anyone know how to go about finding a mate for my dog

First of all, your westie is much too young to be bred. She needs to be at least 2 years before being bred at all. She is not mature enough to have puppies at that age, she is much more likely to reject them and leave the pups to you to handfeed and care for. Second, is she from show lines with champions in her lineage? Is her parents and grandparents health-tested from all the genetic diseases that westies are prone to? (This does not mean a vet's simple okay to be bred, it's thorough testing that is very often expensive). Third, if she is from a good lineage, then you need to start showing her to get her own championship to show she is a good example of the breed. Once she has gotten the championship and she is about two years or more of age, then you can health-test her for all the genetic diseases and assuming those check out good, then find a purebred male westie who has done all the same that you have just done with your female, championships, health-testing, etc. All in all, breeding is EXPENSIVE. You need to have money saved up in case she needs a c-section. For shots, deworming, microchipping, vet care, premium food, showing, health-testing, etc. You need a mentor that can and will walk you through every step of the way. It can be heartbreaking cause in bad cases you can lose some of the pups, or even the mother to the pups and you'd end up handfeeding a litter of puppies every 2 hours 24/7 for weeks, both day and night. I hope you're not working cause the first few weeks of the puppies' lives, they will need someone there to look after them and make sure the mom doesn't reject them. They'll need to be weaned onto proper good quality puppy food (not junk food like pedigree or iams or hills, look into canidae, innova or orijen instead). You will need to find good responsible homes for the puppies before they are even born, keep in contact with the owners throughout the puppies lives and if any of the owners cannot keep the puppy anymore, you need to be ready to take the puppy back at any time as the pups are your responsibility as you brought them into this world. You have to keep the pups until they are minimum 8 weeks but preferably 10-12 weeks so they get the chance to learn how to be a dog from their mother and littermates. There are of course breeders who skip doing these crucial steps, let puppies leave way too soon, and they are called backyard breeders. Greedy people who only do it for money, or people who just want to let their female or even their children experience 'the miracle of birth'. There are countless of dogs being put to sleep daily because there are simply not enough dog owners around. Please do not contribute to this problem. A dog will be just as happy not having puppies at all. In fact, the absolute best thing you can do for your female is to wait out this heat and spay her as soon as possible afterwards.

Is your westie show-quality and do you participate in breed shows? With the number of dogs put down due to irresponsible breeding, both intentional & accidental, consider if it's right to breed your dog too. If your dog is absolutely a perfect representation of the breed, then by breeding you may be helping to preserve a great line of dogs. However if your dog is pet quality (not that there is anything wrong with your dog & I am sure she's perfect to you) then really you're just putting out a handful of puppies to compete with the dogs waiting for loving homes in shelters. It's also incredibly expensive to breed ethically. Parents & puppies should be registered. Mom should have a sound bill of health, including checking for any genetic defects that your breed is prone to (I don't know what those would be with Westies specifically). Puppies should have vaccines current when they go to their new home, which can be several series if their not sold/gifted until they're older. There are health risks for your b*tch, could you afford a dog c-section if needed? etc. I've bred professionally. I'm not one of those militant breeders that think no one should hobby breed. But I do feel all potential pet breeders should consider these questions before proceeding. If you do decide to breed her, I wish you luck & healthy perky puppies.

I think you should check with your vet before breeding her, even though she is old enough to be in heat, that doesn't mean she is necessarly prepared to carry a litter of puppies and have everyone end up healthy. I'm generally against hobby breeding anyway, since I worked in an animal shelter where we had to but dozens of dogs down every month just because there weren't enough homes for everyone. Every puppy a hobby breeder intentionally produces takes up another home that could have gone to a stray instead. However, if you do choose to go through with it, please make sure you can cover the costs of any emergency care needed and have responsible homes lined up for the puppies before you breed (preferably ones that agree to not breed the dogs at all, since that just exacerbates the overpopulation problem).

Please spay her. =