Choosing the right breeder is the most important decision you’ll make when bringing home a West Highland White Terrier. It shapes your dog’s health, temperament and the support you get for the next decade and a half. Here’s how to tell the good from the questionable — including what Ontario law now requires.

What a reputable Westie breeder does

  • Health-tests their breeding dogs and is open about the results, including what testing can and cannot rule out
  • Raises puppies in the home, underfoot and well socialized, not isolated in a barn or outbuilding
  • Specializes — deep knowledge of one or a few breeds beats a catalogue of whatever is currently popular
  • Is transparent about lineage, health history and the puppy’s early care
  • Lets you visit and meet the dam and see where the puppies are raised
  • Asks you questions — a good breeder cares where their puppies go and will turn down a poor match
  • Uses a written contract and provides vaccination and deworming records and a veterinary health check
  • Keeps puppies to at least eight weeks, which in Ontario is now a legal minimum, not a preference
  • Provides ongoing support and takes a dog back at any point in its life if your circumstances change

What Ontario law now requires

Ontario passed the Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act — commonly called the PUPS Act — which received royal assent on 6 June 2024 and amends the province’s Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act. It makes a set of harmful breeding practices explicitly illegal in Ontario, including:

  • Breeding a female dog more than three times in a two-year period, or taking more than two litters from consecutive heat cycles
  • Breeding a female dog under twelve months of age, or breeding her for the first time before her second heat
  • Breeding a parent dog with its own offspring, or breeding siblings from the same parents
  • Separating puppies from their mother before eight weeks of age
  • Failing to isolate a dog reasonably believed to have a contagious disease
  • Failing to keep a dog’s environment sanitary and free from accumulated waste

The Act also introduced minimum penalties — $10,000 for operating a puppy mill, and $25,000 where a violation results in the death of a dog — and record-keeping requirements for breeders.

Two things worth understanding about this law. First, it sets a floor, not a standard of excellence: a breeder can comply with every clause and still not be the kind of breeder you want. Second, Ontario does not require dog breeders to hold a licence, a gap animal welfare organizations have criticised. There is no registry you can check. That means the burden of due diligence still sits with you — but you now have a concrete list of practices that are not merely frowned upon but illegal, and a breeder who is casual about any of them has told you something important.

Registration and breed clubs

In Canada, purebred dogs sold as purebred are registered with the Canadian Kennel Club, and under federal law a dog represented as purebred must be registerable. Ask whether the puppies will be CKC-registered and whether registration papers are included — and be wary of vague answers, of “papers available for an extra fee” arrangements, or of registries you’ve never heard of, several of which exist mainly to give unregistered dogs the appearance of pedigree.

Involvement in the breed community — a national or regional Westie club, conformation, performance sports, health surveys — is a good sign. It means the breeder is accountable to peers who know the breed.

Questions to ask a Westie breeder

Don’t be shy. A reputable breeder welcomes questions and will happily spend an hour on the phone with you.

  • What health testing have the sire and dam had, and may I see the results?
  • What health issues have you seen in your line, and how have you bred to reduce them?
  • May I visit and meet the mother and see where the puppies are raised?
  • How are the puppies socialized — what do they meet and experience before they leave?
  • At what age do puppies go home, and what veterinary care will they have had?
  • What does your contract cover, and what health guarantee do you provide?
  • Will the puppies be CKC-registered, and are papers included?
  • What support do you offer afterwards, and what happens if I can no longer keep the dog?
  • Are there conditions on the sale, such as a spay or neuter requirement?
  • May I speak to families who have taken puppies from you before?

Notice how many of these are about what happens after the sale. That is deliberate: the difference between a good breeder and a seller shows up most clearly in the years afterwards.

Red flags to watch for

  • Multiple breeds and multiple litters always available — the hallmark of volume, not care
  • Won’t let you visit, or offers to meet you in a car park or ship a puppy sight unseen
  • Won’t let you meet the mother, or produces a dog that seems unfamiliar with the puppies
  • Vague or evasive about health testing, or promises a puppy free of all breed conditions — for several Westie conditions no such test exists
  • Puppies available under eight weeks — now illegal in Ontario
  • Asks you nothing about your home, your experience or your plans
  • Pressure to decide quickly, or to pay a large deposit by e-transfer before you’ve met anyone
  • Prices well below the market, or a “rare” coloured Westie — the breed is white, full stop
  • No written contract, no vaccination records, no veterinary check

Online scams are also worth knowing about. Puppy listings using stolen photographs, requests for deposits by e-transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency, and a seller who will only communicate by text are a well-documented pattern. A real breeder will speak to you on the phone and let you visit.

Why this matters so much

How a puppy is bred and raised shapes its health and temperament for life. The critical socialization window falls almost entirely before a puppy leaves the breeder, and it cannot be recovered later. Health outcomes are influenced by decisions made before the litter was ever conceived. See our guides on Westie health and lifespan and temperament for the full picture.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find a reputable Westie breeder in Ontario?

Start with breed club referrals rather than classified sites, expect to join a waiting list, insist on visiting in person, ask to see health testing results, and be prepared for the breeder to interview you as thoroughly as you interview them.

Are dog breeders licensed in Ontario?

No. Ontario’s PUPS Act prohibits specific harmful breeding practices and sets minimum penalties, but it does not require breeders to hold a licence, and there is no provincial registry of breeders to check. Due diligence remains the buyer’s responsibility.

At what age can a puppy legally leave the breeder in Ontario?

Eight weeks. Separating a puppy from its mother before eight weeks of age is prohibited under the PUPS Act.

Should I buy a Westie puppy from Kijiji or Facebook?

Be very careful. Classified and social platforms are the primary sales channel for high-volume and fraudulent sellers. Some legitimate breeders do advertise there, but the listing tells you nothing — the visit, the health testing and the questions the breeder asks you are what matter.

What’s the difference between a reputable breeder and a backyard breeder?

Mainly intent and rigour. A reputable breeder breeds to improve the breed, health-tests, plans pairings, socializes deliberately and supports puppies for life. A backyard breeder produces litters without that structure — often without ill intent, but without the safeguards that protect the puppy and you.

About Cedar Creek Westies

We’re a small Ontario breeder devoted to the West Highland White Terrier, raising healthy, well-socialized puppies in our home. We’re happy to answer any of the questions above — including the difficult ones. If that’s the kind of start you want for your puppy, start an application or get in touch.

Ready to welcome a Westie? Our Westie puppies are bred by Cedar Creek Kennels in Amaranth, Ontario — a CKC member breeder raising West Highland White Terriers since 2007. See current availability, or fill out a puppy application to join the waitlist.