Page 190 - Showsight March 2013
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Wheaten and then along came Kovu!
Kovu, CH Caraway Celebrate Life, owned
by Betty Chapman and Beth Verner, broke
many records in the breed and after win-
ning the breed from the classes at Mont-
gomery County Kennel Club under breed-
er judge Gay Dunlap, he proceeded to win
the breed there the next two years and to
gain a group three. He and handler Shari
Boyd-Carusi topped it off by winning the
terrier group at the prestigious Crufts Dog
Show, held in Birmingham, England. He
was exciting to watch in a way that was
reminiscent of CH Wildflower Stardust,
who appears on both sides of Kovu’s pedi-
gree. The breed had a new hero!
Since a breed depends upon strong
bitches, Wheatens have been well blessed.
Starting in the 1970s CH Gleanngay
Goldilock, CH Andover Antic of Sunset
Hills, CH Cloverlane’s Connaught, CH
Amaden’s Rainbow’s End, and CH Leg-
enderry’s Ainlee produced many great
dogs or great producers. Many lines
come down from these bitches. Some of
the more famous are Bantry Bay, Ben-
dacht, Bonney, Clanheath, Kairi, Legacy,
Shandalee, Westridge, Wildflower, and
so many more. Elena Landa, Doubloon
Wheatens, has had some lovely bitches
in the ring during the past few years as
have the kennels mentioned above. Elena
has been a consistent winner and does the
breed proud by being the Terrier Breed-
er of the year for the Eukanuba Classic
in 2011.
The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Club
of America and the regional clubs have
been known for being mentors and for wel-
coming newcomers. Jackie Gottlieb edited
an Owner’s Manual in 1979 with the help
of many club members and with some
minor changes it has been the guide for
the breed ever since. There is a very active
public education committee, now chaired
by Connie Kohler of California. The breed
has recently acquired certification for herd-
ing and all the performance events are very
popular with Wheaten owners. The dogs
are very bright and enjoy the work and the
activity of those events.
Health & Breed Type
During the mid 1980s it was discov-
ered that a significant percentage of the
breed was suffering from an illness that
was caused by loss of protein. Dogs were
dying from intestinal or renal issues and it
was obvious to the Soft Coated Wheaten
Terrier Club of America that something
needed to be done. A Health Commit-
tee was formed, research began at North
Carolina State University and the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania. Wheatens lost some
well-known breeders due to the devasta-
tion of certain lines and the fear that went
with it. The illness appeared to be a wild
card seeming to show up any time and
any place.
Many breeders began to import dogs
from Europe in an effort to water down
the gene pool. Some are breeding pure
Irish dogs with thinner, shiny coats, while
some of the imports look very much like
the American bred dogs but are perhaps a
bit longer due to the FCI standard and the
differences from the SCWTCA standard.
For the past several decades, the breed-
ers only tool to breed away from what
appeared to be a genetic problem was the
information of pedigrees of affected and
non-affected which were listed in a volun-
tary national registry.
Finally, a DNA test which identi-
fies genetic mutations associated with
PLN (Protein Losing Nephropathy) was
announced at the University of Pennsyl-
vania in May, 2012. Breeders have been
quick to have their SCWTs to be tested
and are making better informed breeding
decisions based on these results. Howev-
er, it is important that while breeding to
improve the overall health of the breed,
that breed type does not get overlooked…
and judges need to help with that. Know-
ing that this breed is a happy, charming
dog that is not the tough terrier in the ring
helps, as does recognizing that beneath the
silky coat should lie a square terrier that
moves in true terrier tradition.
The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is
to be viewed and judged in the United
States by the AKC Standard. This is not
the same as the FCI or international stan-
dard. For example, while undocked tails
have been recently accepted to accom-
modate the imports, many of which have
natural tails, docked tails are preferred.
The National Club has provided
many aids to help insure the mainte-
nance of breed type. In the early 1990s
an exceptional
Illustrated Standard
was
developed by Gay Dunlap with artwork
drawn by Jody Sylvester. It is a timeless
piece and available free of charge to all
judges. A judges’ education program was
developed first by Cindy Vogels. Gay
Dunlap and Gary Vlachos have created
a very strong judges’ education DVD
that is used across the country in Judg-
es’ symposia. These people have worked
tirelessly to assure that judges should
be able to pick out the correct type of
a Wheaten Terrier. It is not a working
dog nor a sporting dog, but a long legged
Terrier that should be compared to the
Kerry and the Irish Terriers.
Given the new DNA information now
available, it might be tempting for breed-
ers to be so focused on health issues that
preserving type in the show ring is forgot-
ten, but the history is proud and needs to
be honored.
Dr. M. Eliza(Beth) Verner can be
reached via
Ms. Emily Holden can be contacted at
Ch. Gleanngay Bantry Bay Kashmir
“Since a breed depends upon strong bitches,
WHEATENS HAvE bEEN WEll blESSED.”
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