Is it best to strip the old hair from him or cut him? He's not to keen on me doing eaither.

Hi guest, I have Irish Wolfhounds so maybe I can help. By rights the breeder should of told you all this, still never mind:)
A Wolfhounds coat tends to act a bit differently to most dogs. You have probably noticed that they dont seem to shed all the time, but the hair comes out in clumps leaving what look like smooth patches. When this happens, the top coat has died, and can be pulled out with finger and thumb or a stripping knife. It will come out really easily, if it dosnt then the coat isnt ready, and pulling the hair will make the dog uncomfortable,
As regards cutting the coat, well its up to you, he is your boy but its not something I would do!! A Wolfhounds coat is supposed to have a harsh texture, and when you cut it,not only does it leave unsightly lines, but the coat will grow back softer and more bushy.Also frequent baths will soften the coat too.
If you brush and comb your lad every day, a lot of the loose dead hair will come away and make the tidying up job easier. If I can help with anything else please let me know.

I agree entirely with Phillippa....but would say a little more strongly, "please don't cut his coat''...it looks awful & the short bits that fall out will be more annoying than the long bits.

Only addition here is that its OK to trim a little bit at the soft hair in the places that tangle, like the belly, inside the upper thighs and under the forearms especially in an older hound, or one that isn't to be shown, but if you do its best to use thinning scissors. Like Phil I prefer to strip by hand, plucking whatever bit of whatever hound is closest while watching TV or whatever. If you do use a stripping knife, get a nice coarse one for the body. If your hound isn't keen on being groomed and maybe has got in a bit of a tangle as a result, use a mat splitter, plastic rake and coarse slicker in sequence, and do a little bit at a time.

PS - Phil, got your message. Been virused again <groan>, so not much further forward but will ring tomorrow.

Hi Phillipa
Have just posted reply to the visitor asking about I W grooming, have you tried the Mars Coat King on yours? It is brilliant.
Trevor

Hi Trevor, nice to meet a fellow enthusiast. No, I havnt tried the new Mars tool, probably because I have been doing it the old way for too long :) Where did you get your Wolfhound from?

Hi Phillipa
Have two at present both are Hydebeck's. Bayley is 22 mths and currently blowing her coat and her Dad Rodrick who is nearly 4. Am in partnership with Rodrick, he lives with us and I show him and co-own him with Louise Pinkney. I imagine you are Cagasa's. My name is Nicky and the online monika "Trevor" is in honour of my old boy (a Bowsfall) who we lost last June with DCM & kidney prob's.
Regards Nicky

Hi Nicky and Phil, this is nice .... are we working on a sighthound takeover here :D?

Hi Sharon
Certainly looks that way. Do you Show &/or Breed? What lines are your Wolfies from. We are at Bath on Monday, hope the weather breaks so we are outside as the tent's flapping tend to freak them out.
Regards Nicky

Hi Nicky, wolfhounds are my first love, but deerhounds are my main breed. I have two wolfies at present, Megan who is 11 and a Melanter, and Lewis who is 10 months. If you e-mail me, I'll be happy to tell you about his pedigree. The reason I don't want to give it here is that he's had surgery for OCD and I've discussed it a fair bit on the board. Though I've nothing but praise for his breeders, you never know what people would prefer not to have broadcast on the 'net. I'd intended to show Lewis, but that's out now. Megan was shown a little when she was young, but whle she isn't nervous, she's a sensitive homebody who hated it. I showed my previous wolfies (all Melanters) a bit more, but not as much as one in particular deserved because IWs and deerhounds tend to be in at the same time. I breed the deerhounds but for various reasons have never bred a litter of IWs. However I'm now coming to the point where I'm thinking of a nice IW bitch and maybe some IW pups - and have just been on the phone to Phil for about two hours on that very subject :D!

Hi sharon, (whispers quietly in her ear) ROLL ON MID JUNE:)

ROLL ON MID JUNE!!! Was that quiet enough :-)?

PS. What age do you let your pups go? My little deeries usually stay to 12 weeks, but if a very experienced hound lady should want her's earlier, that would be OK;-).

To my friend , the very experienced hound lady :) Sharon, as its you, anytime from the day she is 8 weeks old!!!! She couldnt be in better hands, and with all those maternal Deerhounds to keep an eye on her and show her the ropes, what more could any little wolfie want?

Hi Sharon
Will e direct, as you say it is not nice to broadcast bad things on the net.
Nicky

That we make a nice change Sharon, we always seem to be in the minority

Yep, the sooner we outnumber all these gundog and working types the better :D.

You've forgotten all us Spitz breed folks too, though we are also in the Hound Group with Jackie H, just to be confusing, lol!!! :D

How could we ever forget you brainless - you're the noisy benches :D. Only joking, just that Phil and I are in the mood for celebration and staging a Champhounds coup (you, Jackie and all spitzhounders very welcome!) seems like a good way of doing it :-)

Us noisy never, it's those finish Spitz and Basenji's we get benched next to that are the noisy ones, honest, lol. any way I can't stand noisy ones so mine I shoot! Only with water of course! are you at Bath on Monday! Do You know Bernadette Stoneham of Paran Ibizans, she walks hers in the same country park as me, godsend, don't know what I would do without all these great safe walking places I have around here in Bristol!

Ah, so YOU'RE the person with the water pistol with the silent dogs on the noisy benches :D :D

Bath is a long way away for me, and although I hope to remedy the situation soon, having lost one and had to re-home one because of fighting with her sister I've nothing to show at present. Teelin should come right, but at present she is too gangly to be seen in public. Apart from her I have 5 OAPs, Flea who is pretty but too small and Lewis with his OCD. Don't know Bernadette Stoneham, but like you I'm grateful for safe walking places.

Dear Brainless and Jackie H, welcome to CHAMPHOUNDS lol ;)

Hi Nicky, was Trever an offspring of Hooligan? Is your youngest wolfie an offspring of Lilliebeth? How I love that bitch, soooo feminine, and for my sins , yes, my affix ix Cagasa. Good luck with your showing this year.

Hi Phillipa
Hope you don't mind but I will e direct to you, got your address from your page.
Nicky

Just a thought that might help, if you think he needs a bath ( and IW rarely need a full bath) soak a piece of towelling in a Savlon dilution. Rub it through the coat and it will take out dirt and excess grease. The Savlon smell will dissapear after a couple of hours.

Hi
Further to earlier replies, l have Wolfies and l would recommend a new type of stripping tool, it was advertised in the last issue of The Irish Wolfhound Magazine, it is a Mars Coat King -Coarse size 8. It is brilliant, gets out all the dead hair with ease and they don't even play up when you're doing it! My 22 mth bitch is currently blowing and this tool has enabled me to make her look quite reasonable for the show ring. they are available from the trade stands at Champ shows, mine was £16.20, or as mentioned above they are advertised in the mag @ £20 +p&p. Hope that helps.
Trevor