Question:

Hi! I will be bringing home my new Wheaten pup, “Darby” this weekend. My family has enjoyed the company of a cocker, “Cole”, and Newfoundland, “Gracie”.
We are so excited to have a new buddy around again after laying down our Cole 3 yrs. ago and our Gracie this past summer.
We are totally a dog family and I would like to take “Darby” with me to the nursing homes in my community, when he isn’t keeping me company in my studio.
I have numerous questions as “Darby” will be my first Wheaten.
I hope you have additional information, besides what I have read, or learned from the breeder and web. 1. Is the “jumping greeting” any different from other pups? Info said they really need to do this. I think it’s just in the intial training and who is boss. 2. Is just a short, daily walk, wheather permitting enough, as I read they don’t like long outings? 3. Health issues…what is a constant worry for this breed? 4. I read you should purchase a lighter colored pup, because the lighter cream color is more desireable for the breed. “Darby” is a darker pup with blk. tipped, triangler ears. Both parents became cream colored with blk tipped ears, and faces. I guess it’s just personal choice. What do you think? 5. Finally, ( I hope I’m haven’t bothered you with all these new Mom questions!!) What is the one trait, or habit you aren’t thrilled with for this breed? “Thank You” in advance for your help. I would truly appreciate your insight.

Answer:

Hello,
Good luck with your new wheaten puppy. I def not a professional wheaten trainer but hopefully I can answer your questions from experience.
First, the ‘wheaten greeting’ does exist….but like you said it’s the boss who teaches the dog how to behave when greeting guests. We sort of wish now that we didn’t allow our wheaten to get so excited with guests when he was a puppy. We are having a difficult time trying to get rid of that habit.
Second, sorry to say that our wheaten needs a lot of long walks or adventures outdoors to fields and dog parks. Wheaten are VERY high energy and they need to let it out on a daily basis in order for you to have a happily behaved dog.
Third, our wheaten does a have health issue. We have constantly struggled with allergies for our wheaten in which we now have him on a really strict special diet and monthly allergy shots. But he is a very healthy boy!
Fourth, we’ve come to learn that all wheaten puppies are dark hair. As they grow up, they grow into their beautiful creamed colored soft coat. Our wheaten had black ears and a black beard as a pup, he still has a little bit of his dark features, which make him so cute!

Fifth, one habit or trait I am not happy with? That’s hard, because I love everything about our wheaten. I guess I would have to say his craziness whenever someone comes to the door and rings the bell. We are working on it though. 

Question: Hi,

I came across your blog while surfing the web. Ted looks like a terrific dog!

We have a one year old Wheaten named Coby and he has been a great little guy. He’s always played well with other dogs, but has recently started barking and growling when playing.

We wonder if you’ve experienced the same thing with Coby or heard of other Wheatens exhibiting this behaviour. If so, any ideas on remedies?

I would have posted to your blog, however, I didn’t see a topic on this matter

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Mark

Answer: Hi Mark
It’s funny that you ask. We actually do have some issues when we let Ted play with larger dogs than him. At about 1 1/2 we started seeing alittle aggression developing and he was getting into fights at dog parks. We had him neutered and it has gotten better but we still have our occasional tension with another dog from time to time. After watching this behavior my husband and I have come to realize that there are two situations in which we need to discipline Ted. First is when another dog is minding his own business and/or playing with its owner by itself. Our wheaten strives to be the center of attention and when another dog isn’t giving it to him, he gets in their face. The other is when Ted has met all the dogs in the area, he will go find the largest and toughest dog there and bothers him to the point where they get into a scuffle. It is ALWAYS the biggest one there! As long as the dogs that he’s bugging are good dogs and don’t’ bite then we are fine. But it’s when the other dog bites….well, we have some scares to show for it. Luckily Ted doesn’t bite…he just plays to rough and annoys other dogs.

Our remedy is just to try to give the scuffle a time-out and get Ted to submit and forget what had just happened. And we’ve found ourselves heading over to the ’small-medium size’ part of the dog park. He is an angel with any other dog his size or smaller.

Are there other Wheaten owners running into this???