Any Irish Wolfhound owners?

I'm not an IW owner, but an admirer.  I love the IW, but they're too big for my apartment.  Wonderful dogs though, every one that I've met has had a personality larger than his/her size.  Sighthounds are the best, IMO. 

We had a young, 8 month, one come though the shelter not to long ago. That was my first expierence with the breed.

Not long after that I dog sat one for a day. Very sweet boy! I would love to own one one day.

I took a peek at your profile pictures, yours is beautiful!

I have 4 Iws. Great dogs. Big loves.

louiereck

I have 4 Iws. Great dogs. Big loves.

4!!! Where do you put them?  Maybe you could hel me with a little problem we have with Loulou.  Walking her on a leash can be an adventure!  She's very calm at home but when we take her out to the dog park we just can't hold her!  She gets crazy!  We've tried all sorts of collars.  We prefer the "martingale" but we can not control her.  We've tried the "halti" but we're afraid she would break her neck. We're not to keen on chockers and neither is she. 

 I don't have experience with your breed, but have you tried a gentle leader (i think that's what it's called)?  It has a martingale type attachment in the front that fits across the chest.  When the dog pulls, it squeezes their front legs together to curb the pulling.

 Oops, not called a gentle leader, here's info:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751027

 A couple of the owners of hard core pullers at the dog park swear by it.  It sounds like with her size, you're going to have to approach the problem at brain level rather than a collar or harness.  Have you tried clicker training?  Lots of dogs respond pretty well to that if they are food motivated and with her size, it seems like her face would be right at hand/elbow level and that might make it easier to get her to walk next to you on a loose lead.

 http://doglinks.co.nz/problems/barry_place/CT_for_heel.htm 

Good luck! 

Try a pinch collar. They work great when training a dog not to pull.

i have to walk Miki with a halter sometimes. she's getting better with it, but the first time we used it she learned right away that pulling is no use.

i wont say breaking their necks wont ever happen, but a dog with common sense will not normally do that. the worst thing about the halter that i've found is that a smart dog figures out how to back up which allows you to pull the halter off their heads .. and away they go. i learned that on the first day of the halter too lol since then i keep both ends of the leash connected to the dog just in case. she only did that once and fortunately we were still on my porch.

i treat it like any other tool. it has a job but it CAN be dangerous if abused or used improperly by a novice. same as a muzzle and a pinch collar. i'm not a fan of a pinch collar but i respect their purpose. i just prefer to go a different route than pain. 

I don't own one, but I had the privllage of meeting one in traning (where I work) one day. Beautiful dogs! I would love to have one of my own someday (or 2 or 3 or 10! lol,just kidding)

I dont have one either. :[

But last week and dog training there was one. His name was Finnigan and he was 4 yrs old. He was such a love! Trying to sit in your lap just licking you...his feet were HUGE along with the rest of him. They seem like great dogs, I'd love to own one one day. :]

My puppy was scared soooooooooo bad she peed herself when she saw him and started screaming and the dog just looked her way and ignored her (shes like a human, if shes scared she screams reallllllyyyy loud!). lol.

i dont have one, but i've been wanting to get one for a long time! I think they are a wondeful breed!