hi im new here and im currently looking into the possibility of showing my westie! my brother wants to do this (he is 12 years old) however no one in my family has ever shown dogs before, i dont even know where to start!
ive never been interested before (a bit to little for me to show!!) but my brother has been begging for ages, and i said id have a look at it for him. i currently show ponies, do pretty well with them, but never done dogs, pointing me in the right direction would be realy helpful.
the westie in question is 5 years old, KC registered, has been bred from (before i got him) most of his breeding appears to be famecheck lines (or something like that anyway as i dont have them here in front of me). he is an arrogant little thing, but the sweetest little dog ever and if i could transplant his personality into some of my ponies i would!!

First thing would be to find a ringcraft club & have a chat with people there.You wil need to get him into the show trim for westies & get him used to standing & showing & being handled on a table

There will be local shows probably that you can go & have a look at

If your dog has Famecheck bloodlines he should have a good temperament & a nice white harsh coat as Freda's dogs were always noted for their coats & I never met one that had a poor temperament

We have a lovely lady near here who has been in Westies forever & was one of two sisters until her sister passed away & they have super dogs

he is almost completely famecheck with a bit of newtownglen (not sure how its spelt). does any one know of any clubs or contacts i can make in the north wales area??
he has the best temprement ever!! he is arrogant and cocky but the sweetest thing ever, he loves curling up with you on the couch and cuddles, even from over exuberant 3 year olds who try to strangle him with a hug!
his arrogance comes out in strange ways, he tried to chase the ponies!! and considering that he weights all of about 10kg and the smallest of my ponies weighs over 350kg and the biggest 750kg i was suprised hed try!! he is terrified of sheep though!! best dog for kids though, learns very quickly and is just an alround sweety who thinks he is bigger then he is!! very good little guard dog aswell and a firm favourite with the postie!! he is also very happy to sit infront of my saddle when i take him with me to horse shows, invariably there is mud at horse shows and in an attempt to keep him reasonably clean i ride the ponies with one hand on the reins and the other keeping sooty from trying to climb up the ponies neck!!
this is him after he got throurghly mucky at a horse show, resulting in a bath at the show before he was allowed anywhere near the car!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/kanuma/ncpachamps020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/kanuma/ncpachamps023.jpg
and this is him at home, haveing a growl at the ponies in the field!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/kanuma/lloc05-09-04023.jpg

I used to LOVE the Famecheck ads in Our Dogs :D

Anne

Yeah those ads were great, a friend travelled all the way down for a rusty mincer :d :d  Used to really enjoy getting the paper to see what the next advert said and which flowers were being sold.

I did too.  I think she bought the add space for ever in advance and so used it as her own little soapbox, and I thought them really good.

As has been said Faye you will have to get his coat into show form, which depending on what has been done to it up to now (clipping or striping) may take several months to a year.

I would advise joining your nearest WHWT breed club and attend their events.  Also ask if there is A Westie exhibitor near you that will be able to help you understand how to groom and prepare the coat.

The Kenenl club http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/ will be able to give you details of your nearest ringcraft club where you will be able to teach and practice ring procedure with him.

NORTH OF IRELAND WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER CLUB. Sec. Mrs M Johnston. Tel No: 01662 841618
SOUTHERN WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER CLUB. Sec. Mr J Griffin. Tel No: 01562 777266
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER CLUB. Sec. Mr McLean. Tel No: 01875 813909
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER CLUB OF ENGLAND. Sec. Mrs Hooper. Tel No: 01963 440493
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER CLUB OF WALES. Sec. Mrs S Hurst. Tel No: 01443 841743
Midland Counties' Scottish Terrier & West Highland White Terrier Club - Mrs M Smewin - 0121 520 9115

what is the stripping? how does it differ from clipping?
before we had him, his coat was brushed occasionaly, but not much else (he absolutely stank when we got him) now we have him, he goes to a professional groomer every 3 weeks as keeping him clean around the horses isnt easy! he looks much better now then he did!

Terriers for show are never clipped because it spoils the texture of the coat. Stripping is where the dead hair is pulled out, ideally manually for the best result, but there are stripping knives and other tools available to make the job easier on the fingers!

sounds like pulling a mane, thats got to be painful for the dog!

It's not painful faye, when done by a skilled groomer.  Only the dead coat is removed - not even like plucking our eyebrows!! :)  Terrier coats don't drop out like other dogs, so it has to be pulled out.  That's the correct way to handle the coat and the way it's been done ever since ..................

ok! its just it just sounded very like pulling a mane, that has been done forever and is painful, not massively so but it is!!

If he's been clipped it'll take a groomer who knows what they're doing to correct the coat and it can take some time.  But Famecheck dogs used to have correct coats so it would be worth finding the right person to help, then they could teach you to keep it up!

west highland white terrier club secretary is Mrs B Wilson tel.01294 557259.    

hi faye,

What is your brother interested in doing, showing or handling? Showing is when the judge looks at the dog and see how close it is to the breed standard and judges it on the way it moves and so on...But doesnt judge the handler. Handling is judge just and the person handling the dog. So they jugdge the way they look the way they control the dog they and so on. Handling is mainly done by juniors in age groups of 6-11 and 12-16 and you need to be a member of the kennel club. This costs £10 a year with free entry to discover dogs and crufts. You can find out more info at www.the-kennel-club.org.uk.
I have recently started junior handl;ing and it is so much fun! Try and get your brother involved as much as possible and not only does it help you to be a resposible pet owner, it also give you the chance to make new friends, to learn more about dogs and the world of showing, to become nollagable about different breeds, to compete with people your same age and win with pride but lose with dignity even to travel the world to compete!!! You get load of oppotunities like in july i will be going to the to the Young kennel club camp for a week where you learn skills like fly ball, agiliy heelwork to music, and handling. If you need anymore information about junior handling then you can PM me or email me and i will be gald to help. :) Good luck!

sarah xxxx    

just the showing thing i think! although it will be my brothers choice, im sticking to my ponies!! we have similar with ponioes, young handler classes or breed classes, he has never had the patience for the young handler classes but would when begged do a breed class