Hi Everyone
I am new to this board, and am looking to talk to any members who own Irish Wolfhounds. We pick up our new little (or not so little!) boy in 2 weeks and would gratefully receive any advice or tips on rearing a Wolfhound pup as this is our first.
We have read some books but there is nothing quite as good as talking to actual owners who have experience.
Particularly interested to hear what you feed as have lots of different advice.
Look forward to hearing from you if there are any! :-)
Thanks
Mel

My sister used to have years ago. Shes hoping to get another 1 soon.

Hi Mel, I've had IWs for two decades. Who are you getting your boy from? Thay should give you a diet sheet and be the best person to go to for advice - but if I can help in any way I'm happy to chat. I've fed my IWs on various good quality complete food, all with good results, but am using ProPlan at present. What books do you have - there are some excellent ones on IWs.

Hi Jas
Wow two decades!!! ooooo you could be very helpful!! (LOL) I could be picking your brains lots and lots!! We have got him from Dympner Kennels, do you know them? She said she would give me a diet sheet with him and mentioned somehing about feeding a performance food which is fed to Greyhounds cant remember the name something like Wence, or Vance???. Would like to know your advice on walking and exercising as I believe you have to be very careful whilst they are growing. I got 2 books - "World of Dogs - The Irish Wolfhound" by Linda Gover and "Irish Wolfhound" by Alice Kane, they are both good but not quite as in depth as I want, do you know any others?
We are going to see him at the weekend (can't wait!) to drop off a blanket to leave with him to help him to settle in.
Where do you live Jas, I am in Kent.

Hi Mel,

Dympner is the Shutes isn't it? I don't know them but know of them. Mine were all Melanter until Stella Blackmore moved to a smaller breed after her husband died. Now thay are Caredig (Roger & Debbie Tebbutt in Anglesey). I don't know which food you mean, but I've used performance greyhound feeds before with good results.

You need to be very careful about exercise. IWs grow incredibly fast and theough they don't have joint problems to the degree some breeds do, they do get them. A single pup will not over-exercise himself in free play (two will!) so let him play free as much as he likes. The thing to avoid is over-much lead walking. Get him used to the lead certainly (usually easy with an IW), but no long lead walks until he is  over 10 months and no joggig with him or running with a horse or bicyle until he is at least 18 months. Some people will say an IW pup should not be allowed to go up stairs at all (and you should do as your breeder says) but I do let mine go up stairs occassionaly. That is because if they don't get the chance to go up stairs as pups / youngsters they may refuse to go up them as adults - and that is awkward to put it mildly!

Two other books I'd recommend are:

Magnificent Irish Wolfhound by Mary MacBryde (£24.50 from Amazon.co.uk). It is up to date, sensible and reasonably in-depth

Raising, Showing and Breeding the Irish Wolfhound by Elizabeth C. Murphy (£21.00 from Amazon.co.uk) It is a bit out of date, especially on feeding, but for my money it's the best breed book ever written.

I'm in Scotland. I'm happy to answer any questions here, but if you want to PM me I'll give you my 'phone number and we can have a good natter - I'll talk sighthounds 'til the cows come home! :D

Hi, I too am a first time Wolfhound owner or should that be I am owned by a Wolfhound. Mine is now 15 months old and so have gone thru the first time problems. I bought the book The Magnificent Irish Wolfhound by Mary MacBryde and although some of it was not relevant to me (My wolfhound was always going to be a pet) it has been an invaluable source of info. My breeder has been great with advice along the way and I just read and read and read any info about them that I could lay my hands on (nost of this was done before starting to look for a pup. Some of them growing up is trial and error but if you stick to the basics of no stairs, no walks (well long ones), no feeding an hour or so before and after walks etc you can't go wrong. Hope this is of some help and if you want to email me feel free. Good luck with your new pup.

Hi Ang, nice to know there are other wolfhound owners here. What is your wolfie's name and who bred him (just being nosey :) )

Hi Ang
Nice to hear from you too, have been reading so much, what do you feed your wolfie?
We went to see him on Sunday, just can't believe how gorgeous he is very loving and laid back, can't wait to get him (bank hol) Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
Where abouts are you in the country, we are in Kent :-)
Mellonz

Hi my wolfhounds name is Gyp, Gypsy Blue to be posh, Gyp eats Chudleys classic (dry) we did feed her in the beginning on Burns and then James Wellbeloved and it just seemed to go straight thru her. ( I had a theory that the better quality would obviously be better for her but not in our case)  So we went for something different that would meet her needs and The Chudleys did the trick. We live in West Yorkshire about a good 40 minute drive from Leeds. When you do get him be prepared for the is it a horse?donkey etc remarks as he grows, that nearly everyone you meet will say and as you can increase his walks remember to add on an extra 10 mins or so as everyone stops you.  Sorry forgot to mention that Gyp is from Tonuchka kennels.  Just don't let him overdo things in the first couple of weeks but if you've been reading everything you'll be pretty clued up. Also if you do have any queries your breeder will probably be a great help.   Forget to mention and Jas will probably agree with this I am now addicted to Irish Wolfhounds we do have another dog a lurcher at home whose fairly old now so I have sown the seed with my hubby that when she goes we will be getting another Wolfie.

They are a bit moreish aren't they :) I don't breed wolfies (I do breed deerhounds) but I wouldn't be without one or two IWs. The horse/donkey/do you have a saddle for him remarks are all too true, but you're right too about everyone stopping you. Having a wolfie on the lead is a great way to make friends :)

Hi Ang
Thanks for the info, Is Gyp grey just wondered from her name, never heard of Chudleys before (will have a look at it) but I think you are right, just because it is expensive doesn't mean its right. Spoke to our breeder at the weekend and she feeds Wence Working dog which she said is excellent, low in protein as she said a lot of the expensive foods are too high in protein, making the pup shoot up in size causing problems when they are older, which I have to say having seen our boy, he is growing lovely and solid and all in proportion (apart from those huge feet and ears! :-))
I used to live in North Yorkshire! (in York), Small world!

Glad that you baby is a nice laid back boy. :) If you have had other breeds before do remember that IWs mature mentally very slowly in comparison and although they may appear laid back they are actually very babyish and sensitive puppies. So go slow with him and give him loads of affection and attention (as I'm sure you will) so that he grows into a confident and bombproof adult. They are usually easy puppies who are house trained simply by showing them where to go and letting them get there often and train to the lead simply by putting one on. But don't be fooled - wofies are incredibly stubborn and they despise repetition so while having a civilised companion is easy, again if you've had other breeds before, wolfhounds require a whole new mental attitude. You don't so much train them as reach an accomodation with them! So decide what is important to you and gently institute your rules from the start.

Hi Jas
Thanks for those useful tips! can't wait until next week! :-)

Yes Gyp is grey she is though quite light in colour underneath the grey a sort of brindle look. When we were looking for different foods we were looking at the low protein types but if the shop didn't stock any and we asked if they had any foods in with the protein below 20/21% and explained we had a pup that needed low protein an awful lot of people would say no she'll be ok on puppy food we didn't however do that and went in search of the next shop, we have found our local large farm feed shop was the best and the cheapest. Chudleys is made by I thinks its Hobson Dorrell the horse feed company. I took Gyp to dog training as she's a little funny with other dogs not aggressive but wary. If she goes up to them she's quite happy but if they come running to her she isn't. Gyp was also a pain for pulling on the lead and while they are little it's not too bad, but now she weighs around 10 stone it's impossible so I got a Halti for her and this did the trick. We did have one incident where I had her lead clipped on her collar, it was raining and very muddy underfoot, our other dog was running round and was about to let Gyp off however, I wasn't quick enough and was taken for a ride (it was a bit like water skiing only on mud) until my feet went from under me. One happy dog running around, one unhappy owner. PS the feet are always big especially good for mucky floors after a walk, I hope you like cleaning.  Good luck when you pick him up, we took an old blanket and lots of newspapers to put underneath so if she had an accident it didn't get on the car seat. The main thing is to have fun with them. 

LOL oh dear his feet are massive already!!
Luckliy to adapt to our house of animals we changed to laminate floors last year so most of the floors now are laminate (thankfully the hallway is one of them!)
Can't wait to pick him up, we took some photos of him when we went to see him at the weekend and we can't stop looking at them!
We left a blanket with the breeder so it has the scent of his mum on to help him settle. will also take some newspapers just in case (thx 4 that tip! :-))
Just goes to show re the foods doesnt it! this food the breeder is recommending I keep our boy on is more than half the price of some of the expensive brands!
Did you give Gyp things like weetabix/Scrambled egg when she was a baby?
Cant believe Gyp weighs 10 stone! that's more than me! will make a mental note of the lead traiing early on as well, have been trying to find a puppy socialising class, can you believe the one in our village which is regulated by the KC is fully booked all year! :-(

Hi, we just fed Gyp on dry food from the minute we got her, although i have a friend with an old english sheepdog pup and although he's now pretty much on dry food my friend did feed him scambled egg and mince at first as that was what her breeder recommended. Whoever invented laminate flooring is a godsend our whole house is laminate apart from upstairs and the stairs, luckily as Gyp wasn't allowed up and down stairs all she does now is put her front two feet on the bottom four and hasn't gone any further we haven't encouraged her too either as our other dog loves when we are out at work to lie on everybodys bed we have tried to tell her not to but seeing as we're out and she gets off them when she hears the car we never catch her but there's always a nice warm spot and dog hair on the bed, I don't think my hubby would be too happy to have his side of the bed taken over by Gyp. We were quite carefulwith what she ate in the beginning and then gradually introduced other foods over a period of time eg. leftovers. She'll pretty much eat everything now, that includes garden plants and she also loves to dig, yours might not be the same but I hope your not a keen gardener although they're really handy if you want to plant a tree. It would be nice if someone could invent easy wipe wallpaper, I find that I have cream wallpaper and then three nice mucky lines running around door cases and down the hall. A line for Kel our other dog, a line for Gyp and then a handmark line off the kids. (Why did I pick creams as the main colours downstairs) You will certainly have nothing if not plenty to do when your new pup arrives,      

Hi Mellonz,

I don't give scrambled egg/weetabix etc. The most important thing about food for a fast growing pup like an IW is not the protein content (The latest research suggests that high protein doesn't 'force' a puppy - the excess is just excreted or turned into calories). The imprtant thing is that the food is properly balanced, especially with regard to the ratio of Potassium and calcium. Complete foods ARE complete and balanced, and adding extras to them (apart from the odd tid-bit of course) cahnges the balance.

I wouldn't worry TOO much about not being able to get on a socialisation course. IWs are generally confident and ready to love the world so when he is fully vaccinated take him for short walks so that he meets traffic etc. You'll find all sorts of people want to meet HIM so that's good too. Do you have a pub locally that allows dogs? Our local welcomes them and every puppy we've had has been taken there regularly - lots of people to talk to and stroke the pup, and good experience for him in a crowded noisy place.

Its Dodson and Horell that make Chudleys. They do also make horse feed. I havent used there dog food but the horse feed is of a very good standard.

Thanks for that Jas and thanks for your recommendations on the book (and Ang :-) I have bought the Magnificent wolfhound book so looking forward to receiving it soon. Only 1 week to go!! so excitied :-)

Do please let us know when he arrives. Have you decided on a name for him yet?

Hi Jaz
I know its a bit predictable but we like "Paddy" ! but in actual fat the name really suits him. I wanted to post a photo of him but I don't know how to so if anyone knows would love to show you a pic of him.
We have just been looking at them again. We collect him next Friday over the bank hol :-)
We are really looking forward to it!

Nothing wrong with Paddy :) I don't know where you can post a pic of him for everyone but I'd love to see him and you can send me one at jaserd@f2s.com. Have you decided on a food yet? Whatever you have decided on change him to it slowly from what the breeder has him on. The breeder will probably give you some to get you started so mix it in with the new food gradually increasing the new stuff. The last thing you want when you are house training is a dose of the wolfie squits. :)