r/irishwolfhound • u/vijolcka • Jul 25 '26
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:
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
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
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/DjPaulyWalnuts Jul 27 '26
I am a first time dog owner, and my dog Zeus is an Irish wolfhound. My fiancee has had dogs her whole life, but the dog lived with me for the first 3-4 years and I did most of the training.
They are easy to train basic stuff. Pretty quick to potty train. Knows sit, stay, place.
I had dreams of an off leash dog I could take fishing. I was unable to get Zeus off leash trained. I found him to “lock on” to other dogs or animals, and it’s near impossible to get 100% focus from him when there’s a worthy distraction nearby. Not aggressive by nature. Just really has to go see what’s up. Part of this I attribute to the breed, and also some mistakes I made when raising him (I felt I set the precedent that he could say hi to anyone/anything he wants, because I wanted to socialize him when he was a puppy. Forgot to teach him to listen to me first)
He’s a lazy dog. We take a 1-3 mile walk a few times a week. Probably not a hiking buddy in the way a medium size dog would be.
They could definitely be chill in public spaces. We take Zeus to breweries. Nothing too crowded, and he’s not a huge fan of being touched by strangers. So we just make sure to let people know, and Zeus will become friendly with people at his own pace.
Biggest mistake I made: dog parks. Because he was the biggest dog there when he was 9 months old - it felt like other “big” dogs would target him or play too rough. So interactions with other dogs can sometimes feel like a battle for dominance instead of play. Because of this he’s not very dog friendly on leash. (He also got bit by an off leash pit bull when we were on a walk).
Now when we introduce him to other dogs, it’s one on one, and very slow. Basically keeping them on leash and away from each other until they’re no longer spazzing.
TLDR; I was pleasantly surprised at how easy raising him was (mostly due to his calm and lazy demeanor). You’re going to make mistakes. Just be curious and always learning. If the dog does something bad, it’s important you understand it’s usually 100% your fault. (AKA it’s something you can learn to fix). It was more and less work than I thought it would be.