Is Wheaten Health Australia connected to a wheaten terrier breeder, club or society?
No. Wheaten Health Australia is not connected to any wheaten terrier breeder. Nor is it connected to a wheaten terrier club or society. Wheaten Health Australia is an independent website and does not recommend or endorse any Australian wheaten terrier breeder, club or society nor does it condone any linking from club or breeder websites to this one. It is also unconnected to any similarly named ventures. The Wheaten Health Australia website was long planned due to the lack of relevant local information about wheaten health for Australian wheaten pet owners. It physically came about due to a university website assignment. It makes use of extensive research from a number of internet resources and most particularly, experience in having a dog suffer from PLN.
But, I want a wheaten terrier. Why won't you recommend a breeder to me?
Wheaten Health Australia does not and will not recommend any Australian wheaten terrier breeder in order to maintain independence of information and opinion.
I want a wheaten because I have allergies but I don't like grooming.
An ethical, responsible breeder should ask you why you want a wheaten and interview you in-depth about your lifestyle. If you want a wheaten because you have allergies, you should be aware that while wheatens are low shedding dogs, you may still be allergic to them. You will have to have this tested by meeting some wheatens. You may be allergic to dander not dog hair.
You should also be aware that low shedding = lots of grooming. If you don't want to brush and comb a wheaten terrier, don't get one. You cannot get a wheaten and not brush its coat at least every couple of days. A wheaten's hair mats a lot. Just keeping the hair short does not mean that you don't have to brush the knots out of your dog's coat. What you'll get are short mats instead.
You need to look at whether a terrier, and particularly a wheaten, will fit your lifestyle. Avoid the breeder who does not ask you why you want a wheaten and whether one will fit into your lifestyle.
Okay then, what's this health testing thing? If a breeder health tests then the dog is healthy right?
Let's make something clear: health testing does not mean that a dog (of any breed type, not just wheatens) that passes all its health tests is genetically clean of heritable diseases.
With that in mind, an ethical, responsible wheaten breeder should be able to provide health test results on PLN from a minimum age of two years onwards and be able to explain the results to you. Avoid the breeder who does not health test for PLE/PLN because their dogs 'have never had it' or because they have 'dogs from clean lines'. When the mode of inheritance is unknown then all bets are off.
Some breeders may be able to provide results on PLE if they have done biopsies. As per the information on PLE testing, Australia veterinary medicine does not have access to the Fecal API test, which is non-invasive. A biopsy requires an anaesthesia and some breeders will understandably not want to risk their dog on a surgical procedure. Some breeders may have these results, others will not. They should have blood tests available for PLE as per PLN.
An ethical, responsible breeder will also have their dogs eyes checked yearly by a board certified ophthalmologist and have their dogs hips and elbows OFA certified and checked against the mean for wheaten terriers (using PennHip) for hip and elbow dysplasia. Another issue that you should ask about is ectopic ureta, which is a congenital condition where the dog leaks urine. Fixing this problem can be expensive and not always successful so ask if any of the breeder's dogs have had this problem.
Other conditions you should ask about are:
The breeder should be able to provide enough detailed medical information about their breeding dogs and bitches for you to make up your own mind whether to get a puppy from their kennel.
But let's get back to PLE and PLN. You can tell me which kennel has PLE/PLN free dogs, right?
Nice try at rewording your previous question. Wheaten Health Australia cannot comment on particular kennels breeding programs nor can it recommend or endorse any breeding program. Basically, a breeder should tell you if any dogs from their breeding program have either had PLE/PLN or have thrown PLE/PLN in their puppies whether those dogs were in that kennel's breeding program at the time or not. A breeder should also tell you if any previous dogs in a pedigree (not just the sire or dam) have had PLE/PLN or have thrown PLE/PLN in their puppies whether those dogs were in that kennel's breeding program or not. A breeder should have at hand a list of each medical condition whether heritable or congenital that has affected their lines.
Is there somewhere I can check to see what dogs have had PLE/PLN?
Yes, some countries keep an 'open register' of dogs affected with various heritable diseases, such as PLE/PLN. You can check the open registers against dogs in a pedigree. You will have to pay to become a member of the US Open Register. It is suggested that you request a 10 generation pedigree from the breeder as most of these will go back to the early Irish dogs.
Have any Australian wheatens died of PLE or PLN?
Yes, as confirmed by Dr Littman, the US specialist. Several of these dogs are listed on the US open register, along with their sires and dams. Not all Australian dogs that have died of a suspected kidney/intestinal or other disease are listed on the US open register because the list requires the owner's permission to list them not the breeder's.
Should I get a wheaten if there has been PLE or PLN in its family tree?
Wheaten Health Australia cannot make this decision for you. We suggest you listen to what each breeder has to say and make your decision from there.
What is outcrossing?
Many breeders do what they call 'line breeding' to preserve the type of dog they like. Line breeding is simply inbreeding by another name. Outcrossing occurs when a breeding has no related dogs on either side of a pedigree. Some breeders will tell you that outcrossing occurs when there are no related dogs across a five generation pedigree of the sire and of the dam. Others will tell you that it's eight generations or more. Others still will tell you that outcrossing occurs when the coefficient of inbreeding (how inbred a dog is, which is worked out via a mathematical formula) is less than 10%. Outcrossing is supposed to be a genetically healthy shot in the arm to a breeding program, so the more unrelated the dogs are across a wide number of generations, the better. If you're told a breeder is outcrossing, ask what they're outcrossing to, how many generations it is, and why they're outcrossing at all.
What is genetic diversity when it comes to wheatens?
Genetic diversity is where there is a large gene pool. Wheatens of today come from a few recognised (by the Irish Kennel Club) dogs back in 1937. If you look at many wheaten pedigrees there will be repeated names, sometimes over and over again. This is an excellent article about canine genetic diversity from Hellmuth Wachtel that explains it very simply. When asking about genetic diversity in a wheaten, you should ask about the dogs in the pedigree not what country they come from. Just because a wheaten has dogs from various countries in its pedigree, it does not mean it is genetically diverse, especially when some or many of the dogs come from the same lines. Check the names not the country.
I spoke to various breeders who said that they would not recommend other wheaten breeders and indeed, said some pretty horrible things about other wheaten breeders and their breeding programs. Who should I believe?
When you consider who said what about whom, reflect on this: one of the Australian National Kennel Club Code of Ethics of Responsible Dog Ownership (which each registered breeder signs up to via the state canine council) is 'A member shall display good sportsmanship and conduct at all times so as to reflect credit upon themselves, the ANKC and the member's Member Body'.' The 'Member Body' is the state canine council, which is what makes a registered breeder 'registered' (not the local council dog rego!). Most breed club codes of ethics will have a similar statement about good sportsmanship and conduct.
Some of the breeders I spoke to don't belong to a breed club.
There is no obligation for a breeder to belong to a breed club. Like most areas of life, people don't necessarily want to join any particular organisation and sometimes people just don't get along with other people. Just because a breeder does not belong to a breed club, whether it is an affiliated club or just a social club, it does not mean he or she is a bad breeder. There are good and bad breeders no matter what breed you're interested in getting. A breeder should be registered with their state canine council and you can ring these to find out if a breeder is registered with them. That's the start of finding an ethical and responsible breeder. From there, you have to ask questions and listen because unfortunately, even just belonging to a state canine body doesn't make a breeder ethical and responsible.
Some of the breeders I spoke to don't show their dogs.
Likewise above. Some people just don't like showing. Doesn't make them bad breeders. What you ask a breeder about their breeding program, ethics and how they behave, and in particular how they treat you and your questions, will tell you more about them than if they do or don't show their dogs or do or don't belong to a club.
What's with the coat thing?
There are said to be three wheaten terrier coats. The 'Irish', the 'English', and the 'American'. There should be one coat: the correct one. The correct coat is the one that follows the standard. In Australia, the standard is the same as the UK standard, which says:
'Soft and silky. Neither woolly nor wiry. Loosely waved or curly, but if curly, curls large, light and loose. The coat should not stand off but flow and fall naturally. Coat abundant all over body and especially profuse on head and legs. Length of leg coat sufficient to give good balance to the length of coat on head and body. There is no seasonal change in the length or texture of the mature coat. Over trimming or stylising should be penalised. For show purposes the coat may be tidied to present a neat outline. Coat colour and texture do not stabilise until about 24 months and should be given some latitude in young dogs.'
Wheatens should have their correct coats by the time they're two-years-old. A straight coat is not correct nor is a woolly coat but this only matters if the wheaten is being shown or bred from. It will not matter to you if you want a pet and don't intend to show your dog. It is said that the 'Irish' (i.e. the correct) coat is easier to groom but this does not mean less grooming. As previously stated, if you want to avoid grooming, don't get a wheaten.
Wheatens are not just blonde-coloured dogs. Genetically, they are sable (think of german shepherds) and it is one gene that turns them the wheaten colour. A wheaten coat can be any shade of ripening wheat, which can mean a dark-coloured wheat or a silvery/white-coloured wheat. The wheaten genetics also explains why there can be a dark-coloured 'mask' around their muzzles and why they can have silver/grey ears. In fact, Mrs Maureen Holmes, the breed 'founder' said, in her 'Explanation to the Irish Softcoated Wheaten Standard':
'In the emerging years of Softcoated Wheaten Terriers a large number of dogs had very dark coloured ears; the base hair was blackish or reddish but it always had a light overlay. The incidence of these dark based ears is on the wane but they do crop up from time to time.'This statement indicates that dark ears are still genetically present in wheatens. But remember, the coat has nothing to do with a wheaten's health. A correct or incorrect coat whether considered to be Irish, English or American, does not indicate that a wheaten is healthy or unhealthy.
This is all very bewildering. Should I get a wheaten?
If after all that you still want a wheaten, you will never regret it.