Why was the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier called the "Poor Man's Wolfhound"?
Answer
Laws restricted landowning gentry to keeping hounds like Irish Wolfhounds, forcing farmers to rely on the Wheaten.
The moniker "Poor Man's Wolfhound" arose directly from historical socio-economic conditions in Ireland. Landowning gentry were legally permitted to maintain specific breeds of hunting dogs, such as the Irish Wolfhound. Because the peasant farmers could not legally keep these aristocratic hounds, they utilized the versatile Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier for all farm duties, including guarding. This resourceful adaptation by the working class farmers to have a powerful deterrent and worker, in the absence of legally permissible large hounds, led to this specific nickname being applied to the Wheaten.
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