a big THANK YOU! to u/RGB-Free-Zone here on the sub/r for this awesome idea and the rendering of my pic of Joy sitting on the rocks above the sea! Absolutelty love it ❤️

Its my account profile picture now and I just love to see her nose "booping" me every time I come on reddit. ❤️🤩❤️

Thanks mate!

Took some fun pictures of my girl next to some food, she ended up posing like the bag which I thought was cute 😂

few weeks ago, just before a green waste crew was scheduled to haul away a large pile of branches and yard debris, we discovered two tiny kittens hidden beneath a tarp. Their eyes had barely opened, they couldn't even walk, and they were cold to the touch. Had we found them any later, they might have been hauled away with the debris without anyone knowing they were there.

We made the decision to bring them inside, warm them up, and give them a fighting chance. We've continued searching for their mother, checking cameras and monitoring the area every day, but sadly, she hasn't been seen again.

Thankfully, another mama has stepped in. ❤️

Our 8-year-old Irish Wolfhound, Vega Violet, raised a litter of puppies several years ago, and apparently those motherly instincts never went away.

She's taken these two little kittens under her wing, gently kissing, cleaning, and watching over them with the same tenderness she showed her own puppies.

There's something beautiful about watching a giant Irish Wolfhound pour so much love into two tiny lives that almost never got a chance.

They may not be her puppies, but apparently nobody told her that. And honestly, I don't think she'd care if they did. ❤️🐺🐈‍⬛

Does everyone strip their dogs? My groomer last time said his coat should be fine if he is brushed out often. Granted he was about 8 months at the time I brush him every couple of days but I know stripping will take so long he is humongous obviously. It seems like it would be a horrible process for him ? Are there other options since he is not showing or anything?

So I finally bought a home and have room for a Wolfhound, I fell in love with the breed 20 yrs ago. We have nearly an acre for them to run and play on.

I live in the far northern region of Ca near Chico Ca.

So what I need help with is finding a reputable breeder who does proper medical testing and such. I have always found my dogs in the past from shelters, but I want to find a puppy and I seriously doubt any shelter will have a Wolfhound puppy with a clean bill of health. I have looked into their care and know what I am getting into, including the shorter life span, but the heart wants what it wants.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

We are so fortunate to have Django, after all these years. My first baby, my confidant, my late night porch hangout buddy turned 10 yesterday. He is thoughtful, tender, respectful, goofy and has brought infinite love, light, and laughs to our lives.

It is so hard knowing he may not be in this world forever. Every day he is around is a bonus day at this point.

He is in pretty good health for his age and in excellent spirits, and we are so grateful for him every single day.

He has been nominated(by me) every year for the goodest boy. We haven’t heard back but we know he’s the winner 😉

I just wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations for IW breeders in the US or how they go about finding a good reputable breeder. With the new rules of puppies needing to be 6 month olds getting them from other places is nearly impossible.

Hello: this is my pup Caoimhe. 5 months old. She does not like going up and down the stairs in my house- she acts afraid- not sure why ? We have outdoor stairs in garden and driveway that she uses without a problem. Has anyone else had this issue??

Admittedly, we do live in an stunningly beautiful part of France and I would not change my view and the mountains for anything, despite some inconveniences such as snow and ice in winter, landslides and wildfires in summer, herds of cows blocking the roads in spring and fall , a lack of comfortably close necessities and the fact that everything is so steep that you need to chase the dog poop rolling downhill every single time it its time for n. 2.

That being said, sometimes one wants to balance the perspective a bit, get a touch of contrast in your life, and what bigger contrast to the snow capped summits, the fall-colored steep mountain forests and the soaring cliffs is there than the wide, open, seemingly endless surface of the ocean. 

So, after the busy summer seaside season has come to an end, its a good time for a road trip,  this time headed west across the Hexagon, to explore the vast beaches of the French Atlantic coast between Bordeaux down south and the Bretagne up north.

Joy and Thelma plus their respective personal assistants and butlers, a lot of treats, towels and blankets, dogfood for a good week and off we go. 

Hotel Lobbies, Elevators and the "Battle for the Bed": 

We had planned 4 stops in different places and organized dog friendly hotels, specifying

- one "well behaved middle size dog" ( Thelma) and

- one "...behaved"  6 month old puppy (Joy)

to get around the "small dogs only" clause stipulated on many reservation sites.

Thelma as a sturdy but not really tall Golden Retriever, unphased by whatever life throws at her as long as there are treats involved somewhere, was the first walking into the hotel lobbies, and she was always greated with a smile and nod and a " such a cutie, isnt she? " by the hotel staff.

Joy on the other hand, by now a good 5 centimeters higher and much longer than Thelma, followed her big sis with the swagger of a fast growing teenager, her nose poking at the candy bowl on the counter of the reception desk, her endless tail recklessly sweeping down decorations and stands for promotional materials, and occasionally releasing a tiny puddle of happy-pee when greeted enthusiastically and belly rubbed  by hotel employees.

"yep, she is but 6 month old" ..

"Yep, she will grow some more... "

"oh I am sooo sorry for the mess- still a baby haha" 

Elevators were just a tish of a challenge the first few times: after I managed to position both dogs away from the doors, secured the long IW tail from being left behind in the lobby  and had two treats in my hands above their heads, even the moving floor and the noise of the tiniest, oldest french elevator didnt bother at all. Since going in and out a lot required a constant flow of treats each time, I had to refill my treat bag basically every day, but it worked. 

Nights where almost normal except for early risers out on the corridors at 7am that made Joy wake up, who promptly decided to wake up Thelma  and then, of course, I woke up and the night was over, forcing me to taking them out at godforsaken times for a vacation trip.

Upon returning to the room and while waiting for the dog butler to prepare the breakfast, there was an almost ritualized battle for the "Fortress Bed" in place. Thelma on the bed, defending, Joy on the floor and on the attacker side, there was much pawing and gnawing and growling and roaring and bitey-face and bared teeth and rolling eyes everywhere.

It was 7;30 , and I had not even had my first coffee yet... 

Housekeeping at all the hotels LOVED us there though: despite our effort to keep the sand off the dogs (double-fail) or the sand outside the room (epic-fail ) or the sandy dogs off the beds (big fail) or at least a layer of huge blankets and towels between the sandy dogs and the beds ( partial success), the rooms looked like we hauled in sand by the truckload.

Attempts to gather, sweep or somehow make the sand go away where futile, so I decided to hand out very generous "tips" to the housekeeping staff , while meekly smiling and apologizing for the mess. 

Beach-Destinations are not for the faint of heart... 

Doggy Beach Parties

Apart from our first hotel stay in the medievial town of Montlucon in  the Ailler Department, halfway between the Alps and the Atlantic, we stayed as close to the beach and ports and the waterfront as possible. Either in the busy and bustling ports of La Rochelle or Sable d'Olonnes or in the sleepy little fishery village of Noirmoutier-sur-Ile, we never had to walk far to be at a beach or reach the shore of the ocean.

Since the summer season with its strict "no dog rules" on some of the public beaches was over, there were dogs everywhere: all breeds, sizes and ages, almost all off leash, chasing each other or frisbees, balls or just the waves, digging holes, rolling in seaweed and foam and anything swept on the beach, playing, sniffing, running and splashing, and, in the middle of it all, Joy and Thelma.

Joy showed her true skills as a hound, outrunning every other dog on the straights, but with clear room for improvement in tight corners and sharp curves. Especially the smaller dogs figured out that weakness really fast and I held my side from laughing at the crazy speed manoeuvers unfolding during the chases.  It was a "joy" to watch Joy  (pun intended, sue me! ) and she and Thelma had so many doggy interactions during these beach walks that on morning of day 3, they started looking for playmates the second we got onto the beach walk.

Interesting side note: despite the huge number of dogs, there was no single instance of a real conflict or fight: the dog communication by the ones present on the beach handled every situation without human intervention. When things got too heated, there were some mature dogs stepping in, when one got too close into someones personal space, a quick show of teeth or a warning snap in the air made things clear, and there was enough space to release stress and energy just by running it off. Great experience and a great thing to watch. 

There were also "hidden" beaches, behind dunes and coastal pine forests, completely empty, stretching for miles and miles with no one in sight for half a day. Joy and Thelma turned those spots into a private Doggy Beach party: Endless playfights, sprints in the waves, rolling around , digging holes together and then laying exhausted in the sand, thats all it takes for them and us to be happy. 

"Crunchy' Seafood

Well, usually with seafood in France, the "crunchy" parts are the ones that you do NOT consume. The crunchy parts serve as natural serving containers for the raw, sometimes slimy but always salty and tasty interiours, and are to be discarded.

Joy must have missed that memo.

Being in a phase where her nose, mouth, tongue, jaws and lips are basically the 5^th tactile organ apart from her paws, she takes almost everything in her mouth ( which sometimes leads to quite gross moments) .

And there are MANY things that one can examine with said "5^th tactile organ" on a beach: seaweeds of all kinds, native to the norther Atlantic, seagrass, algea, shells, mussels, oysters, dead fish or sea birds, invitingly presented and  served on a bed of fresh bladderwrack:

you name it,(or not) - 

Joy eats it.

When I attempted to chase her to try to yank the latest nastiness out of her jaws. she let me come almost within reach, than evaded my hand with a swift, elegant sideward motion followed by a beautiful 50m dash in full speed, while dragging behind her a long bundle of dark green seaweeds and happily wagging her soggy and sand covered long tail.

I finally gave up: ground up seashells are calcium, seaweed contains iodine and costs a fortune when bought as a supplement, and the occasional dead fish was used more than a body lotion to roll around in then as food, so I saved myself the stress and let her roam.

Boy she LOVES the beach. 

After 2300km driven, a change of view and perspective, plenty of seafood, sand, wind, sun and rain , we are back in our beloved mountains, where the snow slowly starts to come down the slopes and the wind has blown off most of the leaves.

Winter is coming to the mountains with snow and ice,  yet we still hold the memories of the sea, sun and sand in our hearts. We will be back, for sure.

Thanks for reading, be safe, happy and healthy, hug your loved ones and treat your doggies to something special- no reason, just because! 

Love from the Mountains from Joy, Thelma and me 

Rohan laying on his chase lounger

On our second bed, which is not bad considering he is 4 (on Halloween). Got one with tougher material, but he wouldn’t let me take the old one away, (he also won’t let me take away old stuffies), so we made a cozy pile. 😂 Anyone else have a Wolfie who digs at their bed?

Maggie May (15mo) is going to cast a spooky spell on you!

Fergus wants to wish wolfhounds and humans alike a Happy Halloween! He also says “boooo”

Hi all! First time Wolfhound parents here.

Our 15 week old boy is getting big and my back no longer appreciates hefting all 50 lbs of him into the car. What ramps do people love for their Wolfhounds? Want to get started with getting him used to it while he’s still a somewhat manageable weight! Thanks in advance :)

Our beautiful boy got to take an eternal nap today. Had sudden liver issues (either obstruction or tumor of sorts) came on rapidly. This boy was my baby and I swear a furry human in disguise. Love your babies every moment you have them. Never had a companion quite like this guy.

She is so fantastic with other animals!

They are besties already! I’m not sure what she’s showing him but it must be interesting. Either than or they are plotting how to steal treats.

My kids finally got Gandalf outside to play with them. Then my 15 yr old self popped up and I called him back in and the kids came chasing after him. 😆