Judging the SOFT COATED WHEATEN TERRIER T he Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier was developed by the Irish farmer to be an all-purpose dog. He was undoubt- edly called upon to be, first and foremost, a companion to the hard-working Irishman. He probably guarded his master’s boundaries and possibly dispatched vermin and performed other tasks natural to his terrier ancestry. BY CINDY VOGELS A Wheaten that is low on leg with adequate bone will be rect- angular and appear squat. Unfortunately, it is this outline that is often seen today.
An overly large Wheaten with adequate bone will approach an Airedale in type and be coarse. Of course, they don’t actually look like an Airedale, but there is a preponderance of Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers in the ring today that are very coarse. In par- ticular, their heads are as broad in skull as an average Airedale. The rectangular head of the Wheaten is most similar to that of the Kerry Blue. The skull should be flat between the ears (no bumpiness or roundness), and the cheeks should be clean. The skull should be able to be spanned by an average man’s hand. Many Wheatens have overly broad skulls and prominent zygo- matic arches, which should be penalized. There should be just a moderate stop. Often, the stop is too steep, resulting in head planes that are not parallel. The muzzle should be equal in length to the skull and be well-filled under the eyes. Not wedge-shaped, the muzzle should fill an average man’s hand. The eyes are fair- ly wide-set and slightly almond in shape. Prominent, close-set, round eyes are occasionally seen and should be penalized. The nose is large for the size of the dog and must be black, as is the area surrounding the eye. The size and carriage of the ears is one of the unique features of the Wheaten that sets him apart from his Kerry cousin. The SCWT’s ears are set lower than the Kerry and the tip points to the ground rather than to the eye. Whereas the Standard calls for the ear to “break level with the skull,” it is generally agreed upon that the ear appears to break level with the skull because of the length of hair on the topskull and ears. In fact, the ears generally break a little above the level of the skull. If the ears are correctly small-to-medium in size, the tips should not extend below the outside corner of the eye. Wheatens are moderately angulated, front and rear. The shoul- der and forearm are ideally equal in length and angulated enough to provide a slight forechest (prosternum). Rears must balance fronts. Care should be taken to penalize Wheatens with overly long, or short, second thighs. Hocks should be short. Toplines should be level and croups flat so that tailsets are high and there is “butt” behind the tail.
The actual history of the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is some- what vague; the most likely scenario included the existence of a vari- ety of long-legged terriers bred by Irish farmers in the 19th century. Some were red, some wheaten, some black. Their coats varied from wiry to smooth, some open and soft. Since the villages were iso- lated geographically, various strains of terriers developed regionally, becoming the Irish, Kerry Blue, and Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers. The first imports to the US came in the 1940s, but those original dogs do not figure in the gene pool of the present-day Wheaten. The foundation stock came to these shores from Ireland in the 1960s. A national club was formed in 1962, and the breed is blessed with a core of fanciers who have been active since the ‘60s. Shown in Mis- cellaneous Classes for many years, we took our place in the Terrier Group in 1973. The introductory paragraph of the AKC Breed Standard gives the picture of a medium-sized, square terrier that sports a slightly wavy coat of any shade of warm wheat. The SCW’s particularly steady disposition is stressed. Structurally, the Soft Coated Wheaten is an uncomplicated breed. They are square in outline. Because they are long-legged ter- riers, they should stand up on leg. Nature is a great modifier, so maintaining length of leg must always be reinforced. As the Kerry Blue Standard shuns the “low-slung” Kerry, so should lack of leg be penalized when judging the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. To create the required square outline, there must be equal balance between length of leg and length of body. Please note that length of body is defined as the distance between the point of shoulder and the point of buttocks. The distance from withers to elbow should approxi- mate the distance from elbow to ground. Wheatens must possess adequate length of head and neck to complete a pleasing picture. The word “elegant” appears nowhere in the Standard, but it is the harmony of these proportions in the proper-sized, medium-boned dog that creates the desired balance that can be termed “elegant.”
250 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MARCH 2024
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