Nobody buys a Wheaten for its medical history. People want the soft, wavy coat that sheds very little, and the cheerful, bouncy terrier that comes with it.
The history is still worth reading before you put down a deposit. Littman and colleagues recorded 222 cases of familial protein-losing enteropathy and nephropathy in Wheatens between 1983 and 1997 (Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2000). Addison’s disease and renal dysplasia sit alongside those, so screening the parents matters about as much as keeping up with the brushing.
The dog itself is a medium-sized Irish terrier, 17 to 19.5 inches tall and 30 to 45 pounds. It needs frequent brushing and roughly an hour of exercise a day.
What Is the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier?
Developed as an all-purpose farm dog, the Wheaten is a medium-sized Irish terrier with a soft, silky, wavy coat.
Owners call it the Wheaten or the Wheatie. In Irish the name is An Brocaire Buí, literally the yellow terrier.
Most historians trace the breed back about 200 years, and the AKC notes records of numerous Wheatens in County Kerry as far back as 1785 (AKC, 2022). Poor tenant farmers kept them to guard the household, herd sheep, kill vermin and hunt small game.
Many fanciers believe the Wheaten predates its closest kin, the Kerry Blue.
The Irish Terrier, the other close relative, was being shown in the 1870s. That’s roughly sixty years before the Irish Kennel Club accepted the Wheaten in 1937.
That 1937 acceptance came with a championship show debut on St. Patrick’s Day. The Kennel Club in the UK followed in 1943. The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of America was founded in 1962, and the AKC made its Stud Book entry on 1 May 1973, with Terrier Group eligibility following on 3 October 1973. The United Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1978.
The US took longer than anyone expected. A litter of six arrived from Belfast in November 1946, public interest stayed low, and AKC recognition came 26 years after the first Wheatens were shown (AKC, 2022).
How Big Does a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Get?
Most adults stand about 17 to 19.5 inches at the withers and weigh 30 to 45 pounds. The exact figure depends on which source you read.
| Source | Height at withers | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| The Kennel Club standard (UK) | Males 18 to 19.5 in (46 to 49 cm), females slightly less | Males 35 to 45 lb (16 to 20.5 kg), females somewhat less |
| United Kennel Club standard (revised 2007) | Males 18 to 19 in, females somewhat less | Males 40 to 45 lb |
| Hill’s Pet Nutrition breed profile | Males 19 in, females 18 in | Males 35 to 40 lb, females 30 to 35 lb |
| VCA Animal Hospitals | 17 to 19 in (both sexes) | 30 to 40 lb (both sexes) |
The gap comes down to what each source is measuring. Standards describe the ideal show dog, and The Kennel Club says outright that its figures don’t mean an individual dog will match them.
VCA and some other veterinary profiles blend both sexes into one range, which pulls the ceiling down.
Females run smaller than males wherever a source splits them. The outline is square and sturdy. Never long-backed, never leggy.
What Does the Wheaten Coat Look Like?
It’s a single layer of soft, silky hair with a gentle wave, in any shade of wheaten.
There’s no real undercoat. The UKC standard tolerates traces on the ears only and faults a mature coat that isn’t a clear wheaten (UKC, 2007).
Adolescents run light but never white, and according to the AKC standard gray belongs only on the ears and muzzle.
Puppy Coat and Adult Coat
Puppies are seldom born with the correct color or texture (FCI standard, 2019). They arrive reddish, grayish or dark, and the coat shifts with age.
The standards don’t agree on when the change ends. The FCI says the adult coat develops between 18 months and 2.5 years. The AKC standard has the color transition running from about six months to two years, and the Canadian Kennel Club says color and texture don’t settle until about three years.
Read together, they put the settling point somewhere between two and three years. Deep puppy color doesn’t predict adult color either, a caution the AKC standard makes itself.
The Wheaten Terrier Club in the UK says the puppy coat starts changing at around seven months and the transition takes until two to three years. Combing daily through this stretch is a must. Afterward, roughly twice a week is enough, depending on the coat.
Irish Coat and American Coat
Two coat types exist, and the labels carry some baggage.
The Irish coat is thinner, silkier and wavier, and it lies close to the body. The UK breed club calls it the original Wheaten coat. The heavy (American) coat is thicker and fuller, and it’s the one pictured in most breed books. Show rings tend to favor it because dogs with that coat look mature earlier.
Genetics is where it gets practical. The UK club reports that two heavy-coated parents produce only heavy-coated puppies, while a pure-line Irish parent bred to a heavy-coated one normally throws all Irish coats, because the Irish gene is dominant.
Not everyone accepts the split. An AKC judge writing in Showsight argues that very different puppy coats mature into similar adult coats, and that texture follows heredity rather than birthplace.
Either type mats without steady brushing, per Hill’s.
What Is the Wheaten Terrier Temperament?
Wheatens are friendly and spirited, and they’re devoted to their people. They also have a stubborn streak, which is the terrier showing through. The AKC profile frames it as a softer terrier that still makes its own decisions.
The spirit shows early. A UK breed club says the game, lively nature is visible by 12 weeks and the puppy-like enthusiasm lasts well into old age.
Dogs NSW warns that owners who can’t give regular exercise should think twice. High energy is part of the temperament, not a phase.
With Children and Other Pets
Sources split on small children. VCA Animal Hospitals rates the breed 5 out of 5 for children. Purina’s New Zealand breed library is more cautious and calls it not ideal with babies or toddlers, since the terrier nature is not forgiving and the time demands are heavy.
The practical reading is to supervise the toddler years and expect the dog to enjoy older children who can keep up.
Wheatens generally get along with other dogs. Smaller animals need care, because the breed worked as a vermin killer and small-game hunter (AKC, 2022). Introduce cats and small pets like rabbits and hamsters slowly.
Barking and the Wheaten Greetin’
Dogs New Zealand rates watchdog ability high and protection ability low. A Wheaten announces visitors, then welcomes them.
The “Wheaten greetin'” is the breed’s jumping, spinning hello for people it loves. It’s charming for about a week, then the muddy paws arrive.
Teach a sit before every greeting and reward it each time. The rule only sticks if every visitor follows it.
How Much Exercise and Training Does a Wheaten Need?
Plan on an hour a day. Published floors run from more than 40 minutes (Hill’s) to a full hour (PDSA), and The Kennel Club tops its own guidance at one hour.
Mix the hour up. Purina’s breed library suggests varied walking routes, a secure place to run off lead, scent work and chasing thrown toys.
Puppies get short sessions, not long forced walks, while their joints develop.
Reward-based training built on food and games works best. VCA describes the breed as eager to please but headstrong, and Dogs New Zealand rates trainability as moderate.
Recall deserves extra work. A terrier that catches a scent leaves. Use a long line until the recall is reliable, and only run off lead inside fences.
Short on time? Then this is the wrong breed. A bored Wheaten finds its own work.
How to Groom a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Brush and comb on most days. Sources disagree on exactly how often, and the answer depends on how much coat you keep.
VCA Animal Hospitals says every other day. The Kennel Club says every day. Hill’s goes further, nearly every day and as often as three times a day to prevent mats.
Dogs New Zealand rates the breed’s grooming demand as high. It puts a bath and trim at roughly every other month.
Owners who clip a pet coat to about 3 inches cut the workload but lose the breed’s typical outline, according to The Kennel Club.
A full session from start to finish goes like this.
- Pick a metal comb that reaches the skin, plus a slicker brush. The comb finds tangles your hand misses.
- Mist the coat lightly with water or a grooming spray.
- Work in sections, brushing in straight lines from the skin outward.
- Check the mat-prone spots, which means the legs, the belly and behind the ears.
- Finish with a comb pass over the whole coat.
- Trim nails last. The SCWTCA publishes a nail-trimming guide for owners.
Ears need their own routine. Floppy ears carrying long hair are more prone to infection, per the Orvis breed guide, and Lemonade’s 2025 insurance claims list ear infections among the breed’s common claim types.
A dog ear wipe after baths and heavy play keeps wax and moisture from building up.
Do Wheatens Shed, and Are They Hypoallergenic?
Wheatens shed little. The AKC calls the coat low-shedding but prone to matting.
“Hypoallergenic” is a different claim. A 2012 Utrecht University study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology measured the major dog allergen Can f 1 in hair, coat and home samples from breeds marketed as hypoallergenic and from conventional breeds.
The marketed breeds carried higher Can f 1 in their hair. Differences between breeds were small compared with the variation inside each breed, and airborne levels didn’t differ.
Wheatens weren’t among the breeds tested (Labradoodle, Poodle, Spanish Water Dog, Airedale Terrier). The finding still applies. Low shedding is a fact about the coat, and an allergy-proof dog doesn’t exist.
If anyone in the household reacts to dogs, spend time with the specific dog before committing.
Which Health Problems Affect Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers?
Protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), protein-losing nephropathy (PLN), Addison’s disease and renal dysplasia are the inherited conditions that define Wheaten health.
Veterinary researchers have tracked them since 1983 and group them with food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease as hypersensitivity and immune-mediated disease. The landmark case series, Littman and colleagues in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (2000), covered 222 dogs with familial PLE or PLN seen from 1983 to 1997.
| Condition | Organ | Key marker | Onset |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLE | Intestine | Low albumin and low globulin in blood | Mean about 4.7 years (2000 study) to 5.7 years (registry) |
| PLN | Kidney | Raised urine protein/creatinine ratio | Mean about 6.3 to 7.1 years |
| Addison’s disease | Adrenal glands | Low sodium/potassium ratio (typical) and a flat or low ACTH stimulation test, weighed alongside clinical signs | Mean 4.0 years |
| Renal dysplasia | Kidney (developmental) | Raised creatinine and BUN, small kidneys on ultrasound | Juvenile (mean 1.3 years) |
Pennsylvania consultation records through August 2009 (Littman and Smagala, published on VIN) documented more than 1,000 affected Wheatens. That total breaks down to 460 with PLN, 249 with IBD or PLE, 226 with sequential or combined PLE and PLN, 80 with Addison’s disease and 51 with renal dysplasia. These are reported cases from consultation records, not prevalence rates.
PLE and PLN
Both diseases leak protein, one through the gut and the other through the kidneys.
The SCWTCA’s veterinary comparison chart flags the urine protein/creatinine ratio as the most important PLN marker, and calls PLN difficult to diagnose.
The timing is the real problem. A 1996 to 1999 AKC Canine Health Foundation study at North Carolina State University, led by Shelly Vaden and sponsored by the SCWTCA, found two tests useful for early detection.
Its summary also notes that the syndrome doesn’t appear until a dog is four to six years old, after an affected dog may already have been bred.
Addison’s Disease
In Addison’s disease the adrenal glands under-produce hormones (hypoadrenocorticism).
Signs are non-specific and mimic other disorders, so diagnosis weighs test results together with clinical signs (SCWTCA veterinary chart).
Registry cases average 4.0 years at onset. The registry authors also report higher female risk for PLE, PLN and Addison’s, in line with higher female risk for immune-mediated disease in other species.
Renal Dysplasia and Other Conditions
Renal dysplasia is a developmental kidney defect, and in late stages it can be mistaken for PLN. Food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease sit in the same immune-mediated group, and cancer appears on the AKC-derived list of breed concerns.
How Long Do Wheatens Live?
Published ranges run from 10 to 15 years.
VCA and Nylabone say 12 to 14 years, Hill’s widens it to 10 to 15, and The Kennel Club lists over 12.
Plan around 12 to 14 years, the band two of the sources share. Individual dogs land on either side of it.
How to Find a Responsible Wheaten Breeder
Start with the parent club, not a classified ad. The AKC points buyers to the national parent club’s Breeder Referral Program, which for this breed means the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of America (SCWTCA).
In the US, the SCWTCA publishes a Code of Ethics and a Breeders of Distinction program on its site.
In the UK, the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of Great Britain lists only members who follow its Code of Ethics, with at least 24 months of membership. It accepts puppy adverts only when health tests for both sire and dam are supplied.
The same UK club strongly recommends meeting adult Wheatens through its area representatives before choosing a puppy.
Health Testing to Ask For
The AKC’s current health-testing list for the breed includes the following.
- Hip evaluation
- Ophthalmologist evaluation
- PLN DNA tests (variant 1 and variant 2)
- Complete blood count
- Urinalysis
- Urine protein/creatinine and microalbumin test
- Serum chemistry screen
Older pages are out of date on this point. Vetstreet’s 2011 breed profile says no genetic screening tests exist for these conditions, while the AKC list now includes two PLN DNA tests.
The UK club asks that both parents have blood and urine tests within the 12 months before mating, with blood work covering creatinine, urea, albumin and total protein. A dipstick that shows protein is repeated after a week or two, then followed by a urine protein/creatinine test.
A clean result at two years proves little for diseases that surface later. Ask for annual results on both parents and the pedigree behind them.
Wheaten Rescue
The SCWTCA lists regional club rescues and National Wheaten Rescue, Inc., and states that it does not endorse or guarantee any of them.
An adult’s health history is often unknown, so ask for veterinary records and request a blood and urine panel before adopting.
How Much Does a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Cost?
Expect a breeder price in the low thousands of dollars. Good Dog, a breeder marketplace, reports national listings at $2,500 to $2,700, with regional averages running lower (around $1,500 in Kirkland, Washington).
The purchase price is the smaller part of the bill. Grooming adds tools at home plus recurring salon visits. The SCWTCA recommends yearly blood and urine tests for every Wheaten, and a protein-losing disease or Addison’s diagnosis adds treatment and monitoring on top of that.
PDSA, the UK veterinary charity, puts the minimum monthly cost of owning a Wheaten at £80. A minimum is a floor, not a budget.
Over a decade or more, the bills of dog ownership add up faster than the purchase price suggests.
A cheaper puppy from a breeder who skips health testing just moves the cost to later, and to you.
When Is a Wheaten Terrier the Wrong Dog?
A Wheaten is a poor fit for a household that sits empty most of the day. Hill’s says the breed needs a large amount of interaction with people.
It’s also a poor fit for anyone expecting a dog that can safely roam off lead. Hill’s calls Wheatens generally untrustworthy off leash because of terrier roaming instinct, and notes they chew and dig when bored.
Money matters too. Two protein-losing diseases and Addison’s disease are documented in the breed, and the SCWTCA recommends yearly testing for every dog, so a tight health budget is a real problem.
If that sounds like your household, a lower-maintenance breed is the honest answer.
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier FAQ
How does a Wheaten differ from a Kerry Blue Terrier or an Irish Terrier?
Coat color and size separate them. The AKC lists the Kerry Blue among the largest terriers, known for its blue coat, and the Irish Terrier as a medium dog with a fiery red coat.
The Wheaten carries a soft, wheat-colored coat on a medium frame.
Wheaten or Poodle: what is the real difference?
Size options and coat texture. A Poodle comes in three sizes (Toy, Miniature, Standard), and the AKC calls its curly coat low-allergen.
The Wheaten stays at one medium size and has a silky, gently waved coat.
Can a Wheaten live in an apartment?
Yes, if outdoor time is built into the day. The Kennel Club lists a small house with a small or medium garden as the suitable setup for the breed.
Is pet insurance worth it for a Wheaten?
Often yes, when bought early. Insurers exclude conditions that show symptoms before the policy starts or during the waiting period (NerdWallet), and many cover hereditary conditions that first appear afterward.
A puppy policy predates any symptoms of the breed’s late-onset protein-losing disease.
What should I feed a Wheaten?
Feed a complete and balanced food that meets AAFCO standards, sized to activity level. PetMD notes that treat calories add up quickly.
Dogs with intestinal protein loss need a vet-set diet. For lymphangiectasia, a PLE subtype, veterinarians cut dietary fat (Today’s Veterinary Practice, 2023).
Planning a Wheaten’s First Year of Checkups
A Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy needs its first blood and urine panel at age 1, then one every year after. The SCWTCA recommends a blood chemistry panel, a complete blood count and a urinalysis (as relayed by Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, 2026). The UK club takes a slightly later line and advises waiting until 15 to 18 months for full blood and urine panels.
In practice, file both parents’ test results at the first puppy visit, run the first panel at age 1, and repeat it every year, comparing each result with the last.
Testing yearly from age 1 produces three or more baseline panels before protein-losing disease often appears, from about age 4 onward. Each later result then has earlier values to be read against.
The trade-off is a vet bill every year for a dog that turns out healthy.
Comparing puppy food brands is the next practical decision, since feeding starts on day one.
