How to Raise Irish Wolfhound Puppies

The mother of the irish wolfhound puppies from the first moment is often very maternal, she personally took care of everything, nursing and cleaning her puppies.

Irish wolfhound puppies are weaned on fresh food, following a food plan resulting from the research of a nutritionist and from the long experience of a dear friend breeder, Mrs. Marcella Grassi whom is very dear to us, we will be forever grateful her for the help and advice she has given us.

The puppy is slowly accustomed to eating three meals a day, fresh and cooked meat and organs, fish, eggs, kefir, yogurt, goat's milk and ricotta cheese with a portion of vegetable oils and a small portion of vegetables, integrated with Canzocal.

At 30-45 days old the irish wolfhound puppies already used to eating kibble too, to give the owner the opportunity to choose between the two diets, without having to bother the effort of convincing a puppy to accept less appetizing foods such as kibble. On our part the kabble selected for our irish wolfhound puppies are quality kibble combined with a probiotic such as kefir or yogurt.

The kibble can be used dry or moisten them slightly with water or a probiotic. When choosing an industrial diet, calcium and vitamin supplements must be avoided. Based on our experience, we recommended, especially in irish wolfhound puppies males, that grow very fast chondroprotectors such as: Cosequin / Condrogen / Luposan or Green Mussel Powder, helping keep the joints hydrated.

If, on the other hand, your choice will be an home diet, so fresh raw or cooked food, I highly recommend the advice of a nutritionist expert in giant dogs and follow his prescription. Feeding a growing giant puppy a homemade diet is not difficult at all, but it is easy do mistakes and causing deficiencies or excesses, the advice of an expert is essential.

The irish wolfhound puppies receives care at the breeder to begin the early lesson of his socialization, later the new family have to continue the work. The owners must be offer to irish wolfhound puppies the opportunity to open up to the world, don't lock him up and don't keep him just for yourself! Take your puppy to the vet for a "fun" visit and don't wait to have to it for bad things. The puppy will grow up without fear of future veterinary visits.

The puppy will be a good traveler if you periodically take him for short trips by car. It is also advisable to accustom irish wolfhound puppies to household noises such as television, vacuum cleaner, doorbells, washing machine, etc. It is equally important that the irish wolfhound puppies know the sounds of traffic, trucks, jets, alarms. The puppy must meet as many people as possible, men and women, the elderly, children, people of different ethnicities, people in wheelchairs, people wearing dark glasses, or unusual uniforms or hats, people smoking or gesticulating while talking.

If possible, let your irish wolfhound puppies try the experience of getting in and out of elevators, to get used walking on different surfaces: grass, stone, asphalt, concrete, carpets, and even slippery surfaces, making sure that he does not get scared or get hurt. Introduce your puppy to all the other animals to which it will be possible to approach him, even if lots of caution: for example other dogs, cats, goats, sheep, lamas, horses, chickens, etc. Beware of animals you do not know and keep your puppy on a leash during these "adventures". Get your dog used to a leash it’s really important.
The best ones is made with a long, soft rope or a long strip of leather, with a ring and a sort of "handle". It works as a leash and a collar at the same time, and is very comfortable and functional. Heavy collars are not good, the metallic ones too, if left always on the neck when at home it can ruin the coat and sore the skin and becomes dangerous if it hooks by chance to a thing. As a breeder of irish wolfhound puppies I don't recommend harnesses, they are not functional.

Up to six months, let irish wolfhound puppies play freely in the garden. The movement that is needed is what it does spontaneously, in a free and possibly sunny space. Take them with you for short trips, to teach them the correct behavior on a leash. From six months on to around 9 months, you can gradually increase the length of the trip to 30-40 minutes.

Many little walks are preferable to long one.
A growing wolfhound sleeps a lot, respect this natural need.
An adult irish wolfhound must walk for at least one hour a day, it is not necessary to do anything extraordinary, but typically the exercise he will usually do in the garden is not sufficient.
Many adult wolfhounds are lazy and left on their own will not move for sure.
Remember the sun and movement are good for a correct irish wolfhound puppies development, the growth phase is so important. He needs to learn to climb stairs, climb and descent, stop on his run and turn himself without falling down.
All things that an excessively sedentary puppy will only learn with difficulty later on. With Irish Wolfhound puppies, it’s best to avoid forced run and try to limit their jump and violent games during their growth.

Happy irish wolfhound puppies sleep at home, with their family. At home it will need a bed or something soft, because bursitis is frequent, in particular on the elbows, but also on the hocks and on the sides of the junction of the tail.

Irish wolfhound puppies that sleep outdoors need a warm breeder, placed near the entrance to the house. The interior must be soft and insulated.

Wolfhounds are rather infantile dogs, which seek the presence of the family, if you leave them alone in the garden they feel sad depressed and probably will be shy. Outdoor accommodation is a compromise that works if the wolfhound has company and if he is still involved, for several hours a day, in the life of the family.

Before leaving the breeder, irish wolfhound puppies have been screened for the presence of Primary Congenital Portosystemic Shunt. An english research by Dr. Morag Kerr shows that the presence in the blood of a level of bile acids below 30umol/l, when the sample is collected about 90 minutes after a meal, is sufficient to exclude the presence of a Primary Congenital Portosystemic Shunt.

The test does not guarantee other liver diseases or the possibility of contracting it later, nor can it guarantee that no porto-systemic shunts secondary to acquired liver diseases, which are very rare, but unfortunately possible. The bile acid test on irish wolfhound puppies is an important and irreplaceable method to rule out the presence of the congenital form, even when the symptoms are not yet seeing. We also remember that irish wolfhound puppies and above all the adult are susceptible to respiratory diseases that should never be underestimated: a simply cough or tracheitis can quickly involve the lower respiratory tract, causing particularly type insidious of pneumonia.