From Head to Tail" as an, "...A-one, triple-distilled companion dog." She continues to describe the dog as one suitable for both indoor apartment living as well as on the outdoor range. They are easy to keep clean with a brush, virtually shed less and don't have a  strong "dog" odor. They look like a stuffed toy dog and "on appearance alone, the Westie merits an award for design excellence." In temperament they are very "alive", always interested in their surroundings, and as company they will always keep things "cheery and lively."

Considered by many the "Total Terrier Package", the Westie expresses both spunk and sweetness at the same time. They are a top notch family dog, especially for a family that wants a playful and loyal companion. They are excellent dogs for children, as they will play endlessly with them. Yet they will settle when play time is over. They are very hardy dogs, and take well to being outside and interacting with other dogs, even larger dogs. Yet they are small enough for living inside even in smaller homes or an apartment, provided they have regular access to outside areas for walking or playing. They are very intelligent dogs, able to learn tricks. They are friendly, and non-aggressive, though they will bark to sound the alarm at ativities outside the house. They are not shy or timid. They are dogs filled with curiosity that will explore their surroundings with determination.​

The Joy of Westies

In our experience, we find each Westie puppy to be unique in their own individual personalities. No two are truly the same.  While they tend to share certain traits of temperament--including self assuredness, love of activity yet able to settle and be calm, faithful to their master and always willing to show affection--they each have something special to offer that makes them different from even a litter mate. The joy of owning a Westie puppy is in learning who they grow into being. They may have more determination for seeking your attention, or be more content to let you adore them. Some will have whimsical talents (such as one of our own dogs who seems to enjoy playing 'patty cakes' with his paws). Others will approach you with head cocked, looking at you with puppy eyes as if they would love nothing more than for you to just pet them right now. Or perhaps yours will charge directly for you, as much to love you as to be loved. These personality traits and many more are possible with a Westie puppy, and a lot of the joy of having one as part of your family is discovering who your Westie is.

When bringing a new Westie puppy into the house, you can expect them to be very curious. They will explore their  surroundings with great interest. They will do best when they receive a lot of attention. For this reason, they are very good with children, though they may not tolerate very rough treatment from small toddlers who might want to pull their ears. Still, they are never aggressive, unless they feel threatened by another dog. In such a situation they won’t back down, but rarely will they actually start with aggression  toward another dog. We've found they can get along with cats, but do like to chase cats for fun if the cat decides to run from them. The cat however may be annoyed by this behavior, so taking care to provide space for them to cohabit would be important if your household includes both pets. A young Westie pup will have a need to teeth, and will chew on many things, including
furniture. They do normally grow out of this, but will sometimes retain a certain possessiveness of particular things. Some Westies will be 'collectors'​ of various things, claiming and hiding things they are fond of. This is a trait
that may be unique to particular dog, and not so much with others.
As with any dog, they will tend to find one person to be 'their' person, their Alpha dog if you will. However, they will always have good obedience to any others in the household, and are able to show equal affection to anyone. They don't tend to be possessive of a person, though when they grow older they can become 'protective' of another young Westie puppy if one is brought into the family. They require a good amount of activity, regular walks are  important. We have found 1-2 walks a day, an average of 6-10 blocks round trip is a good amount for our dogs. They also love outside yard time where they can run off leash. They tolerate rain days pretty well, though they can get a bit of cabin fever if there are multiple consecutive days where they can't get outside much. In general, they are medium maintenance dogs, not requiring constant  attention, but on a daily basis some of your time is certainly needed to help them keep an enjoyable temperament.

For the Love of Westies

As you can probably tell, we love and care for our Westie dogs, they are a big part of our family and household. We want to share the joy they can bring to others, and seek to breed Westie puppies that will have the most desirable qualities that make them among the best companion dogs. Please let us know if you are interested in finding out more about our puppies.