Irish Wolfhounds- anyone

[MyOwnToes]

My husband is keen to get an Irish wolfhound, probably as a pup. We are experienced dog owners but have not had a large breed before.

Does anyone have any experience? We have a large house and garden (3 acres) plus one large car and one small one. I’m trying to get my head round what such a large breed would mean from a practical perspective. I know training etc will become even more important with such a large dog, also exercise reqs. Food. Anything else?

I believe the bigger the dog, the bigger the vet bills.
Relatives of mine had one and he was gorgeous, so cuddly.

We had one growing up, and now have a 55kg Dobermann so another large breed.
i mean, the usual and obvious of giant poos two handed pick ups and sometimes two bags 😳 then the cost to feed.
Yes manners and training have to be impeccable at that size.
Also it’s so sad they don’t live as long.

otherwise I think they’re amazing, if I had a few acres I’d love a wolf hound. Ours was a white fluff coat instead of the normal grey wire coat and was the most beautiful gentle giant.

The insurance will be far more expensive if you choose to go down that road. Vet bills/medicines are more expensive. You'll need a ramp for the dog to get in and out of an SUV if you have one. Is the current fencing you have adequate to stop a wolfhound going over? They're utterly gorgeous dogs that sadly don't live very long.

This will sound odd but have a look at the country walks you do and whether or not you could get the dog over the stiles. We have a Bernese who can manage most of them but have inherited by sisters Newfie after she passed and he really can't get over most and we certainly can't lift him.

Nothing to add as I don't have a large breed but if you do get one please share photos because I love them!

^ This is very good advice.

Also, OP needs to think abut what she will do if the dog is taken very sick on a walk, or even at home, and they need to get it into a car or the vets but it cannot walk. Realistically, not many people can lift an Irish Wolfhound let alone carry it from their house to a car. Tbh not many people can lift their 25-35KG dog. But an Irish Wolfhound or any giant breed is a very different kettle of fish.

The last thing you want is to be at home with an incredibly sick dog that cannot walk but urgently needs the vets.

Their life span is very short. I have a bedlington whippet that nearly 7 and Id be gutted if he was approaching the end of his life, it feels like we only just got him.

Have you thought about deerhounds or bedlington whippets? Slightly more practical size dog.

It's much harder to find walkers and boarders. And if you find them, it's much more expensive.

I haven’t had one of these but they are beautiful. My only word of caution would be about its strength and what stage of life you and your family are in. We have a young golden retriever and he’s our first dog - so we’ve made mistakes, am sure you’d be better with training than we have. But he is sooooo strong, prone to pulling when he is excited. Hence my kids at 6 and 8 can’t hold his lead. He pulled my 72yr old mum flat on her face in a muddy puddle - she was ok thankfully other than wet, but as my sister rushed to help her she slipped in the puddle and broke her elbow…

Working on training and seeing improvements but while I wouldn’t change him for the world, a smaller breed would have suited us better.

I believe you may need @wolfiefan....

We have a deerhound cross saluki.. Her nose is bench height.. Can steal toast from the toaster. Crouch down a tiny bit op and amaze yourself at what a tall pointy house will be trashing!! It and is your sofa big enough because ime they won't be happy with a ddog bed. However large the label says...

I’m here! I have two. They are my dream dogs and I adore them. As ever lots of puppy farmers out there so go through the club. They aren’t an easy choice. Insurance is costly but I would say essential. Food bills aren’t small and mine board with the breeder when we go on holiday. Wouldn’t cope (or indeed fit) in kennels.
They are sighthounds. So like a blast and then to sleep for the rest of the day. But some have a very high prey drive. Puppies need VERY careful management to ensure they don’t damage those growing limbs. And if cause you have all the puppy behaviour. But on a whole different scale. If you’re anywhere near GLOS happy to meet up. Or chat some more.

The girls

They have a really short life expectancy- my friend had one that lived to ten and the vet told her he’d had a much longer life than expected. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous dogs though

They are so beautiful, @Wolfiefan . I'm not a dog lover, except for wolfhounds, which I adore. Gorgeous, gentle beasts! 😍

They are gorgeous @Wolfiefan!

We are on a waiting list for breeders near us. The short life span puts me off. But probably will go ahead anyway!

My friend has always had them her whole life. She has 2 as they have a relatively short life. I'd echo everything said above plus her house "wears out" quicker than most. I've always wanted one, all of hers have been exceptional dogs. I'm very jealous!

@Blusterydaytodaypoohbear do check with the club about breeders. So so many awful ones out there and so worth travelling for a puppy.
My older girl is 8 and still bouncing about. They do have a much shorter life span than smaller dogs. All I can do is make the most of every day.

This is a completely absurd reason for not getting a big dog. If you used this logic nobody would ever have any dog bigger than a Labrador.

I've had 9 giant breed dogs in the last 50 years and never had one taken ill on a walk. The chances of that happening are pretty minimal.

Already good advice on here from people who own the breed so I will echo their comments.

Going via the Irish Wolfhound breed club, under no circumstances over exercise a pup or young dog, they mature late especially physically and their bones must be protected as they grow. Watch out for things such as Pano. Try not to let them go up and down stairs or jump.

Training and socialising as per any breed, although the carrying a pup around before its vaccinations to aid socialisation may not work!

Lovely breed!

Actually it's a pretty good reason. Maybe not on a walk, but at home?

If one of your dogs had a stroke or twisted gut (GVD) and needed urgent medical care, could you lift it up and put it in the car to get to a vet? Or would you have to wait to try and find a vet who did home visits and who was free?

I've known people sit with their dying dog for hours before a vet could get to them...all because they couldn't pick their dog up and get it into the car. If they had managed to lift their pet, the vet could have seen them at the practice in seconds...as it was, it's a lot harder to leave your practice in the middle of the night when you're on call and drive out to see a dog (virtually impossible, in fact) than it is for someone to pop in to see you.

So no. It's not absurd. It's a very important reason. As is not getting a dog you physically cannot restrain if needs be.

I think it's a good reason.

Different people have different needs and different priorities so it's not like everyone MUST consider what size dog they can lift. But it's important to me, comes in useful a few times a year when it would be dangerous to him or very inconvenient to me if I couldn't lift him and is a key reason why the next dog must be smaller - because I'll be older and no longer able to handle my current dog's 25kg weight.

I haven't had a Wolfhound but I've had 8 Pyrenean Mountain dogs, 4 of them large males. I also had a male Anatolian Shepherd dog. Not quite Wolfhound height but still massive dogs. We very nearly got a Wolfhound when I was a kid but ended up with a Pyrie instead.

When you say you want a giant breed you always get naysayers, for some reason it really irritates people that you want a dog bigger than a retriever.

Anyway, first piece of advice is to make sure your garden fence is adequate. We have 5ft chain link and concrete posts with 6ft wooden panels a few inches outside it and a tall metal gate with signs up. Even if your dog is not an escapologist they can knock out a fence panel so you need mesh inside it.

Secondly, with regard to giant breed puppies the golden rule is no stairs and no jumping. Puppy gates everywhere you can. You need to lift them in and out of your car initially but as they grow you can switch to lifting front end then back end.

Food - be aware of the risk of bloat so no exercise for one hour before or after meals and continue to feed 3 or 4 meals as adults if you can; it is safer than one or two large meals. Good quality large breed food is best.

Exercise - not too much initially because of the fast growth rate. Several short walks is better for growing pups than one long walk. Free running is good but they also need a lot of rest periods.

With regard to training, right from the start you need to be able to handle their toys and food. So sit on the floor and put your hands in the food bowl when your young puppy is eating. Add a piece of kibble, take a piece out. Turn the bowl. They need to get used to this early. Same with toys; offer a toy, take a toy away. All this is important. You cannot have reactive guarding with a giant, they have to trust you and you have to trust them.

Giant dogs, particularly as pups, have absolutely no concept of their size or strength so lead training is massively challenging, even if you go to puppy class. They pull like crazy, jump up and bite the lead. They do grow out of it but you have to be prepared that even a 4 month old giant is bigger than a Retriever and can pull you over.

Good luck. You won't regret your decision. Giant breed dos are absolutely amazing. So loving, just wonderful to be around. You probably wont stop at one, they are addictive (we had three PMD in a normal 3 bed semi).

I'll probably think of other stuff to say but if you think of any specific questions just ask.

One of our girls did have torsion at age 8 - maybe you actually saw me post about this before...? We knew the signs, rang our vet and lifted her into the car. She had surgery and ended up living to 12.

Another of ours had epilepsy, suffered a seizure in the garden and our vet came out to attend to him.

I'm not trying to say these things never happen, of course they do but I don't understand why you would use this as a reason why nobody should ever choose to have a giant dog breed.

Would you say the same to everyone who has a horse? "no, don't get a pony for your child, it might die from torsion or break a leg in the paddock"? No. of course you wouldn't.

Not a dog owner, so no practical advice.

But once knew an Irish Wolfhound who was so chilled out he'd lie down in the middle of the lane in our village. Just blocking the whole road, looking very big and hairy, yet affable and 'cool as a cucumber' whilst all the cars reversed to find another route. Did this all day, every day, like it was his job!