Appearance

Appearance

Westies have soft, dense, thick undercoat and a rough outer coat

Commonly, Westies have bright, deep-set, almond-shaped eyes that are dark in colour. Its ears are pointed and erect.^[1] Members of the breed typically weigh between 15 and 20 pounds (6.8 and 9.1 kg), and the average height is between 10–11 inches (25–28 cm) at the withers.^[1] The body should be shorter than the height of the dog at the shoulder.^[1]
It also has a deep chest, muscular limbs, a black nose, a short and a closely fitted jaw with "scissors" bite (lower canines locked in front of upper canines, upper incisors locked over lower incisors).^[2] The Westie's paws are slightly turned out to give it better grip than flat footed breeds when it climbs on rocky surfaces.^[3] In young puppies, the nose and footpads have pink markings, which slowly turn black as it ages.^[2]
It has a soft, dense, thick undercoat and a rough outer coat,^[1] which can grow to about 2 inches (5.1 cm) long.^[2] The fur fills out the face to give a rounded appearance.^[1] As it develops into adults, its coarse outer coat is normally removed by either "hand-stripping", especially for dog-showing, or otherwise clipping.<sup>[1]   


***information obtained via the internet 12/23/14</sup>