Irish Wolfhounds - Practicalities

whippet

I have always loved Irish Wolfhounds since I was a kid and after seeing a couple of them at a parade yesterday I can’t stop thinking about getting one.

We have a 9 year old Lab and we have been talking about getting a pup towards the end of the summer so its not as if it is a totally mad idea.

We have a large garden (almost .75 acres), live beside the sea, my wife works from home and have two young children.

I know that a giant breed is a different beast to a lab and aside from the largers costs what are the other main practicalities of ownership;

- Outdoor v Indoor
- Exercise
- Medical issues outside of the norm
- Behaviour around children
- Bitch v Dog

Don’t get me wrong, we are not the type to jump in to anything irrationally and I’m not even sure if my wife would consider an IW and if it is a possibility I intend to meeting with owners and clubs etc. But for the moment I’d like to hear from anyone with real experience of the breed.

awanderer

I have never owned an Irish Wolfhound but I also love them. The main reason I gave up on the idea of getting one is their very short life expectancy ( 6 or 7 year average). A neighbour always had Irish Wolfhounds and before I knew better, I thought he was getting rid of them as soon as they reached middle age (in fact they simply died of natural cause). I think it is a factor worth taking into account specially if you have young children who would have to deal with that heartbreak (at least with small and medium sized dogs, you can expect the children to be older when the have to deal with that loss).

whippet

The life span is something that would probably upset me more than the kids .. At 5 or 6 years old my hound was in his prime.

Does the wolfhounds coat need much attention?

ShaShaBear

The short life span would absolutely kill me. My last collie boy got to 11 and I, being a 27 year old mother and reasonably mature, was absolutely crushed beyond repair.

I can only imagine how I would have felt if he died at 6 or 7!

Stheno

I'd an IW from a four month old puppy until he died of kidney failure at about six and a half.

He was one of the blonde ones.

Good things about him:
He was incredibly affectionate, and got on with all creatures great and small (with the exception of very boisterous children) one of our cats was found of grooming his ears, and was known to spend many an hour sitting on his head between his ears grooming away. If my IW wanted to do something else he got a smack in the chops to be still until the cat was done.
Very biddable dog, rarely caused any trouble apart from the time due to illness that he ripped the door off my lovely eight ring stove to get at a casserole.

Bad things:
The volume of poo
Short lifespan
Taking up an entire sofa with his deerhound x buddy, I was relegated to the armchair!

Coat wise, they need to have their coats stripped as opposed to brushed, it's a knack but you get used to it.

Activity wise, my fella was fairly docile, he'd enjoy a good romp with the other dogs but nothing out of the ordinary

Inexile

The Wolfhound Association hold an annual show and for the last few years its been at Farmleigh. Its usually held around June. Would recommend getting in touch with them and going along .

boomerang

Have always noticed they have a strong smell.

thegreatgonzo

There is one resident at the clinic where I work, but she is 7 now and is beginning to deteriorate in health which is sad. It would put me off getting one although they are a majestic animal. Really lovely gentle giant.

John_Rambo

The deerhounds look similar but don't seem to have the short lifespan.

They are shockingly big when you get up close to them, a true gentle giant. What was the food bill like Stheno?

Stheno

John_Rambo wrote: »

The deerhounds look similar but don't seem to have the short lifespan.

They are shockingly big when you get up close to them, a true gentle giant. What was the food bill like Stheno?

My Wolfhound had pancreatic insufficiency and I fed him a raw diet.


He was in a group of ten so his food bill really wasn't huge compared to the rest, which included three gsds, a deerhound x, and a pom x, and a couple of lurchers.

John_Rambo

Stheno wrote: »

My Wolfhound had pancreatic insufficiency and I fed him a raw diet.


He was in a group of ten so his food bill really wasn't huge compared to the rest, which included three gsds, a deerhound x, and a pom x, and a couple of lurchers.

Jaysus!! Not many burglaries in Stheno's house!!

Actually, touching on that, are they a good guard dog? Sorry, it's interesting stuff. A friend of mine had two and they were good guard dogs, but I suspect that was because of their upbringing. (locked in a dog run for most of their lives, not walked very much )

Stheno

John_Rambo wrote: »

Jaysus!! Not many burglaries in Stheno's house!!

Actually, touching on that, are they a good guard dog? Sorry, it's interesting stuff. A friend of mine had two and they were good guard dogs, but I suspect that was because of their upbringing. (locked in a dog run for most of their lives, not walked very much )

Nah he was a ****e guard dog.

I'd the GSDs, and strangely enough the Pom who went mental if strangers came near the house, the Wolfhound and lurchers would have licked them to death.

The lurchers were lethal with birds, we lived close to a small lake/big pond, and the odd duck would fly into the backyard. God forbid they landed and the lurchers were out, it was a free for all.

Wolfhound was too lazy to either guard or hunt. He was a true gentle giant tbh. And thinking back, he was almost like the baby of the dogs, they all minded him, even the cats treated him differently, he had a sereness about him that is hard to imagine.

I'd have to check if I still have it, but one of my favourite ever photos of him was him in front of our open fire, just sitting there watching it, completely at peace with the world. Just thinking about it now makes me smile.

John_Rambo

Stheno wrote: »

Nah he was a ****e guard dog.

I'd the GSDs, and strangely enough the Pom who went mental if strangers came near the house, the Wolfhound and lurchers would have licked them to death.

The lurchers were lethal with birds, we lived close to a small lake/big pond, and the odd duck would fly into the backyard. God forbid they landed and the lurchers were out, it was a free for all.

Wolfhound was too lazy to either guard or hunt. He was a true gentle giant tbh. And thinking back, he was almost like the baby of the dogs, they all minded him, even the cats treated him differently, he had a sereness about him that is hard to imagine.

I'd have to check if I still have it, but one of my favourite ever photos of him was him in front of our open fire, just sitting there watching it, completely at peace with the world. Just thinking about it now makes me smile.

So, a pleasure to be with. Sounds lovely, they're still fairly intimidating. The sheer size and bulk is formidable. I used to meet on on my morning walk and when I rubbed him he'd lean in to me. I'd have to brace myself against him to take his weight and he rumbled like a cat in pleasure whilst I rubbed his ears!! I do believe if it came to the crunch, I'd rather not trifle with one!

I believe they were almost extinct and then an English army type bred them again using deerhounds and Danes (I haven't googled this or anything, just going by memory, so I could be 100% wrong). I wonder was the original breed a different sort of dog altogether?

Stheno

Here's that pic.

John_Rambo

Ha! Stunning. Like a human!

Stheno

boomerang wrote: »

Have always noticed they have a strong smell.

He did tbh, but if you kept him well groomed he was fine, they seem to have a greasy coat.

John_Rambo wrote: »

So, a pleasure to be with. Sounds lovely, they're still fairly intimidating. The sheer size and bulk is formidable. I used to meet on on my morning walk and when I rubbed him he'd lean in to me. I'd have to brace myself against him to take his weight and he rumbled like a cat in pleasure whilst I rubbed his ears!! I do believe if it came to the crunch, I'd rather not trifle with one!

I believe they were almost extinct and then an English army type bred them again using deerhounds and Danes (I haven't googled this or anything, just going by memory, so I could be 100% wrong). I wonder was the original breed a different sort of dog altogether?

No idea on the background, but on the size, one of the best parts of my days when I had him was coming home to a "wolfhound hug" I'm five eight, and he was so big that when I'd come home and change, and go to greet the dogs, he could put his front paws around my neck and give me a giant cuddle.

This was back in the days when my house was scruffy and full of dogs.

La.de.da

Stheno wrote: »

He did tbh, but if you kept him well groomed he was fine, they seem to have a greasy coat.



No idea on the background, but on the size, one of the best parts of my days when I had him was coming home to a "wolfhound hug" I'm five eight, and he was so big that when I'd come home and change, and go to greet the dogs, he could put his front paws around my neck and give me a giant cuddle.

This was back in the days when my house was scruffy and full of dogs.

Wow. What a pack. Great pic. Beautiful dogs stheno.


I love the irish wolfhound. Majestic creature. There's one on Facebook had his own page. Gorgeous out.
Didn't know they had such short lifespans.

justbored

This post has been deleted.

whippet

many thanks for all the thoughts and replies, unfortunately my missus has put a veto on getting a WH. Won't even consider it, main reasons - short lifespan and just too big.

So, it looks like i'll be making a trip to <snip> later in the summer to see if I can offer a hound a second chance.

Muahahaha

How are IWs when it comes to playing? Would they play fetch or chase birds, etc? Or are they too docile for that? I don't think I've ever seen one actually running!

Stheno

Muahahaha wrote: »

How are IWs when it comes to playing? Would they play fetch or chase birds, etc? Or are they too docile for that? I don't think I've ever seen one actually running!

I didn't play fetch with mine, but he loved running around with the rest of the dogs, and chasing etc. He was actually quite a playful dog, and did the playfighting nonsense with some of the other dogs.

At a full on run he was a scary sight

fishoutofwater

Lovely pic Stheno. brings back memories... Had an IW growing up and oh what a gentle giant. jeez nearly 40 years and I still remember the day we got him... I remember picking him out from the litter. The quietest one.

The cats used to sleep on him. His exercise was chasing after the tractor around the farm with the other dogs or out with us kids around the fields. His food was whatever was going though there was always a big bag of stuff from the butchers at the weekend. Never saw a vet in his 8 years... one was called out on the morning he took sick but he'd passed before he arrived

but he had a good happy life which I know now it was quite long for a IW. Really fond memories of our days with him and his two terrier buddies. Oh and yes we got the hugs too

hardCopy

I'd imagine any behavioural issues would be a lot more acute with such a large dog. I can just about manage my 23 kg doodle when he tries to chase a bus, my wife can't. I don't know how I'd manage a much larger dog.

OP you've got experience training your lab so you probably have a good idea what to expect training wise, this is more for anybody considering a big dog as their first.

I know I was keen to get the biggest dog possible when we decided to get one, I now wouldn't recommend a big dog to a friend who was new to dogs.

tk123

hardCopy wrote: »

I'd imagine any behavioural issues would be a lot more acute with such a large dog. I can just about manage my 23 kg doodle when he tries to chase a bus, my wife can't. I don't know how I'd manage a much larger dog.

OP you've got experience training your lab so you probably have a good idea what to expect training wise, this is more for anybody considering a big dog as their first.

I know I was keen to get the biggest dog possible when we decided to get one, I now wouldn't recommend a big dog to a friend who was new to dogs.

23kgs is hardly 'big'!? I don't consider my retrievers big anyways - just normal size. A St Bernard, Newfie, Great Dane, Wolfhound now that's big to me. I'm 5 foot btw and can manage 60-70kgs of retrievers

Jawgap

hardCopy wrote: »

I'd imagine any behavioural issues would be a lot more acute with such a large dog. I can just about manage my 23 kg doodle when he tries to chase a bus, my wife can't. I don't know how I'd manage a much larger dog.

OP you've got experience training your lab so you probably have a good idea what to expect training wise, this is more for anybody considering a big dog as their first.

I know I was keen to get the biggest dog possible when we decided to get one, I now wouldn't recommend a big dog to a friend who was new to dogs.

I've a couple of Newfs - yes, like any dog they need to be socialised and trained properly, but 'chase'? I'd say they'd run 10 steps then think "feck it - this is eating into my nap time" - my wife's old retriever was much more hard work, in terms of behaviour and exercise, even though she (the dog, not the wife) was well trained.

I've always fancied an IW - majestic looking dogs - I didn't think their life spans were so short though.

hardCopy

tk123 wrote: »

23kgs is hardly 'big'!? I don't consider my retrievers big anyways - just normal size. A St Bernard, Newfie, Great Dane, Wolfhound now that's big to me. I'm 5 foot btw and can manage 60-70kgs of retrievers

I'm a heavy guy but when he gets hyper he can easily wreck my shoulder or put my back out. He is unusually hyper though.

DBB

Jawgap wrote: »

my wife's old retriever was much more hard work, in terms of behaviour and exercise, even though she (the dog, not the wife) was well trained.

Soooo... Does that mean your wife is not well trained?

Another thing to consider about the giant dogs... Everything tends to happen at their own pace. It's not that they're slow to learn... Not at all. They just tend to do everything in a more ponderous way. When you're more used to fast responses that you get from smaller, buzzier dogs, it takes a bit of getting used to that it can take a while for a wolfhound to fold his body into a sit/down/stand/whatever position!

Jawgap

DBB wrote: »

Soooo... Does that mean your wife is not well trained?

Another thing to consider about the giant dogs... Everything tends to happen at their own pace. It's not that they're slow to learn... Not at all. They just tend to do everything in a more ponderous way. When you're more used to fast responses that you get from smaller, buzzier dogs, it takes a bit of getting used to that it can take a while for a wolfhound to fold his body into a sit/down/stand/whatever position!

Yes, I'm the one who is well trained - when she says "sit" I don't even look to see if there's a chair

.....and I've certainly noticed the training thing with my two - if they don't fancy working then they'll just curl up and go asleep! I do some water training with them which they thoroughly enjoy, but once they've had enough they'll plod back to the car and sit patiently waiting to get in, and no amount of coaxing will bring them back!