It was at a field trial in the early 1930s when Patrick Blake saw his first Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier at work. Amazed at the dog’s spectacular work ethic, Blake, a Kerry Blue Terrier man, persuaded friends to help put effort into organizing a club “which will work for this grand Irish dog’s recognition.” And so it was that Irish Kennel Club fanciers flocked to the quiet Irish countryside in the counties of Claire, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford to visit farms where they might see Wheaties at work. They visited over kitchen tables, or as Kathryn Braund described it in her book, “The Uncommon Dog Breeds,” “dinners of mutton stew and potato pancakes.” Afterwards, they’d go out to the fields and watch the terrier in his natural setting. Impressed with the breed’s versatility as a cattle driver, controller of vermin, hunter and family companion, the farmer would be asked by the amazed fancier, “Where did these dogs come from? How long have they been here?” To which the farmer would answer with a sparkle in his Irish eyes, “He’s always been part of the old sod.”
Some sources believe the dog is descended from the Old English Black-and-Tan working terrier, or that the Wheaten’s ancestors had dalliances with blue dogs that belonged to Spaniards whose Armada sank of the coast of Ireland. Whatever the speculation, Wheatens as they appear today have been living and working on humble Irish homesteads for centuries, so much a fixture as workmates that no one took the time to recognize the as a special and unique breed. That is, until Patrick Blake.
The breed made its debut in the Irish Kennel Club Championship Show on St. Patrick’s Day, 1937, and for many years, Wheatens were required to qualify in both major and minor field trials over rat, rabbit, and badger before attaining championship. Registration with England’s Kennel Club came in 1943, and in the 1940s, Lydia Vogel brought the first Wheatens to the United States.
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier by Svetlana Novikova
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