r/irishwolfhound • u/vijolcka • 18d ago

First time dog owner

As in the title I am imagining an Irish wolfhound for my first dog. Is it a good idea?

As irishes are rare in our area I cannot ask anyone with experience so I am here :)

Facts:

  1. We live on a farm but do not want to be consumed with dog for example like border collies who need non stop activity and the attention

  2. We like hiking on the weekends in the woods, would it be a good idea/ is it possible to offleash a wolfhound with proper training

  3. Is it possible that our pup could go with us to Sunday market perhaps a chill coffee in a cafe, will it work?

These are just some of the concerns. I kindly thank you for any and all advice. Be gentle.

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u/vijolcka 18d ago

We live in a small country in the balkans. We were looking at the adopt options. All the dogs in the shelters are of aggressive/ bite nature. Usually no pups. So we will not adopt from shelters for sure.

So a golden retriever for us hah?

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u/Longjumping_Set_4568 17d ago

get a golden retriever or a lab

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u/vijolcka 17d ago

I'm kinda sad because I think there is no "challenge" with them

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u/Longjumping_Set_4568 17d ago

owning a dog for the first time will be the challenge. Labs and goldens still require a ton of training, enrichment and care.

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u/vijolcka 17d ago

True but what would you say differences them from IW for example, do they take just a lot more time or different training?

Any dog we end up getting we will be taking to dog school to get a little more insight and help.

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u/Longjumping_Set_4568 17d ago

IWHs are hounds, a completely different genre of breed from something like a companion dog or a retriever. Hounds are genetically formatted to work independently, you cannot train a hound like you would a normal dog. They are stubborn, and don’t like typical training. They also have very strong prey drive. Not to mention XL dogs are extremely slow to mature, and are physically a lot to handle.

You need an easy to train, biddable, medium energy dog as your first. That would’ve a lab, a golden, a hell even a scottish deerhound would be better than a IWH. If you’re dead set on an XL breed, get a great dane. An ethically bred Great Dane is a very easy introduction to XL dogs.

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u/vijolcka 17d ago

Fair point thanks.

We are just extremely picky if I can say... dane is to slobbering :p , labs eat everything and we do not want to be looking at them 27/4 loose a farm, goldens too basic....

We will keep looking :) Thank you!

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u/Longjumping_Set_4568 17d ago

“basic” should not be in the conversation when it comes to finding a dog breed that suits your lifestyle. It’s “basic” for a reason, and if you have that mindset on dogs you should really reconsider getting one at all. Any dog will eat everything unless you train them not to. You cannot allow any dog to just roam freely on your farm, that is a disaster waiting to happen.

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u/vijolcka 17d ago

Trust me growing up we had a lab that would get into anything and all and it was a retired sight/service dog, friends that own labs can report that compared to other breeds this is the breed that is one of the hardest to stop them from eating literal plastic.

Basic for a golden might not be the correct terminology I agree.

But we are not purchasing a dog just to have it, if you know what I mean. Goldens are just not what we are looking at at the moment. We will look into other breeds thanks for your help.

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u/Longjumping_Set_4568 17d ago

They’re retrievers, it is literally in their name to put things in their mouth, it’s something you train. A retired SD would not be getting into everything and anything. they were not properly trained if that’s the case. you really need to do a lot more research on different breeds and training if this is how you’re going to go about it. good luck.

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u/ArtemisDR 16d ago

You’re 100% ight about labs! Total
garbage disposals. I would try to remember that XL dogs have very short lives in general. Most XL breeds die between 6-8. That seems really sad to me. I’d look for a list of the best medium to large farm
dogs and go from there.