FCI-Standard
N°85 / 20. 01. 1998 / GB
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER
ORIGIN : Great Britain.
DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 24.06.1987.
UTILIZATION : Terrier.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 3 Terriers.
Section
2 Small sized Terriers.
Without
working trial.
GENERAL
APPEARANCE : Strongly built ; deep in chest and back ribs ; level back
and powerful quarters on muscular legs and exhibiting in a marked degree a
great combination of strength and activity.
BEHAVIOUR
AND TEMPERAMENT : Small, active, game, hardly, possessed of no small amount of
self-esteem with a varminty appearance.
Alert, gay, courageous, self-reliant but friendly.
HEAD : Distance
from occiput to eyes slightly greater than length of foreface. Head thickly coated with hair and carried at
right angle or less to axis of neck.
Head not to be carried in extended position.
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Slightly
domed ; when handled across forehead presents a smooth contour. Tapering very slightly from skull at level of
ears to eyes.
Stop : Distinct stop,
formed by heavy, bony ridges immediately above and slightly overhanging eye,
and slight indentation between eyes.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Black and fairly
large, forming smooth contour with rest of muzzle. Nose not projecting forward.
Muzzle : Foreface
gradually tapering from eye to muzzle.
Not dished nor falling away quickly below eyes, where it is well made
up.
Jaws/Teeth : Jaws strong and
level. As broad between canine teeth as
is consistent with varminty expression required. Teeth large for size of dog, with regular
scissor bite, i. e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set
square to the jaws.
Eyes : Set wide apart,
medium in size, not full, as dark as possible.
Slightly sunk in head, sharp and intelligent, which, looking from under
heavy eyebrows, imparts a piercing look.
Light coloured eyes highly undesirable.
Ears : Small, erect and
carried firmly, terminating in sharp point, set neither too wide nor too
close. Hair short and smooth (velvety),
should not be cut. Free from any fringe
at top. Round-pointed, broad, large or
thick ears or too heavily coated with hair most undesirable.
NECK : Sufficiently long
to allow proper set on of head required, muscular and gradually thickening
towards base allowing neck to merge into nicely sloping shoulders.
BODY : Compact.
Back : Level.
Loins : Broad and strong.
Chest : Deep and ribs
well arched in upper half presenting a flattish side appearance. Back ribs of considerable depth and distance
from last rib of quarters as short as compatible with free movement of body.
TAIL : 12,5-15 cm (5 to
6 inches) long, covered with harsh hair, no feathering, as straight as
possible, carried jauntily, not gay or carried over back. A long tail undesirable, and on no account
should tails be docked.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : Forelegs short
and muscular, straight and thickly covered with short, hard hair.
Shoulders : Sloping
backwards. Shoulder-blades broad and
lying close to chest wall. Shoulder
joint placed forward.
Elbows : Well in, allowing
foreleg to move freely, parallel to axis of body.
HINDQUARTERS : Strong, muscular
and wide across top. Legs short,
muscular and sinewy.
Thighs : Very muscular and
not too wide apart.
Hocks : Bent and well set
in under body so as to be fairly close to each other when standing or
moving. Straight or weak hocks most
undesirable.
FEET : Forefeet larger
than hind, round, proportionate in size, strong, thickly padded and covered
with short harsh hair. Hindfeet are
smaller and thickly padded. Under
surface of pads and all nails preferably black.
GAIT
/ MOVEMENT : Free, straight and easy all round.
In front, legs freely extended forward from shoulder. Hind movement free, strong and close. Stifle and hocks well flexed and hocks drawn
under body giving drive. Stiff, stilted
movement behind and cowhocks highly undesirable.
COAT
HAIR : Double
coated. Outer coat consists of harsh
hair, about 5 cm (2 ins) long, free from any curl. Undercoat, which resembles fur, short, soft
and close. Open coats most undesirable.
COLOUR : White.
SIZE :
Height at withers approximately 28 cm (11
ins).
FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be
considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded
should be in exact proportion to its degree.
N.B. : Male animals
should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.