Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

Cheerful and friendly, often greets people by jumping up.
A Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Photo: SusanSmithGSU
Adult male
16–18 kg
35–40 lb
Adult female
14–16 kg
30–35 lb
Lifespan
13.7 yrs
Class · Family
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament the breed is friendly, cheerful and closely attached to its family. It is generally less combative than many terriers but keeps the terrier's quick energy and urge to chase. It greets people so readily, often by jumping up, that owners call this the wheaten greeting.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a wavy coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on brushing a few times a week. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Border Collie. Males end up clearly heavier than females.

It is a square, compact terrier covered in a single coat with no undercoat. The coat is soft and silky, falls in loose waves and is a warm shade of wheat. Puppies are born darker, often with black tips to the hair, and the coat clears to wheaten as they mature. Breeders distinguish a lighter, silkier Irish coat from the fuller coat developed in America and Britain.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
051015202m4m6m9m12m18m
051015202m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
3.5–3.9 kg 7.7–8.6 lb
3.8–4.5 kg 8.4–9.9 lb
3 months
5.1–5.8 kg 11.2–12.8 lb
4.9–5.8 kg 10.8–12.8 lb
4 months
7.4–8.4 kg 16.3–18.5 lb
6.7–7.8 kg 14.8–17.2 lb
5 months
9.5–10.8 kg 20.9–23.8 lb
8.1–9.4 kg 17.9–20.7 lb
6 months
11.4–12.9 kg 25.1–28.4 lb
9.2–10.7 kg 20.3–23.6 lb
7 months
12.7–14.5 kg 28.0–32.0 lb
10.0–11.7 kg 22.0–25.8 lb
8 months
13.7–15.6 kg 30.2–34.4 lb
10.7–12.5 kg 23.6–27.6 lb
9 months
14.4–16.4 kg 31.7–36.2 lb
11.2–13.1 kg 24.7–28.9 lb
10 months
14.9–16.9 kg 32.8–37.3 lb
11.7–13.6 kg 25.8–30.0 lb
11 months
15.2–17.3 kg 33.5–38.1 lb
12.0–14.0 kg 26.5–30.9 lb
12 months
15.4–17.5 kg 34.0–38.6 lb
12.3–14.4 kg 27.1–31.7 lb
15 months
15.8–18.0 kg 34.8–39.7 lb
13.0–15.2 kg 28.7–33.5 lb
18 months
16–18 kg 35–40 lb
13.5–15.7 kg 29.8–34.6 lb

Health and lifespan

In UK lab records, blood-vessel cancer of the spleen turns up more often in Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers than in crossbreeds: it is much more likely. It can shorten a life. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name.
  • Blood-vessel cancer of the spleen
    Lab-confirmed cases
    Much more likely
    Impact: life-limiting
Lab-confirmed: compares dogs whose tumour samples went to a lab with dogs seen in general practice, so the figures run higher than vet-record ones.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier lived to about 13 and a half years, longer than the typical medium breed.

Where it comes from

The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier was a general-purpose terrier of Irish small farms, killing vermin and long worked on badger and otter. References to soft-coated dogs suggest it has existed for at least two centuries, and it is probably the oldest of Ireland's four terriers, yet the Irish Kennel Club recognised it only in 19374,10.

The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier first entered the Irish show ring on St Patrick's Day in its year of recognition. For some years afterwards, an Irish champion of the breed also had to prove itself in field trials on rats, rabbits and badgers. The Kennel Club in Britain accepted the breed in the nineteen-forties, and it later became established in North America. On the farm it is traditionally said to have been an all-rounder that herded stock and guarded the yard as well as hunting.

Breed standard

The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is judged against standard no. 40, in group 3, Terriers4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Standard Schnauzer
Pinschers & molossoids · Medium
Kerry Blue Terrier
Terriers · Medium
Poodle (Standard)
Companion & toy · Medium
American Pit Bull Terrier
Terrier · Medium
Or compare the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·