A Chat with Westies Aberdeen Founder

Creator Jenny Gordon chats with us over why she created the popular Facebook group for our beloved national breed, the West Highland Terrier.

"The walks have brought Westies together but also people."

Westies Aberdeen, with now over 1000 members, began in 2014 after Jenny Gordon, 38 realised her two Westies would wag their tails more after meeting certain someones on their daily walks.

Sparkie, then 6 and Diego, then 4 were always way more excited whenever they met their fellow Westies while stretching their wee legs.

“ I was always out and about with my two and they just loved it whenever we met other Westies. They got more excited than when we met other kinds of dogs and I thought it might be nice for Westies to walk together.”

The social group began not just as a way for organising those all important walks. Jenny had another goal in mind - to build a community of like minded people to share advice and affection over their lovable pets.

Jenny said: "Whenever I have an issue with one of mine, I will ask on the page first as usually there is someone there who has experienced the same thing and can offer advice. We also have advice from breeders on new pups etc and we get to see the pups from birth until they leave their mum and beyond."

Westies Aberdeen has grown from its first walk in 2014 with 30 mixed attendees of owners and Westies to now well over 100 participants sometimes. The walks themselves take place all year round and are hosted in Duthie Park, Hazlehead Park, Crathes Castle and Aberdeen Beach.

Jenny hopes that with the growth of her group it will branch out into hosting walks all over Aberdeenshire on a more continual and scheduled basis.

The Westie owner hopes members of the group will begin to take charge with creating and hosting their own walks for the benefit of ownesr and their westies alike.