Before purchasing a Wolfhound - important info

hexosan

Hi
I'm considering purchasing a wolfhound at the end of the year, for half my life I've wanted to own this breed.
Before anyone mentions it I have room in the house it isn't an issue & I have plenty of land to exercise the dog.

What I'm looking for is:
1. a pro's & con's list
2. Cost to feed & keep i.e. food, insurance, vet bills
3. What to look out for when viewing pups & breeder
4. Exercise regiment
5. Recommended breeders (by PM)
6. Good books to read
7. Anything else I've left out (haven't considered) or may be of interest

Thanks in advance for any replies.

morton

I've never owned this breed but have met several fabulous Irish wolfhounds in the past few years and spoken to owners. What I found out was that the lifespan of the Irish wolfhound is quite short, averaging at 8 years

The only thing I can suggest is to contact the Irish wolfhound society of Ireland, and try and meet up with some owners at their club/ show meetings where you'll get the answers you need and get some hands on time with the wolfhounds!

fathead82

I was thinking about getting one a few years ago but was put off because of the fact that they are sighthounds & may not be good with small animals.We have cats,hens & ducks so it was not worth the risk with a dog that size.
They are also prone to bloat & twisted stomachs & should have a raised up food bowl & never be exercised shortly after a meal.
Apart from that they seem to be great dogs.

Magenta

hexosan wrote: »

Hi
I'm considering purchasing a wolfhound at the end of the year, for half my life I've wanted to own this breed.
Before anyone mentions it I have room in the house it isn't an issue & I have plenty of land to exercise the dog.

What I'm looking for is:
1. a pro's & con's list
2. Cost to feed & keep i.e. food, insurance, vet bills
3. What to look out for when viewing pups & breeder
4. Exercise regiment
5. Recommended breeders (by PM)
6. Good books to read
7. Anything else I've left out (haven't considered) or may be of interest

Thanks in advance for any replies.

I would suggest doing a Google search, there is lots of information about most breeds online.

ABajaninCork

Irish Wolfhound IKC Contacts

Info from the KC

Irishchick

fathead82 wrote: »

They are also prone to bloat & twisted stomachs & should have a raised up food bowl.

Do NOT do this. Contrary to rumour and belief this can actually contribute to bloat!

hexosan

morton wrote: »

I've never owned this breed but have met several fabulous Irish wolfhounds in the past few years and spoken to owners. What I found out was that the lifespan of the Irish wolfhound is quite short, averaging at 8 years

Yes I'm aware of the shorten life span


The only thing I can suggest is to contact the Irish wolfhound society of Ireland, and try and meet up with some owners at their club/ show meetings where you'll get the answers you need and get some hands on time with the wolfhounds!

An excellent idea

fathead82 wrote: »

I was thinking about getting one a few years ago but was put off because of the fact that they are sighthounds & may not be good with small animals.We have cats,hens & ducks so it was not worth the risk with a dog that size.
They are also prone to bloat & twisted stomachs & should have a raised up food bowl & never be exercised shortly after a meal.
Apart from that they seem to be great dogs.

I wasn't aware or considered the issue with smaller animals as the new dog would have to contend with a few hens & a peacock.

justbored

This post has been deleted.

Pabmac

Justbored, you sound as if you have a fabby set up. Springers hens ducks etc. I'd love to live in the Country :-)

fathead82

Irishchick wrote: »

Do NOT do this. Contrary to rumour and belief this can actually contribute to bloat!

I never knew that,i was told by a vet to feed my old golden retriever from a raised up food bowl.

justbored

This post has been deleted.

eirator

hexosan wrote: »

I wasn't aware or considered the issue with smaller animals as the new dog would have to contend with a few hens & a peacock.

I wouldn't worry about it of the pup is brought up with the chickens, its just part of the hysteria you'll hear when you have a large dog.

We have large dogs that people would not associate as good companions for chickens and they are no problem at all, if anything they are very protective of their chickens and foxes don't stand a chance.

The current pup has parents known for killing chickens and he has hardly shown any interest in ours at all apart from eating their food and our older large dog took about 6 months before I was totally happy he was safe with chickens. All we do is take the dogs around when we feed the chickens, make them sit and stay, say "no chickens" if they take any interest and treat as appropriate. Some dogs might need to be on a lead if they show too much interest but it soon goes. Also helps a lot when the chickens are used to the dogs because they flap about a lot less and don't make themselves attractive targets. You do have to make the effort for a few months to be sure.

A neighbour who has since moved used to breed Irish Wolfhounds and keep chickens he had no problems with the chickens his issue was the odd escape as a farm five bar gate isn't much of a barrier to a Wolfhound.

dollydishmop

hexosan wrote: »

Hi
I'm considering purchasing a wolfhound at the end of the year, for half my life I've wanted to own this breed.
Before anyone mentions it I have room in the house it isn't an issue & I have plenty of land to exercise the dog.

What I'm looking for is:
1. a pro's & con's list

I have a IWH lurcher...in other words she's Irish Wolfhound x Greyhound. A big shaggy lurcher. She's a foster dog for my local SPCA, and did I mention she's big!

Pros....she's lovely, really not a nasty bone in her body. She's a complete clown, and makes me laugh regularly. She tries to be sneaky, and she thinks she's clever, but she's not But she's just so happy about everything, always!

Cons....she's big, but she thinks she's terrier sized...her tail can clear a table in one wag, and I frequently have striped bruises down my thighs from her waggy tail.

hexosan wrote: »

2. Cost to feed & keep i.e. food, insurance, vet bills

She's not insured, so I can't comment on that.

The SPCA pay her feed bills. She eats approx 5 cups/day dry food. My other 4 dogs eat 6 cups a day between them (2 terriers, a pointer & a collie). I get through 30kg of dry food a fortnight, so she roughly gets through one 15kg bag in a fortnight. I use cheap/cheerful dry food, and I'm happy that my dogs are healthy and their coats etc look good on it. (Hopefully any Boardsies on here who know me and my dogs would agree) If I was paying her food bills, she would cost me approx €0.89/day to feed (I get 2x15kg bags for €25 and the SPCA splits the bill)


Any vets bills for her, outside of annual vaccs, wormers etc, have been directly due to the terrible state of neglect I found her in, so wouldn't be relevant.

With regards to the raised/lowered feed bowl argument. I used to feed her raised, until I read new research telling me to put the bowl on the floor. Then I just didn't know what to do, as good arguments on both sides for either position of bowl. So I experiemented by putting her bowl on the edge of a split level area. This meant she could choose where/how to eat. She *always* chooses to eat from the higher bit of floor, so to her the bowl is effectively at ground level, because she's up on the step with it. Sometimes she lies down and eats with the bowl between her front legs. But she has *never* chosen to eat from the lower floor area, which would present her with a raised bowl. She has never bloated, but that's obviously not necessarily conclusive, YMMV..

hexosan wrote: »

3. What to look out for when viewing pups & breeder

Obviously check that mum etc is there, that mum is definitely their mum and not some random bitch brought out from the back room. For breed specific things, the IKC breed club should help you here, and also any breed specific research you can do yourself.

hexosan wrote: »

. Exercise regiment

She would rather be sleeping than exercising. I did lots of lurcher/greyhound research when I first took her in, tand they emphasised that they are bred for short bursts of speed, and not for long distance stamina. So we don't go far and we don't go out for long, and she's happy with that.
Wish my pointer was the same...its simply not possible to tire that dog out! :pac:

hexosan wrote: »

5. Recommended breeders (by PM)
6. Good books to read

I can't answer those, sorry.

hexosan wrote: »

7. Anything else I've left out (haven't considered) or may be of interest

I did mention my girl is a foster didn't I? In other words, she's looking for a home? She's been here far too long!
I know she's not a full IWH, but she's just a slightly leaner, faster-looking shaggy coated, wheaten-coloured IWH...with all the other lovely IWH breed characteristics
Definitely worth you giving it some thought I reckon

Irishchick

fathead82 wrote: »

I never knew that,i was told by a vet to feed my old golden retriever from a raised up food bowl.

That used to be norm but further research has shown that it's now safer to have the bowl at ground level so that's what's recommended now.

Irishchick

Irishchick wrote: »

Do NOT do this. Contrary to rumour and belief this can actually contribute to bloat!

Have you a source for that? I've an Akita and they're prone to bloat but once you soak the food and it expands, I'm not sure how a raised bowl can contribute to bloat. I haven't found anything conclusive online either...

Incheerocket

I have had several wolfhounds for years, sadly now just left with the one, but I cannot recommend enough the best book to read its called tThe magnificent irish wolfhound by Mary mcbride, this will tell you everything you need to know and we'll done for thinking ahead and researching. Of the four I've had I lost one at 18 mths to kidney disease, a second at 5 to megaoesphogus and my first I lost at 9 yrs Saffy the one I have is currently 8 and half so fingers crossed she's got a while left in her but if you get them to 10 you have done well. As for the bloat and raising bowls I've done both and currently feed just very slightly raised, you will read lots of differing opinions on this, but the most crucial time for wolfies is their first year as they are growing so very quickly and their bones and growth plates are very soft and can be damaged easily which can affect them for the rest of their lives, they are sight hounds so will chase most things they see move however we have sheep and if you train them early on there is no problem, I also have cats and again no problem.

Good luck and if you can get Mary McBrides book you won't go wrong, you'll have a big loveable lump that will give lots of unconditional love and loads of muddy paw prints back to you,

hexosan

Thanks for all the info so far and ill certainly check out the books mentioned.

PhotogTom

We have a 6 year old Wolfie and here are a few thoughts.
Don't really know how accurate the advice is but lots of books say to monitor/limit their exercise when small pups (up to 18 months or so). This is to reduce stress on growing joints. We sort of did this without going overboard and had no problems.
We feed Leader Large Breed. Our guy is pretty big even for a Wolfie. Good feeding point is that he free feeds and has never bulked up. Has stayed nice and slim and athletic. Bad is that it costs us a solid €100 per month or €1200 per year - it does add up.
We did a lot of socializing when he was a pup and I think this led to his extra friendly disposition. Loves seeing new people and kids.
He does chase anything that runs from him. Including one memorable time a 6 year old came to visit, took one look and when running down the lane. Our guy lopes after him (wasn't much of a contest) and quite happily ran side by side for a hundred yards or so looking at the 6 year old as if to say "This is lots of fun, isn't it?" Kid didn't think so! He also chases our chickens, cats, kittens and Cavalier King Charles. But I truly think its sport as when he "catches" them there is no mouthing, biting or knocking about. Its just a game to him.
Never had any medical issues just annual jabs.
We are in a very small house and he is exceptionally good in the house - no chewing, no mess and no knocking things off, etc.
Only bad habit is he's a bit of a thief and will cruise the kitchen counter. His head is above counter height so he can see what's up there and will steal something if backs are turned. He just sees it as fair game. On the other hand, I can leave my sandwich on the arm of the chair and he won't touch it as , I guess, he sees it as mine.
In short, get one, everything you've heard is true and they are "gentle giants" who are the most affectionate dogs I've ever known.

SillyMangoX

Just one thing to watch for - the tails! they are so long they can get easily injured, ive seen a wolfie who has to keep getting portions of his tail amputated due to trauma!

hexosan

Anyone with details for recommended breeders please feel free to send me the details via PM

ABajaninCork

Have a look at the links for the IKC and KC. They have recommended breeders.

cena

My local vet lets his go around the town. He well cause an accident some night.