I had an Irish Wolfhound (mix) and she was the sweetest dog ever. She was so sensitive...my best friend. She's been gone over a year now, and I still cry.
I love seeing people encounter an Irish Wolfhound for the first time. I love saying things like, "Stay at the end with the big sharp pointy teeth." Then when the person's face goes pale I inform them how much an excited Wolfhound's tail can hurt when it wags. Yeah, it's not right but it's funny.
When I was about seven I asked my mom if I could take, Gretchen, our Irish Wolfhound on a walk. She said,"sure, just don't let her get away." So I wrapped the leash around my wrist and off we went. We made it to the other side of the street and Gretchen saw something on the other side of the baseball field that she wanted to chase. I went up in the air like a cartoon character and came down on my belly and bounced behind Gretchen until she stopped on the other side of the field. Luckily it was spring and the field was wet, so I wasn't damaged too much. Gretchen probably didn't even know I was behind her, but I slid across the field like a sled in the snow. I got up heavily shaken, but did walk her back to our house. My favorite Bugs Bunny shirt was ruined. I'm shaking my head just thinking about it. LOL!!
My 2nd wolfhound like my first is like no other breed of dog and its not something you fully understand until you have one in your life. Its all the things owners say about them and much more, an emotional connection that's beyond words. I love my deerhound too and the other dogs I've had but not in such a way as my wolfies.
My Shawna best dog ever, rarely barked, but liked to sing. She never bit anyone not even a burglar who broke in to my house. She hit him square in the chest and proceeded to sit on him (she weighed 185 lbs) until the police came. She lived a long time for an IW 10 years. I made her food from fresh ingredients and got her pads for her joints. Just sweet.
What a beautiful memory, Jessie. I have always been a Siberian Husky parent..and just lost my last one this past June. Am still heartbroken and swear I won't get another dog..but I must admit I am now thinking about maybe getting the courage to own an Irish Wolfhound..as they look so beautiful and loving. But that short lifespan is terrible. At least my huskies averaged 14yrs. Still..the Irish Wolfhound is enchanting my heart..and I may not be able to resist.
My half dear hound rarely barked and never bit. His dad was named Puppy and weighed 110 pounds. When you met him you said, "yes that's Puppy." If my dog liked a guest he gummed their shirt. While they were wearing it. Never chewed a hole, just made them soggy. Loved to walk in the park. He'd go from stroller to stroller washing baby faces. It was his duty in life.
We call our Zeke a Celtic Hound as he is half wolfie and half border collie. He is a great guy and has us wondering about getting a full breed Irish Wolfhound one day.
@@stoneroses13 Sometimes you get lucky. I had a Wolfhound for 12+ years and i had one for 10 years and 8 months. And yes that extra ⅔ year was that important. It's been a year and a half and you just can't replace family.
Have had 4 Irish Wolfhounds in my life, along with other large breed dogs, but the wolfies steal your hearts. Most gentle loving personality. Extremely strong...but love them dearly.
I have one, I'm madly in love with this dog, my best buddy ever, great athlete, large vocabulary, deep empathy, super sensitive, perfect obedience naturally, without training, incredibly affectionate and highly intelligent...
Corinne, parents named her I wasn't quite 2, lived 12+ years with epilepsy . Due to an affinity for bread and being a Wolfhound it being unable to be hidden she ended up diabetic at 9. I got my Isabel, let the wife name her, for my household to have another family member. It was funny watching her grow with and passing what of course became her kids.
Unfortunately over the years they have been breeding them heavier. This makes them lumber They should run like a greyhound. They are supposed to be able to catch and kill a wolf. None of these could catch one. It is so sad.
I have a 15 month old irish wolfhound and a 29 month old irish wolfhound cross bearded collie, I love them dearly, they are totally the best dogs EVER x
An Irish Wolfhound was the first dog my (autistic) son stroked,he had been wary of other big dogs,as a Newfoundland and Herman Shepherd had bolted towards him
fullstrutn you’re kidding right. Can’t rember how many breeders there are in Ohio but there are a few. Yes the breed is rare period but more in Ohio than in Ireland we all need many many more of them everywhere but preferably much longer lived and less prone t health issues
We have 2 wolfhounds - Big in size and more so in heart. Although big and imposing - don't be deceived - gentle and soft. If we let our young boys have their way, there would be two 80 kilo gentle giants in their beds at night. We also have a labrador - if a wolfhound is standing in the way she simply strolls underneath.
Bring more of these great hounds to Midwest and Western US but not please in the hands of girly-boys and cat lovers. Let them come and return to their Irish heritage as not pets but partners as protectors of the flocks , herds and hearth, and hunters of beasties, can't hunt wolves but we got tons and atoms of coyotes. It may well be.once a new genetics strain there will come with exercise the toughness of none flesh and bloodlines so as m to increase their lifetimes. It is.the breeders that have turned hounds into no more than look at me lap dogs.
Nice, but some misleading bits. First, the breed was traditionally called "cu" -- or hound -- not wolfhound. As such, they were just hairy grayhounds -- coursing dogs used to hunt anything that ran and would not fly away, climb a tree, or dive into a burrow: deer or boar, most likely. Irish noblemen, who alone were allowed to own the dogs, were not great hunters of such vermin as wolves. European wolves, of course, were rather small -- certainly nothing like a North American timber wolf, and (one -on-one) hardly a match for a big dog. And they were extinct in Ireland long before Captain Graham gave them the moniker. In the mid 1800s he resurrected the breed as it was on the edge of extinction, and he did so by mixing it with a number of other breeds, including Great Dane. A National Geographic article on dog breeds listed sheep dog as by far the greatest contributer to its genome, so there is no reason to talk about wolves or 5000-year heritage. Also, wolfhounds are susceptible to cancer, cardiomyopathy, bloat, and other things, but a six-year-old IW cannot be called old. Of my six (so far), the first was put down at 11years 4 months; she had a severe heart condition and back trouble. The second died at 8 due to a bungled case of pneumonia. IWs have very low white blood cell count, and our vet therefore misdiagnmosed her problem as cancer. The third was put down at 10 and a half due to back and heart problems. He survived a case of bloat when he was 8. Our fourth had to be put down due to bone cancer at 6 -- she was still an extremely athletic dog, but in pain. Also, they are not uniformly good tempered. Quite a few, including our current two, are dog-aggressive; other breeds, such as golden labs and doodles, seem to have a sunnier disposition. It is definitely true that IWs have a strong predator drive. We have to be alert to the presence of anything from mice to woodchucks to fox to deer -- it's all fair game to them, but we are vegans and on the side of the prey. All in all, they tend to be sweet and loyal family members, but emotionally needy, impediments to travel, and difficult to manage in crowded areas where everyone will want to try out their horse jokes on you.
People who claim that the Irish Wolfhound is an ancient breed, even going back 5000 years, need to clarify what they mean. The breed obviously came out of the same Middle Eastern stock as the saluki, grayhound, borzoi, and Afghan, but they were no kennel clubs to define conformation and breed names. The precursor of the wolfhound was just a hairy grayhound, and not nearly as big and hefty as the ones in this video. They didn't arrive in Ireland until relatively recent times -- maybe 1000 years ago -- so there was no point in calling them an Irish anything for most of those 5000 years. They may have been used to hunt wolves at some point, but they were not specialized for that, and there were certainly other dogs used to persecute the wolf. (And the wolf would not have been nearly as formidable a prey as the boar.) In Ireland, they were just called "cú" (hound). By the 1800s, the wolves were long extinct, and the cu was pretty much gone as well. The breed was reconstituted from a few cus AND a lot of other breeds (including Great Dane and Scottish Deerhound) with an effort to produce something that resembled the cu -- but DNA tests show more kinship with sheep-herding dogs than with coursing sight hounds. So any argument that the name proves the provenance or utility of the breed is simply wrong.
@Suggie Thames As a Native American..I have deep respect for wolves. But wolves are killing machines..and they can do a lot of damage to a rancher and his animals. This is the reason the Irish Wolfhound existed. They did not simply kill wolves for the fun of it. They had a job to do..to protect a ranchers animals..and those animals are what fed communities. Please educate yourself before hating.
@@sicroff *Incorrect* 4. They Were Used to Hunt Big Game You can guess from his name that the Irish Wolfhound is a wolf hunter. He has also been used to hunt wild boar and deer. There are legends of bands of Scottish people and others from Northern Britain, known as the Fianna, using Irish Wolfhounds in massive hunts, where as many as 200 stag would be killed. Irish Wolfhounds have also been used to hunt the giant Irish elk. Source: www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/didnt-know-about-irish-wolfhound/
Not every IWH is gentle. My sister had a wolfhound, a very nervous female. One time she got away. ran out the door and bit a man walking down the road unprovoked. When family visited we had to tread lightly every time until she got used to our presence. Once she calmed down and stopped barking we could all relax. The dog was unusually dumb as well and couldn't be trained to do much of anything. It would also steel food any chance it got and eat anything including paper. Only their two house cats seemed to have her trained as they were much smarter and dominated over the dog. When the dog was sleeping one of the cats would sneak up and smack her in the head rapidly several times and then run away at lightening speed. The poor dog would wake up and look around but nothing was there.
sweetsweatyfeet Seems you didn't know much about sigthhounds at that time or still don't know, this are not dumb dogs, hounds are independent dogs, they were breed to take decisions on their own while hunting, not to obey everything a owner says to them. that's why they are difficult to train. obviously not al dogs are gentle, if they are not properly cared they can became suspicious of people.
I had an Irish Wolfhound (mix) and she was the sweetest dog ever. She was so sensitive...my best friend. She's been gone over a year now, and I still cry.
I love seeing people encounter an Irish Wolfhound for the first time. I love saying things like, "Stay at the end with the big sharp pointy teeth." Then when the person's face goes pale I inform them how much an excited Wolfhound's tail can hurt when it wags. Yeah, it's not right but it's funny.
When I was about seven I asked my mom if I could take, Gretchen, our Irish Wolfhound on a walk. She said,"sure, just don't let her get away." So I wrapped the leash around my wrist and off we went. We made it to the other side of the street and Gretchen saw something on the other side of the baseball field that she wanted to chase. I went up in the air like a cartoon character and came down on my belly and bounced behind Gretchen until she stopped on the other side of the field. Luckily it was spring and the field was wet, so I wasn't damaged too much. Gretchen probably didn't even know I was behind her, but I slid across the field like a sled in the snow. I got up heavily shaken, but did walk her back to our house. My favorite Bugs Bunny shirt was ruined. I'm shaking my head just thinking about it. LOL!!
So much for the no pulling story in the video.
@@wanderingwade8877 They are still sight hounds. Only a blind one won't go full beans for something that looks like prey.
My 2nd wolfhound like my first is like no other breed of dog and its not something you fully understand until you have one in your life. Its all the things owners say about them and much more, an emotional connection that's beyond words. I love my deerhound too and the other dogs I've had but not in such a way as my wolfies.
My Shawna best dog ever, rarely barked, but liked to sing. She never bit anyone not even a burglar who broke in to my house. She hit him square in the chest and proceeded to sit on him (she weighed 185 lbs) until the police came. She lived a long time for an IW 10 years. I made her food from fresh ingredients and got her pads for her joints. Just sweet.
What a beautiful memory, Jessie. I have always been a Siberian Husky parent..and just lost my last one this past June. Am still heartbroken and swear I won't get another dog..but I must admit I am now thinking about maybe getting the courage to own an Irish Wolfhound..as they look so beautiful and loving. But that short lifespan is terrible. At least my huskies averaged 14yrs. Still..the Irish Wolfhound is enchanting my heart..and I may not be able to resist.
My half dear hound rarely barked and never bit. His dad was named Puppy and weighed 110 pounds. When you met him you said, "yes that's Puppy."
If my dog liked a guest he gummed their shirt. While they were wearing it. Never chewed a hole, just made them soggy. Loved to walk in the park. He'd go from stroller to stroller washing baby faces. It was his duty in life.
We call our Zeke a Celtic Hound as he is half wolfie and half border collie. He is a great guy and has us wondering about getting a full breed Irish Wolfhound one day.
I have had 3 in my life. Great dogs all of them.
I wish their life span is not short.
Depends on the dog,
Some have lived 13 years
@@johnpatrickfay5288 Probably it's not pure IW or not IW at all.
@@stoneroses13 Sometimes you get lucky. I had a Wolfhound for 12+ years and i had one for 10 years and 8 months. And yes that extra ⅔ year was that important. It's been a year and a half and you just can't replace family.
There's nothing like them. But they really are heartbreakers. They require space and can be expensive to keep.
Have had 4 Irish Wolfhounds in my life, along with other large breed dogs, but the wolfies steal your hearts. Most gentle loving personality. Extremely strong...but love them dearly.
I have one, I'm madly in love with this dog, my best buddy ever, great athlete, large vocabulary, deep empathy, super sensitive, perfect obedience naturally, without training, incredibly affectionate and highly intelligent...
Simply beautiful
This makes me miss my Alfie (Alfred). :'( R.I.P.
Corinne, parents named her I wasn't quite 2, lived 12+ years with epilepsy . Due to an affinity for bread and being a Wolfhound it being unable to be hidden she ended up diabetic at 9. I got my Isabel, let the wife name her, for my household to have another family member. It was funny watching her grow with and passing what of course became her kids.
Unfortunately over the years they have been breeding them heavier. This makes them lumber They should run like a greyhound. They are supposed to be able to catch and kill a wolf. None of these could catch one. It is so sad.
this is a very nice video except for the red text across the picture.
I have a 15 month old irish wolfhound and a 29 month old irish wolfhound cross bearded collie, I love them dearly, they are totally the best dogs EVER x
An Irish Wolfhound was the first dog my (autistic) son stroked,he had been wary of other big dogs,as a Newfoundland and Herman Shepherd had bolted towards him
The little girl has a pony
I have been fortunate to have had 2 of these fantastic dogs,,quite rare in Ohio too
fullstrutn you’re kidding right. Can’t rember how many breeders there are in Ohio but there are a few. Yes the breed is rare period but more in Ohio than in Ireland we all need many many more of them everywhere but preferably much longer lived and less prone t health issues
We have 2 wolfhounds - Big in size and more so in heart. Although big and imposing - don't be deceived - gentle and soft. If we let our young boys have their way, there would be two 80 kilo gentle giants in their beds at night.
We also have a labrador - if a wolfhound is standing in the way she simply strolls underneath.
like really like the music
Yes, Malahide's immaculate lawns played host to .... Prince and The Revolution.
Bring more of these great hounds to Midwest and Western US but not please in the hands of girly-boys and cat lovers.
Let them come and return to their Irish heritage as not pets but partners as protectors of the flocks , herds and hearth, and hunters of beasties, can't hunt wolves but we got tons and atoms of coyotes.
It may well be.once a new genetics strain there will come with exercise the toughness of none flesh and bloodlines so as m to increase their lifetimes.
It is.the breeders that have turned hounds into no more than look at me lap dogs.
"small people like big things." ummmm....
I wan't one so badly!
Same lifespan as an actual Wolf.
Not really. A wolf lives up to 14 years.
what a beautiful dog he was
I love this dog!!!
i have 4 Irish wolfhounds
Gimme one I'm begging you
1994? They're all dead :'(
3:47 "There was no pulling" Uhm... yeah there was.
H Limmen that dog could pull a 200 lb man off his feet and across the field easily! And you call that pulling?
My Guinness and Prada are the sweetetst to :)
Nice, but some misleading bits. First, the breed was traditionally called "cu" -- or hound -- not wolfhound. As such, they were just hairy grayhounds -- coursing dogs used to hunt anything that ran and would not fly away, climb a tree, or dive into a burrow: deer or boar, most likely. Irish noblemen, who alone were allowed to own the dogs, were not great hunters of such vermin as wolves. European wolves, of course, were rather small -- certainly nothing like a North American timber wolf, and (one -on-one) hardly a match for a big dog. And they were extinct in Ireland long before Captain Graham gave them the moniker. In the mid 1800s he resurrected the breed as it was on the edge of extinction, and he did so by mixing it with a number of other breeds, including Great Dane. A National Geographic article on dog breeds listed sheep dog as by far the greatest contributer to its genome, so there is no reason to talk about wolves or 5000-year heritage. Also, wolfhounds are susceptible to cancer, cardiomyopathy, bloat, and other things, but a six-year-old IW cannot be called old. Of my six (so far), the first was put down at 11years 4 months; she had a severe heart condition and back trouble. The second died at 8 due to a bungled case of pneumonia. IWs have very low white blood cell count, and our vet therefore misdiagnmosed her problem as cancer. The third was put down at 10 and a half due to back and heart problems. He survived a case of bloat when he was 8. Our fourth had to be put down due to bone cancer at 6 -- she was still an extremely athletic dog, but in pain. Also, they are not uniformly good tempered. Quite a few, including our current two, are dog-aggressive; other breeds, such as golden labs and doodles, seem to have a sunnier disposition. It is definitely true that IWs have a strong predator drive. We have to be alert to the presence of anything from mice to woodchucks to fox to deer -- it's all fair game to them, but we are vegans and on the side of the prey. All in all, they tend to be sweet and loyal family members, but emotionally needy, impediments to travel, and difficult to manage in crowded areas where everyone will want to try out their horse jokes on you.
People who claim that the Irish Wolfhound is an ancient breed, even going back 5000 years, need to clarify what they mean. The breed obviously came out of the same Middle Eastern stock as the saluki, grayhound, borzoi, and Afghan, but they were no kennel clubs to define conformation and breed names. The precursor of the wolfhound was just a hairy grayhound, and not nearly as big and hefty as the ones in this video. They didn't arrive in Ireland until relatively recent times -- maybe 1000 years ago -- so there was no point in calling them an Irish anything for most of those 5000 years. They may have been used to hunt wolves at some point, but they were not specialized for that, and there were certainly other dogs used to persecute the wolf. (And the wolf would not have been nearly as formidable a prey as the boar.) In Ireland, they were just called "cú" (hound). By the 1800s, the wolves were long extinct, and the cu was pretty much gone as well. The breed was reconstituted from a few cus AND a lot of other breeds (including Great Dane and Scottish Deerhound) with an effort to produce something that resembled the cu -- but DNA tests show more kinship with sheep-herding dogs than with coursing sight hounds. So any argument that the name proves the provenance or utility of the breed is simply wrong.
those things kill wolves. I hate them
...People kill wolves too..Hate them
@Suggie Thames
As a Native American..I have deep respect for wolves. But wolves are killing machines..and they can do a lot of damage to a rancher and his animals. This is the reason the Irish Wolfhound existed. They did not simply kill wolves for the fun of it. They had a job to do..to protect a ranchers animals..and those animals are what fed communities. Please educate yourself before hating.
@@Nightbird. Not true. Wolfhounds have always been primarily decorative dogs.
@@sicroff *Incorrect*
4. They Were Used to Hunt Big Game
You can guess from his name that the Irish Wolfhound is a wolf hunter. He has also been used to hunt wild boar and deer. There are legends of bands of Scottish people and others from Northern Britain, known as the Fianna, using Irish Wolfhounds in massive hunts, where as many as 200 stag would be killed. Irish Wolfhounds have also been used to hunt the giant Irish elk.
Source: www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/didnt-know-about-irish-wolfhound/
And what did wolves kill?
Not every IWH is gentle. My sister had a wolfhound, a very nervous female. One time she got away. ran out the door and bit a man walking down the road unprovoked. When family visited we had to tread lightly every time until she got used to our presence. Once she calmed down and stopped barking we could all relax. The dog was unusually dumb as well and couldn't be trained to do much of anything. It would also steel food any chance it got and eat anything including paper. Only their two house cats seemed to have her trained as they were much smarter and dominated over the dog. When the dog was sleeping one of the cats would sneak up and smack her in the head rapidly several times and then run away at lightening speed. The poor dog would wake up and look around but nothing was there.
sweetsweatyfeet Seems you didn't know much about sigthhounds at that time or still don't know, this are not dumb dogs, hounds are independent dogs, they were breed to take decisions on their own while hunting, not to obey everything a owner says to them. that's why they are difficult to train. obviously not al dogs are gentle, if they are not properly cared they can became suspicious of people.
Such utter nonsense 🙄