Routes and stops for a terrier who hunts first and listens later
A West Highland White Terrier evacuates as a small dog with a large agenda, so plan two routes out of your area with stops where she can be walked on a lead over ground that does not teem with squirrels, rabbits, or seabirds. She rides in a crate she already naps in, secured in the car, because a loose Westie will be at the window hunting through glass and under the driver's feet at the worst moment. Drive both routes in advance with her aboard, practising calm exits at each stop: crate opened only after the lead is clipped on, a short sniff walk, water, and back in.
Shelter checks done at terrier height
Judge every temporary shelter from thirty centimetres up. At a relative's house, walk the garden fence line yourself, looking for the gaps a Westie considers doors: under gates, behind sheds, at the loose corner panel she will excavate within the hour. Ask kennels whether small terriers get a run with a solid or buried fence base and how they supervise dogs who dig, and ask hotels about ground-floor rooms so corridor dashes stay short. A Westie is hardy and adaptable indoors, but outdoors she is an escape project with a white coat, so containment, not comfort, is the deciding question for every host on your shortlist.
The white coat and the terrier temperament in shelter life
Pack for the coat she actually has: that bright white double coat shows every muddy rest stop and mats at the collar and armpits during a damp week away, so her kit needs a brush, a towel, and wipes, plus a few minutes of grooming in each shelter day. Skin-wise, Westies can be itchy dogs; keep her on her usual food without experimenting mid-evacuation, note any skin routine she follows on her information sheet, and keep her bedding her own rather than borrowed and freshly washed in unfamiliar products. Temperament belongs on that sheet too: friendly, bold, likely to bark at corridor noises and to treat a strange cat as a declaration of war, so hosts can house her thoughtfully.
Her go-bag and the car routine
Keep one bag by her crate holding several days of her usual food in daily portions, water and a small sturdy bowl, her harness and lead plus a spare lead, waste bags, grooming basics, her blanket, and a chew for check-in queues. Add her records, microchip number, your veterinarian's contact, and a recent photograph; a white terrier in a muddy state looks quite unlike her portrait, so note her size, ear carriage, and any skin markings in words as well. If she cuts a paw on debris or picks up something suspect at a rest stop during the real thing, a veterinarian along the route is the call, and your written plan should list clinics on both routes rather than relying on a phone signal and a search.
Identification for a dog who will not be caught easily
If a Westie slips her lead or digs out of a temporary garden, she will not necessarily come when a stranger calls; terriers in hunting mode go deaf to everyone, and she may only be secured when she pauses at a fence line or is cornered kindly in a garden. That makes instant identification on the dog herself the layer that reunites you. Verify her microchip registration shows your current mobile number by having it checked, keep her photograph on your phone, and fit her everyday collar through KinsLe's Verified QR ID Pet Profiles: the finder who finally clips a lead on her can scan the code and reach her profile and your contact details on the spot, instead of waiting for a clinic or shelter to open.