Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Forum:
Wheaten Dangers

You should be FULLY AWARE that although the wheaton as with many other dogs are painted to be very family friendly and overall great dogs. Based on first hand experience this is a breed that animal control officers are frequently called to deal with. There seems to be some sort of potential gene error that can cause them to be just as vicious and aggressive as many more published dangerous dogs. I would really recommend you look into a non-terrier based dog. Unfortunately, everyone seems to be saying this is on of the 'perfect' breeds - but this comes mostly from the breeders that are seeking to raise the $$$$ value of the dog. Even many of the supposed wheaton rescues really aren't real and will also lie as to the potential issues with this breed. Just FYI.

I was glad to see this Wheaten terrier warning. We had a wheaten terrier for over 9 years. He was a beloved member of our family and never showed any signs of aggression toward people. On Saturday morning June 14th 2008 I tried to get into bed He was laying in my spot I tried to coax him to move and he didn\'t. As I have done at least 500 times before I begain to slide him toward my wife so I could lay down. THIS DAY he did not like it and out of the clear blue he attacked me. I was bitten up and down my right arm and my torso. My wife managed to get hold of his collar and pulled him off the bed but then he was next to my left leg and continued the attack bitting me from my toe all the way to my hip. He also took a chunk out of one of my fingers. We secured the dog in the bedroom and my wife tended to me as I sat on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. My son rushed me to the hospital. Two days later I am still bleeding in some places because they do not stitch the wounds for fear of infection. It was a relentless attack. I cant beleive this was our trusted and loyal animal of over nine years that did this to me. The outcome....He is on death row at the animal shelter. The animal control officer there told my son that wheatens are regular visitors for the same problem. We are devistated and heart broken. my wife sobs all day, and my sons who had this dog since childhood are crushed. We love this animal so much that even though I was injured if there was a way to fix him to never do it again we would take him back. But we know that miricale does not exist. I warn wheaten terrier owners to take heed to this posting and i urge others to investigate other breeds. Our dog was wonderful for over

Although I hate to see that others are having problems, it is something of a comfort in that it makes me feel less alone. I brought home a beautiful 8 week old Wheaten female in May of 2006. All I had ever heard was that they are the \"perfect\" dog in size, coat and temperment. Friendly and great with children were other accolades. She was an angel for the first 6 months and then began to change in personality. She started growing aggressive and nasty towards others, particularly children, other women and especially other dogs. The frustrating thing is that she is wonderful, although very demanding of attention, with me and my family and great with my parent\'s dogs. I cannot have company in the house because she is so aggressive. She will be ok and then out of nowhere explode snarling. Walks are very difficult because if she so much as sees another dog or child down the road she turns crazed. More than once I have had to physically hold her down to the ground to keep her from going after another animal. We have been to a behaviorist who referred to her as \"hard wired aggressive\" and she is currently medicated on 3 fluoxetine a day. This has done nothing to stop these vicious episodes. I spoke with a woman who had a puppy from the same litter that they had to get rid of due to the fact that it bit her young children. I cannot in good conscious take her to the SPCA or a rescue group because she is so unpredicatable. I know there is really only one solution but it makes me heartsick to even think of it. Has any ever found a way to help a dog with these issues or is it a hopeless case?