Re: [PyrNet-L] CHAT: re Wolfhound

[Stephanie W <srwhitney@earthlink.net>]

clhenke@juno.com wrote:

> << How do you enjoy your Irish Wolfhound?  Love those dogs as well, and
> that
> is one my daughter would like to have one day!  What color?>>

He's great, but not as easy as I expected.  He started out all black (his
name means dark) but has gotten more and more grey as time goes on (he's not
quite 2 so it isn't age).  They rarely stay the same color as when they are
puppies.

 I've wanted a Pyr for at least 15 years now, but have always been put off by
warnings that they are aggressive/dog aggressive and hard to handle.  So ten
years ago I got a Newfie who was not so easy and two years ago I got Ciaran.
Wolfhounds are supposed to be so easygoing!  I stressed that I wanted an easy
going puppy, not an alpha personality, when I talked to the breeder.  Well,
Ciaran was always "adventurous" and not very people oriented, but not too
hard to handle until he got to about 10 months.  Then he started posturing
with any other male he met and challenging everyone in the house, including
me.  It got so bad that my vet advised neutering him (we had hoped to show
him) and I started obedience classes with a respected trainer in the area.
The trainer suggested that he may be thinking that he owned me rather than
the other way around, & I had to let him know who was in charge.  Something
worked.  He's a wonderful dog now, but it was a bit of work getting there and
I have to review the alpha bootcamp article every so often.  Following it
seemed to help even before I resorted to the neutering and formal
training.    So I hope I'm ready for my Pyr.

The books show both breeds as similar on many traits.  I wonder if they will
get along, and how different they really are.  One of the trainers has Pyrs
in class, and a lot of their response to obedience commands is just like a
Wolfhound's.  They both think about it and decide if they want to before they
comply.  I doubt that either of them really obey, they just cooperate if they
decide to.

Of course, Wolfhounds rarely bark, so that's one big difference.  He has a
deep, booming bark but rarely uses it.

They also have a NEED to run, which I didn't really understand when I got
him.  He will run around and around the yard like a racehorse, kicking up
dirt as he goes and leaping over anyone in his way.  He has miscalculated a
few times and bumped me and boy, can you get huge black and blue marks from
it.

He's very quiet in the house, though.  He's also very smart.  At about 10
months old, it occurred to him to trick me out of my bed by going to the door
and barking to be let out and when I got up to open it, he ran to the bed and
took my place.  He repeated the trick a few times until I cought on.  He
still uses a variation on it with the other dogs sometimes.

So, how different do you think they are?

Stephanie