In 2011 when we were living in California, we finally agreed that our 11 year old son Grant could get a dog. Dad’s suggestion was a Boxer but Grant said that he wanted a dog that you look at and think “He must be friendly.” Internet research had Wheatens high on our wish list but we had never actually met one.

We didn’t have long to wait. A photo of a Wheaten looking for a new home popped up on Clare’s facebook page. A friend of a friend needed to rehome their four year old Wheaten, Scout. He was only five minutes down the road. We went to meet him, loved him and how he had been raised, and a week later he was ours.

This beautiful, dry -coated, intelligent, sensitive and humerous dog quickly became a great friend to all of us. Comments on the internet about this “high energy” breed has made us a little apprehensive. Scout was actually extremely settled at home; the perfect house dog. Visitors were charmed by this dog that would be so excited to meet them and then within minutes settle quietly at their feet as if they were long lost friends come home. Probably the reason Scout needed re-homing was that he had not been taught proper leash manners. His original family now had babies and could not walk him with a stroller. This introduction to the breed gave us a value for training Wheatens to be good canine citizens in all contexts.

In 2013, we were relocating back to Australia. Our plan was to bring Scout. While he waited six months to comply with import requirements, he stayed with a close friend on a farm on the coast of California. When it came time to organize the shipping Scout’s temporary family appealed to us to let him stay.

Grant came to the brave decision to leave Scout where he was happy, sparing him the stress of the plane flight.

Our Australian Wheaten journey has taken us on from there, drawing heavily from the experience and integrity of mentors in the USA.