Who a Westie's emergency plan calls, in order
A West Highland White Terrier's emergency contact plan lists you first, then a backup close enough to arrive quickly with a spare key, then a second backup for the days the first is away. Next to each name put the reliable numbers and a short statement of their job: feeding visits, transport to the vet, or authority to approve urgent treatment if you cannot be reached and delay would harm the dog.
Below the people, write your regular veterinary practice, its phone number, the out-of-hours clinic with its full address, and your own address set out clearly for a driver. Add where this Westie's lead, harness and carrier live. A small terrier can be carried when injured, but a hurt Westie may still wriggle and snap in pain, so note the blanket-wrap method that keeps both dog and helper safe on the way to the car.
Terrier handling: bold, busy and not reliably obedient off lead
A West Highland White Terrier was bred to go to ground after quarry, and an emergency plan should respect that wiring rather than hope it away. Tell every contact the garden rules for this dog: check the gate is latched before letting him out, supervise outside time because Westies dig under fences with real commitment, and block any gap behind sheds or compost bins where a terrier can squeeze through and vanish. On walks, the instruction is a fixed lead and no off-lead freedom near roads, livestock or wildlife, because a Westie's chase instinct can override months of recall training in a second.
Skin, ears, meals and coat: the Westie specifics on the sheet
A West Highland White Terrier's plan should record the care your vet already oversees for this dog, in plain copied-from-the-file terms: any recurring skin sensitivity or ear trouble on record, what the practice has advised for flare-ups, and the date of the last review. A helper who knows the usual state of this Westie's skin will notice genuine change, while one working blind may either panic at normal or miss something that matters. Add walk lengths, favourite games, toilet routine and sleeping place, so the dog's day with a sitter feels like his own day, only with a different person in it.
Authority to act, and where this terrier sleeps if you are stuck
An emergency plan for a West Highland White Terrier should state plainly who can authorise urgent veterinary care in your absence and how payment will be settled with the clinic. Write it as a short signed instruction, check the named backup is willing, and hand them a copy long before the plan is tested. If you keep any pet-care paperwork the clinic may ask for, note its location rather than attaching originals to a sheet that gets recopied. A confident little dog often copes well with a familiar backup's home, but only if that home's garden has been checked for terrier-sized escape routes first.
Keep the Westie's plan as sharp as the dog
A West Highland White Terrier's contact sheet should be reviewed after each vet visit and whenever a named contact moves, changes number or stops being local. Replace the copy at home and the copies held by backups together, because a plan is only trustworthy when every version in circulation agrees. A quick test call to each number during the review takes minutes and proves the sheet works.
Filed inside KinsLe Pet Passport, this Westie's contacts, identity details and veterinary records form one portable packet, so a sitter or clinic receives the whole picture in a single handover instead of fragments.