STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Sometimes, one Westie isn’t enough.

That’s why the proud parents of the distinctive West Highland White Terriers  showed up with 19 of them during their annual Westie Reunion at Hulen Meadows Park this past week.

And, just in case that wasn’t enough, they had T-shirts, handbags from Harrods in London, plates, bowls, —even a purse—sporting the image of the little white dogs.

The furry little dogs resembled soccer-sized snowballs with fur as they tumbled around the green grass.

And, every time a new one showed up, they flocked to it like a magnet—a collective Welcome Wagon sniffing out each newcomer as their stubby little tails vibrated.

“They get together and welcome everyone, even if they’re strangers. No rumbles here,” said Sherry St. Clair.

“What’s striking is how calm the dogs are,” said Ralph Gomory. “Where else can you get this many dogs together without a lot of barking?”

Sherry St. Clair and Jane Beattie started the annual Wagging Tails Picnic nine years ago, after the late Sun Valley ski instructor Jimmy Geier adopted a dog named Itzy Bitzy Bear of Foxfire from a breeder in Bliss. It just so happened the dog was the mother of Dick and Sherry St. Clair’s Westie at the time so it seemed only natural to schedule reunions.

Word spread—at dog groomers, dog parks, over casual meetings between Westie owners on the bike path and even on the lawn at the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. And, soon, the puppy potluck had grown from a handful to two dozen of the Scottish breed with their distinctive white coat, deep-set almond-shaped eyes and pointed ears.

The dogs, which can be traced back to the reign of James VI of Scotland who reigned between 1567 and 1625, were bred to hunt rodents.

“They have the friendly disposition of labs, and they don’t shed,” said Sherry  St. Clair.

“They’re good hikers, too,” said Scott and Charlotta Harris, whose Mackay has been on the 11-mile round trip hike to Alice Lake and skied from Ketchum to Hailey as part of the annual Ski the Rails.

David Hurd rode up on his bike, his little Westie named iPod in the basket. iPod’s fellow Westies gathered around, expectantly looking up as if they were waiting for a long-awaited relative to disembark from a plane.

After a couple minutes, an impatient iPod could stand it no longer and began howling for his master to move things along.

When Hurd finally set the dog down, a licking and sniffing frenzy ensued.

“I have an 8-year-old lab and the two are a dynamic duo—it’s a gas to watch them,” he said. “But it’s the Westie who wears the pants in the family. The moment iPod saw my lab, he grabbed his ear and chewed it as if it were bacon. That ear hasn’t been dry since.”

While the proud puppy parents noshed on guacamole dip, hot dogs (shhhhhh...don’t tell the Westies) and cheese and crackers, the dogs quickly tuned into whoever was handing out beef liver bites, immediately rushing to the hand that was doing the feeding.

“Dogs are not everything in life. But a life without them isn’t quite the same, is it?” said Beattie. “What’s cute about these dogs is their intense inquisitiveness. It’s an evening of pure joy!”

Richard and Sherry St. Clair recently adopted their fourth Westie from a breeder in Moses Lake, Wash. They named the four-month-old dog Nessie after the Loch Ness Monster since it was Scottish. And Sherry were pleased as punch to relate baby stories pointing to Westies’ high IQ.

Among them a visit with Dean and Bonnie Hovencamp and their two-year-old dog.

“They have a wraparound deck and their dog was running circles around the yard. We could see Nessie thinking, ‘I can’t keep up,’ so she assessed the situation and figured out the other dog’s pattern. Nessie didn’t leave the deck but she would meet Sage every time Sage came back around to the deck. And you could tell Sage just couldn’t figure out how Nessie was keeping up with her like that,” said St. Clair.

All of a sudden, Ralph Gomory realized that his Westie Woody was MIA. He whistled and the dog came running, emerging from bushes on the other side of the park.

“He doesn’t consider it obeying. He doesn’t consider that I’m commanding him to come,” said Gomory. “He thinks it’s because I have a treat for him.”

“The thing about these dogs is they’re so patient,” said Gomory’s wife Lilian Wu. “They’re loving of people and other dogs. They’re very curious. And what made me fall in love with them is that they don’t bark. At least, hardly ever.”

As the Westies wrestled and tussled, Elyssa Eva strolled through the park with her tiny mutt named Jackpot. It was the size of the Westies but it definitely didn’t have their pedigree, it being (shudder) grayish black.

Realizing she was on Westie turf, Eva affixed a sign around Jackpot’s neck saying he was a “Wannabe Westy.”

”I think he’s got a little bit of everything in him, so I’m sure he has some Westie,” she ventured.

Jackpot soon found himself in the company of another black sheep of the bunch—a schnauzer sibling of one of the Westies.

“Good thing this isn’t a reunion for labs,” noted one attendee.

“Given all the labs in this valley, we’d need a park as big as Central Park if this were a lab party,” noted Martin McBroom, whose Dundee is his family’s pride and joy.

Too soon it was time to go. The picnic came to an end as the puppy pa’s and ma’s packed up to go off to people events on their social calendar.

“Just when the dogs were getting to know one another!” said John Parker.

But, spurred by the Westie reunion in Sun Valley, Lilian Wu and Ralph Gomory noted that they hoped to take their Westie pride to an even higher level this coming year. They’re considering taking part in the annual New York City Tartan Day Parade down Sixth Avenue.

“They only allow Scottys and Westies—all things Scot,” said Wu.

WANNA BE PART OF THE WESTIE GANG?

The recruiting for next year’s Happy Tail Wagging Picnic is on!

Jane Beattie did a sharp u-turn on Warm Springs Road following the Big Hitch parade Saturday when she saw two people walk into Grumpy’s with two Westies. Turned out they were from Marin County in California in town visiting family. And, yes, they’ve already pledged to join next year’s reunion.

If you want to be included at next year’s Puppy Pot Luck contact Janef.beattie@gmail.com.