How healthy are Wheatens?

It's a question that every breeder gets and we all answer with our general impressions often based upon our own experience and that of the many breeders we all know.

Soon, however, we can know more.  The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of America, Inc. has developed a Wheaten Health Survey with the assistance of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.  ANY wheaten owner ANYWHERE in the world can fill it out...takes about 5 minutes...for dogs they've owned since 2000.  It's confidential...only aggregated data will be seen.  

Understand...there will be limits to the assumptions that can be made.  The respondents are self-selected...meaning there's no guarantee there will be a cross representation of all Wheatens...and it's not unusual for owners of dogs with problems to respond in greater numbers than owners of healthy Wheatens.  And remember, the survey went online on January 23, 2018 so the numbers will change over time.  But it will help with our general impressions.

So...got a Wheaten?  Then help out...go take the survey!  Here's how:

  • Go to www.offa.org. 
  • On the home page, scroll down to bottom left. Under the word Breeder, there is a blue button that says, “Learn More.” Click that button.
  • That will take you to a page with an orange button that says, “Click here to find the health survey for your breed.”
  • Click and scroll down to Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.
  • Click on orange button that says, “Answer Survey” and you are ready to complete it. 
  • Please complete the survey one time for each Wheaten (purebred, no mixes) that you have owned between 2000 to the present, living or dead, healthy or with health issues.
  • At the end of each survey, click "Finish" and then, if reporting more than one dog, simply take the survey again.
  • For the survey to take as short a time as possible, be sure you have the dog’s health records at hand when you begin the survey. Each survey should take about ten minutes. 
  • For a number of questions to which you respond “yes,” there will more questions to follow about that condition.

Thanks for helping out all Wheatens!