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One of the reasons, I think,  why you fell in love with the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, was the beautiful silky and wheaten coloured coat.

To keep it tangle free, shining and beautiful it needs a lot of grooming. The coat is single and doesn't  have any wool in it. It doesn't shed at all like many other breeds do and many allergic people can actually have a Wheaten.

​I will only tell about the grooming here. If you want to trimm there is a written describtion and a video to buy. Look under SHOP on this site.

 When your dog/pup comes home put it on a grooming table every day and pet it. You should also brush it with the soft slicker and comb, look in to the mouth , eyes, ears and “fiddle” with the paws to get the dog used to this treatment.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE FUTURE.

For the grooming you need:

. Steel-comb (preferable Spratt) Nr.70 and Nr72

. A soft slicker bruch

. Nail cutter

. Rounded peang or tweezers for ears.

. A little pointless scissors

. Tartar scraper or a toothbrush

. A steady table with a non-skid carpet on, or a grooming table

. A grooming arm or a hook in the roof (not necessary but very good to have).

Give the dog a bath when it's neccesary. Use a mild schampoo (not nessesary to use a dog schampoo) An excellent schampoo for a wheaten coat is PROB. It keeps at the same time moscitoes, flies and ticks away. Read more under SHOP. After the bath put always in a good conditioner. It take any static electricity away and makes the coat easy to groom.

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THE GROOMING PROGRAMME

Once a week you put the dog on the grooming table (it is now used to that) and brush through the hole coat the wrong way with the soft slicker brush. Then you comb through the whole dog with comb Nr.70 and go carefully through all twisted knots. Check especially the armpits and the groin. The dog shall be completely without any twisted knots or tangles.

Thereafter you comb the dog again and now with comb no.72 and then all the “little” that have come loose by the combing and untangling. Finish with brushing with the slicker the wrong way of the dog.

 Now you start the "going through" the dog. Start with the paws. Cut all coat between the pads and cut the claws (1 mm).

Should you cut the Quick, do not make an affair of it. If you get frightened don’t show it to the dog, just keep on cutting and stop any bleeding later on. If you show your fear in front of the dog it will experience this very unpleasant and you may have a problem with the claw cutting in the future.

 When the paws and the claws are finished you go on to the head. Check the teeth and take away any tartar with the scraper. You can also brush the teeth if you prefer that. Check the eyes and ears and pick any hair from the auditory canal with the homeostatic forceps.

 Cut also the fine coat on the belly and round the penis, vulva and anus. This coat doesn’t need to be there; it has a tendency to get twisted knots.

 This you will have to do, no matter if you trim the dog yourself or you leave the dog for trimming somewhere else by a professional.

 During the period of the young dog, when the dog changes from puppy to adult coat, you should do this process at least twice a week. Particularly the woolly and heavy coat, it gets matted very easily.

NEVER GIVE A DOG, WITH TWISTED KNOTS IN THE COAT, A BATH. A little twisted knot will turn to a felt carpet after a bath and has to be machine clipped away. It takes 6-12 month for coat to grow out again.

THE BATH

Many dog owners ask how often they can give the dog a bath . The answer is: When it is needed.

If the coat feels dirty and oily and starts to smell, then it is time. Also if the dog has been out rolling in something. If so, you perhaps must give the dog a bath before you can comb it. In that case try only to wash the dirty parts, let the dog dry, brush and comb through the coat and take the dog to the bath once again.

 Before the bath the dog shall be completely tangle free. This is very important.

Use a gentle shampoo and shampoo the dog three times and rince between.

First time, the dirt loosens up on the surface,

the second time, you wash that dirt away and loosens the deep dirt.

The third time you wash the dirt away into the deep. If your dog has the wolly or the heavy coats put some mink-oil, jojoba-oil or argan oil into the shampoo and wait 5 minutes for the last shampoo. A coat washed three times lasts clean and tangle free much longer than if it had been washed only two times!

 Wash out the shampoo carefully the last time, then massage in some conditioner. In the heavy coat you can also put in some oil here. Let this be in the coat for at least 10 minutes and during this time you comb out the coat with a fine comb no.72. Wash thereafter through the coat and let the dog air-dry or, if possible, by a fan. The woolly coats usually get blow-dried.

 When the dog is dry, put it on the trim table and brush through the coat the wrong way, let it shake and tell the dog how beautiful it is and how good it smells. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT and the dogs use to show big manifestation of joy and it gives the dog a pleasant memory of the bath.

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