Start by simply standing them on a table brushing. Touching other areas like feet, ears and tail occasionally. Of course make sure you get them use to having their nails clipped from an early age as well. A small table that limits their movement or even the top of your washing machine will do. You may or may not choose to use a noose to keep some control over the dog.

There are various ways to groom a westie in order to keep them neat, tidy and clean. There is the "pet coat" and the "show coat". A westie should have a dual textured coat but this will only result from the correct method of grooming and one of the benefits of this coat is that it is very simple to keep clean.

To start off you will need brush, comb, flea comb and scissors. Rounded safety scissors are best for use around the eyes and ear tips.

Brush and comb the dog and then use scissors to trim:

• Trim the ears so that they come to a point. The tip, about the width of your little finger, should be trimmed close and look smooth and velvety. The hair on the head should never stand up higher than the ears. The head should look round and is supposed to look like a chrysanthemum when viewed from the front.
• The eyes - taking a great deal of care in this area.
• The feet - Trim the hair around the feet. Underneath - the hair needs to be removed from between the pads.
• Trim the back of the tail so that there is no flagging and shape the tail to a point. The tail should look like an inverted carrot.
• The butt needs to be kept trimmed close to prevent Klingons.

1. You may choose to clipper the dogs body. By far the easiest method but the drawback here is that the coat will remain soft and not develop the harsh protective outer coat. Another disadvantage is that the coat will get dirty very easily.

2. Your second choice is to hand strip the dog. This will encourage the growth of the harsh outer coat. It is very easy to keep clean and in my opinion is much better for the health of the dogs skin. It may sound a tedious process and does take some getting use to. This is also the method that should be used should you be wanting to show your dog.

   Try pulling a few hairs from the back a little at a time. You will not hurt the dog. In fact you will find that he/she will actually like it. Work your way down the dogs back but remember to always pull in the direction you want the hair to grow. Straight down the back, angled on the shoulders and hips, straight down the sides. When you are first starting working on a dog, all the hair needs to come out. So don't worry you can't pull a wrong one! You can cheat and use thinning scissors to blend the coat into the dogs skirt.

   Just remember the coat is very forgiving and like a human haircut, mistakes disappear is a very short time. It is difficult to explain where to stop stripping and start blending but if you have a decent Westie book there should be diagrams in there that you can follow.

   If you have a puppy and the hair will not come out then you will need to wait a few more weeks until it is ready. The hair should come out with very little effort.