The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: sokel on June 29, 2012, 10:13:04 pm
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Is anyone else owned by a wolfhound ?
We have a 2 1/2 year old who is as soft as muck and in the process of possibly getting a second one who is 10 months old.
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I have been owned by 2 but our last was put down just before christmas :( They are fabulous - no other dogs can compare.
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I think they are lovely gentle giants. They have a shorter life span due to their size haven't they? A bit like Danes?
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We had one, then later looked after another for one of our sons. They are wonderful dogs, with their own take on obedience and a terrible problem with wind :P They love to sit on your lap, but can only fit the back end on, love to share your bed but there's no room for you, and in the car they need windows open on both sides so they can stick their head out one side and their tail out of the other ;D They are the perfect size for a hug :dog: .
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I have always hankered after one since reading Finn the wolfhound as a child..... are there any breed/ rescue societies for them?
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there used to be a breeder along the road from me they were £1800 a pup :farmer:
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smudger just google Irish wolfhound and everything will come up money must be tight they are selling for £950 now and rescues for £100 but with no paperwork they retain it :farmer:
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I have always hankered after one since reading Finn the wolfhound as a child..... are there any breed/ rescue societies for them?
That was a good book :thumbsup: Yes there is a wolfhound rescue - well worth doing :dog:
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Sadly she wasnt the right dog for my lifestyle as she chased livestock something that I couldnt cope with with the amount of animals we have here
so we are now on the search for a puppy ;D
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Don't know much about them, just that I admire them very much.
But might most wolfhounds chase livestock, as they're hunting dogs?
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Our wolfie aswell as our friends wolfies are 100% with livestock, ours goes out and mixes with goats, lambs, poultry and does not even look at them
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That's good to hear. I wondered if you maybe had the only one who didn't like to chase livestock. My Dad's lurchers were pretty lethal if they ever got into the chicken paddock :o
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That's good to hear. I wondered if you maybe had the only one who didn't like to chase livestock. My Dad's lurchers were pretty lethal if they ever got into the chicken paddock :o
Lurchers are crossed with sight hounds (eg greyhound) and as such designed to chase and kill anything that moves, especially rabbits and hare.
Wolfhounds are dogs which originally hunted wolves, in part to protect flocks of sheep, so in the same way as foxhounds are mostly interested in foxes and not usually at all in sheep, I presume wolfhounds are more minded to protect sheep and chase predators?
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They will chase sheep but it's something you have to be aware of and train out of them from an early age. In spite of their individualistic approach to rules , chasing livestock can be prevented, but you do need to acknowledge it as a potential problem. :dog:
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An Irish Wolfhound is identified as a sighthound within the various groups of dogs. A Sighthound is one that was used to hunt a particular prey based on the movement of that animal. A Scottish Deerhound coursed deer and Greyhounds chased hare. Although the wolf is no longer available for an Irish Wolfhound to hunt (probably not anything most of us would like to see anyway), many wolfhounds still have some of that coursing instinct remaining.
I had read this, which is why I wondered. But I gather that the coursing instinct isn't as strong anymore as maybe it still is in greyhounds bred for racing.
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I love TAS. I learn something new every day. :D
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I do too. But now I want a wolfhound. Don't think Skye would approve :D
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I do too. But now I want a wolfhound. Don't think Skye would approve :D
If you want to be put off, the wind problem is a biggy ;D Fills the house.....empties the house (of people) :D
Then there's poop-scooping - definitely not the hand in a little plastic bag solution which works so well with terriers and other small dogs. Wolfhound poo just doesn't respond to being picked up, being much more of a shovel and bucket affair.
Then there's the vet bills....
And the slobber ;D :P which is worst when they shake, so it flies in an arc around the room, including the ceiling.
The giant tail wagging which catches the tip on door frames etc so there's always blood to mop up :(
They say that there are plenty of folk who 'used to have a wolfhound'....
And finally they find their way into your heart like no other dog, then die young :'( :'( :dog:
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finally they find their way into your heart like no other dog, then die young
none of the rest would really bother me except this.
My collies are 9 and 11 and I can confidently expect at least another 5-7 years from them :)
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I do too. But now I want a wolfhound. Don't think Skye would approve :D
I've always wanted a wolfhound. And I nearly had one once, too. I rescued one that was lost in a public park and told the police I'd rehome him if his owners didn't turn up - but it turned out later he had an elderly owner, who'd seen me befriending the dog from across the green, tried to call and wave but hadn't managed to attract my attention, and had doddered slowly in my wake as I marched the poor hound off to the (thankfully for the owner, very nearby) Police station... :-[
However, subsequent to this, a cousin of mine did have a wolfhound pup, and was advised that he musn't allow it to jump or even negotiate stairs until it was 18 months old! They used to carry it upstairs to bed and down again in the morning... I don't want one that much! :P
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We had a black wolfhound rescue puppy live with us for a while. I called him Lupe and would have kept him but D wasn't having any and nor was Skye to be honest. He has a nice home now on a horse farm :)
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I do too. But now I want a wolfhound. Don't think Skye would approve :D
I've always wanted a wolfhound. And I nearly had one once, too. I rescued one that was lost in a public park and told the police I'd rehome him if his owners didn't turn up - but it turned out later he had an elderly owner, who'd seen me befriending the dog from across the green, tried to call and wave but hadn't managed to attract my attention, and had doddered slowly in my wake as I marched the poor hound off to the (thankfully for the owner, very nearby) Police station... :-[
However, subsequent to this, a cousin of mine did have a wolfhound pup, and was advised that he musn't allow it to jump or even negotiate stairs until it was 18 months old! They used to carry it upstairs to bed and down again in the morning... I don't want one that much! :P
Hi Sally :wave: That did make me laugh - about the elderly owner - but not in a nasty way ;D ;D At least they got the dog back :thumbsup: and you had shown that you cared :dog:
The thing about not allowing them to jump and run as pups is odd isn't it. You would think they should be strengthening their bones with exercise. I seem to remember we had to add extra calcium to Brora's diet when she was a pup, and she was very strong and fit until she got tumours from post Chernobyl dog food (yes, it's that long ago that we had her, but she is never forgotten)
Our son, when he got Megan, followed the no exercise regime and she ended up very weakly and sickly, but also very large. I think it was more to do with the breeding than the weird lack of exercise.
So that was the next thing I was going to say - be very careful who you buy from. Do a lot of in-depth research into breeders. They will all say they are the best, but clearly some are not. We were very lucky with Brora in that we picked a good breeder, but there seem to be a lot of pitfalls out there for the unwary.
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With large or giant breed puppies, it's important to take it easy with the exercise and rough-housing for at least the first 6 - 10 months. The rapid development that the puppy is experiencing means he is at risk of injuring himself and damaging growing bones if he is exercised too strenuously. It's the same with children that suddenly sprout taller than average for their age. They can get what used to be called 'growing pains' but which has since been identified as bone disorders.
In extra large breed dogs, joint/bone problems can occur more easily than you might think, so it is best to avoid these things........- Jogging, or running on hard surfaces such as concrete
- Jumping from any significant height - ie back of your car, beds etc.
- Playing on slippery surfaces such as tiles, parquet flooring, wet ground etc.
The puppy still needs exercise in order to develop the strong muscles he needs to support his big heavy bones, but a short walk several times a day, moderate games outside and inside, and lots of socialisation are needed.
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Paddy our wolfie came from a breeder who has livestock, she introduces her puppies to livestock as soon as they are old enough to go out , when we got him at 12 weeks old he never once chased ours.
we had lambs on the lawn this year untill they where big enough to go into the fields and he ignored them. we also have a part bred american miniature horse thats 5 inches smaller than him and he ignores her
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We met a wonderful Wolfie once - not pure bred but a Boxer/Wolfie cross.
He was the 'guard'dog at a local off-licence. Weird looking dog - he had the height and fur of a wolfie and a boxer face - lots of long jowls, slightly pushed in nose and loads of dribble.
Great dog - not an ounce of malice in him - more likely to slobber the burglars to death than actually do them any damage.
Sue
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Who was it said that the mark of a good guard dog was to lie where a burglar would trip over him, thereby waking the household :D
Has the sound of Mark Twain?
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Who was it said that the mark of a good guard dog was to lie where a burglar would trip over him, thereby waking the household :D
:D :D
I had two large dogs once, seemed to be good guard dogs. Slept in the bedroom. One day, I'd picked up my new car and then worked late, returning home after midnight. Everyone else was a-bed, including the dogs.
They didn't recognise the car, so they got up and stood at the top of the stairs, barking. Good dogs.
I turned the key and opened the door.
I swear, those two hard nuts were arguing, poised for retreat, at the top of the stairs :
"It is a ****ing burglar, it really is!"
"You go"
"No, you go"
"No, you go"
"Wimps! " I called out. Which is when I saw a big black labbish thing and a hairy GSD cross thing look like two big (one black one black-and-tan) sheep. :sheep: :sheep: :D
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;D ;D
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Who was it said that the mark of a good guard dog was to lie where a burglar would trip over him, thereby waking the household :D
Wolfies are utterly rubbish guard dogs. I once met a delivery man coming down the road as I was walking back up. He told me he'd just put the parcel in the door as it was open. The dogs bed was right next to the door and apparently all the Wolfie did was raise one eyebrow and huff.
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We had put our house on the market and the agent came to do his assessment. He started upstairs whilst the family, plus Wolfhound, was in the living room. When he had finished upstairs he came tramping down and flung open the living room door - to find himself pinned to the wall with a huge hairy face and large sharp teeth just an inch from his nose, and two giant paws on his shoulders. To his credit he didn't appear to soil himself, but it must have been a close-run thing. So wolfies can be good guard dogs - if the mood takes them ;D In fact I always felt totally safe out walking at night with Brora as she was very protective. On a different occasion though when my elder son was beaten up by a gang, she didn't appear to do anything about it (there were no reports of vicious wee lads suffering from giant dog bites), although she did bring him home. :dog:
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This is our Lad when he was 2 yrs old, he is stood at the end of the drive waiting for his mum to come back from riding, he stood like that for over an hour ::)
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/grahamsokel/padster.jpg)
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Bless him :)
He is very handsome ;D
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He is one big handsome lad :love:
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Fingers crossed we have found our new puppy ! Tuesday can't come quick enough !!
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Niamh is home and settled in well with the other dogs :thumbsup:
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Welcome home Niamh. How old is she? Piccies??
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she is 12 weeks old , will have to add pictures when I am on the comp as on with my phone at the moment
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sorry forgot about the pictures :-[
here she is today at almost 16 weeks old.
she has not been a bit of trouble, she has slept all night from day 1 and has had no accidents what so ever so I think i can safely say she is 100% house trained :fc:
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/grahamsokel/IMG-20120813-00889.jpg)
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She's a beauty :love:
Looks all legs and ears ;D
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Does she do the mad charging round in a circle thing? It's lovely that you have space for them to run and be happy - she clearly is :sunshine: :dog: :yippee:
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yes she does the running around in circles and tries to turn on the spot but ends up in a heap ::)
She loves the space and being able to go for walks around the fields without having to worry about leads
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Had a day at Stanhope show today and it was so hot
took a quick snap of the 2 of them while we had an icecream stop
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Wish I could get there, could have met them in person if I wasn't working :rant:
Lovely weather, if not a bit close and warm. Not :gloomy: for once :thumbsup:
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It was very hot on the show field and Paddy refuses to drink water when he isnt at home :-\
If you had managed to get there you couldnt have missed us, where ever we where there was a crowd around us wanting to stroke the dogs ::)
So wish I had a pound for every time someone says you could put a saddle on them and ride them
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Were you entered into anything ?
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Were you entered into anything ?
No we where not entered in anything we just decided as it was a nice day to have a very rare day out
weather permitting we will be going to Eggleston show next saturday
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Just bumping this one up.
Don't know where the last year has gone !
Took these quick rubbish pics tonight while I was out walking them and it was starting to get dark
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It's unbelievable how big she has grown in the year, as big as her buddy :love: . Hate to think of the teen pup strops from a wolfy. A GSD is bad enough ::) ;D
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It's unbelievable how big she has grown in the year, as big as her buddy :love: . Hate to think of the teen pup strops from a wolfy. A GSD is bad enough ::) ;D
Touch wood we have not really had the teenage strops, we had a couple of walks where she decided she didn't want to come out of the river but other than that :fc: she is a model dog
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Think I need to borrow her to give 'Obi' some lessons in teen behaviour ;D
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When she's finished, will she come and teach Daisy.
Mind you, you might not want a water-mad retriever encouraging that 'don't want to come out of the river' behaviour :D