History of the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

The origins of the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier are a bit misty, but the breed is thought to date back over 200 years. With the historical Irish emphasis on oral traditions over written ones, it is not too surprising that the history of terriers belonging to farmers and the poorer folk is not well documented. References place long-legged terriers with open coats and wheaten colour in the areas around Cork and Wicklow (southern Ireland) as well as around Ballymena (northern Ireland). These were general purpose farmers' dogs -- a hard life requiring solid, intelligent dogs with enough size to enforce authority, but not so large that upkeep was expensive. He was the enemy of all vermin, would guard the family larder, could herd sheep and cattle and would patrol the boundaries of the small farms to warn off trespassers. He could also be used as a hunting dog and was capable of tracking otter and badgers, taking them both on land and water. Some old-timers referred to him as _"... the best dog ever for poaching."_ In short, he was a strong, medium sized dog of great intelligence and versatility.

The modern history of the breed is closely related to that of Ireland's other two breeds of long legged terriers, the Irish and Kerry Blue Terriers (IT and KBT respectively). Native wheaten terriers are thought to be important in the origin of both breeds. Indeed, an original legend of the KBT has a blue dog swimming ashore after a shipwreck and breeding with existing wheaten coloured terriers to begin the breed (the wrecked ship was either from the Spanish Armada, a Russian fisherman, or a Portuguese fisherman -- take your pick).

Irish terriers were first shown as a distinct class at dog shows in Dublin in the 1870's. A reporter of an 1876 show stated about Irish Terriers that _"Prizes had gone to long legs, short legs, hard coats, soft coats, thick skulls, long thin skulls, and some prize winners were mongrels."_ The first standard for Irish Terriers was not drawn up until 1880. At that time terriers of the same general size, but with open or soft coats were still often benched with the Irish Terriers. Included in these soft coated varieties were dogs with silver, gray, blue and wheaten colours. The KBT was separated out as a distinct breed during the time period between 1914 and 1922 and actually the breed's early popularity centred in England where the modern style of trimming Kerries was developed and the breed was refined. The Wheaten did not prick the interest of dog fanciers as early as did its two close cousins. As times changed during the early part of this century and travel improved, the number of pure specimens declined and the breed almost vanished.

The turning point for the breed was a terrier field trial in 1932 where a Wheaten terrier performed exceptionally well. Patrick Blake, a noted fancier of Kerry Blues, was very impressed and he became convinced that the breed should be rescued from obscurity/extinction. He prevailed upon his friend Dr. G. J. Pierse to start a club for the breed and sponsor it for recognition by the Irish Kennel Club. Good specimens of the breed were still to be found and the breed began to prosper. Recognition by the Irish Kennel Club was achieved in 1937 and they were first officially presented at an Irish Kennel Club show in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day. At that time a certificate of gameness was required to achieve a conformation championship.