Start searching where a Westie would actually go
A missing West Highland White Terrier is most often found close to home in the first hour, following scent, prey, or a familiar walking route rather than running in a straight line. Begin at the exact point she was last seen and work outward slowly on foot, calling her name in a normal, cheerful voice. Check under cars, behind bins, inside open garages and sheds, along hedgerows, and at any gate, gap, or loose fence panel a determined little terrier could squeeze or dig through.
Ask a second person to stay at home with the door or garden gate safely open if that can be done without risking other pets. Westies frequently circle back to their own territory once the excitement fades, and a dog who returns to an empty, closed house may wander off again. Leave an item carrying your scent and her bedding near the entrance, plus water, so the spot smells like home if she finds her own way back.
Make yourself easy to recognise and reach
A Westie's white coat helps in daylight but can vanish against pale walls, gravel, and winter light, so tell searchers exactly what to look for. Share her size, coat length, collar colour, any shaved patch or recent grooming difference, and whether she is likely to approach strangers or bolt from them. A chase pushes a terrier further and faster, while crouching sideways, staying quiet, and letting her close the distance works far better.
Give every helper the same recent photograph and one phone number that will definitely be answered.
Alert the local net within that same hour
Phone your microchip company in the first hour and confirm your contact details are current, because a scanned chip only helps if the number it reaches is live. Call nearby veterinary practices, animal shelters, the local dog warden or animal control service, and any community groups for your streets, and leave the same short description each time.
Post in local lost-pet and neighbourhood groups with the photo, the street area she vanished from, the time, and clear instructions to phone sightings in rather than pursue her. Note every sighting with its time and direction of travel on a map or in a notebook. A pattern of sightings around two or three streets tells you where to concentrate, while scattered reports usually mean people are describing her early path rather than where she has settled.
What not to do while the clock is running
Do not spend the first hour only driving around, because a small Westie tucked under a hedge or inside an outbuilding will not hear a name called from a passing car. Do not assume a microchipped dog will simply be returned without your calls — someone still has to find her, catch her safely, and take her to be scanned.
If she is wearing a collar tag, keep your phone unblocked and charged, and if she is not home by nightfall, plan a fresh search at dawn, when quiet streets and hunger often bring a hiding dog out.
Keep one clear record of the search
Write down who you have called, which streets have been walked, and each sighting as it arrives, so helpers are not re-searching the same gardens while an unchecked allotment or footpath sits two streets away. For a breed as portable and appealing as a Westie, fast, consistent identification details matter, because a finder may carry her home before anyone official is involved. KinsLe's Lost Pet Alert System puts that alert in front of nearby pet lovers straight away, and lets whoever finds your Westie contact you through her profile rather than waiting for office hours.