THE IRISH WOLFHOUND

Candidly & Convincingly Unique! Humorous and incredibly insightful look at the immense character of the IW and objective mention of size drawbacks in the tallest breed.

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Living With Leo

by Kim & Dwight Waldo

My husband and I got Leo from Cheryl Riggs of Rysheron Kennels a little over 9 months ago at the age of 18 months. Leo had been returned to Rysheron by his previous family at the age of 16 months and was at Cheryl’s house the first time my husband and I stopped by to visit with her and to learn more about the IW.

One of the first things we noticed about the Irish Wolfhound was not just their immense size and commanding appearance, but the fact that they were exceptionally mellow in temperament. Cheryl allowed us to visit with her 9 week old puppies and we were amazed at how calm and gentle they are even at that young of an age. My husband and I were then fully “baptized” into the IW culture when she allowed us into a large outdoor arena with a full-grown male and full-grown female. After 10 seconds with them, we were hooked and decided that we NEEDED (not wanted) to be guardians of one of these dogs.

We visited Cheryl and her IWs several times before we made the firm decision that we were ready and up to the task of becoming responsible guardians for this truly unique breed. We fell in love with Leo on our 2nd visit to her house, and when we asked Cheryl if she ever had juvenile dogs available, she told us we could have Leo once he finished his Championship. In 2 months, Leo had accomplished this goal and was allowed to become our newest baby. Cheryl and her husband brought Leo to our house as soon as Leo returned from the handler, and our lives have never been the same.

Leo is a little nursemaid and will patiently babysit a human infant or furry infant. Cheryl told us that one day he had broken the fence between his pen and the puppies she had and she found him patiently laying inside, covered in puppies with his beard pulled out and the hair on his tail gone from the puppies pulling on it, but that he never once snapped at any of them. Cheryl says she suspects something had threatened the puppies and Leo had charged through the fence to protect them.

Despite this streak of protectiveness, he is such a sweet and mellow little man, that he has become the unofficial mascot of the daycare/preschool facility that he walks by every morning. He allows little preschoolers to crawl all over him, pull on his beard, poke him in the face, and generally do what small children do when confronted with a polar bear (he’s been mistaken on his walks for a donkey or a polar bear). Teachers bring their classes out so the little children can all wish him a good morning and love on him. He is very careful around toddlers and will allow them to hold onto him to steady themselves and he does fancy himself as the official face cleaner and will happily fulfill his duties, much to the squealing delight of the child.

He lives in the house with us and while the house is definitely the worse for wear due to his size (he is now at 170lbs and measures close to 36 inches at the shoulder), every little slobber mark (both on the walls and some incredibly enough on the CEILING!), mud tracks, smudge prints at waist level on the patio door so that now it looks like we have frosted windows, dirt ground into the grout in the tiles, is worth it. I learned fairly quickly that while I had a lot of experience growing up since the age of 3 with large dogs (Collies, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retriever, Hungarian Kuvasz), living with a dog that can easily reach what is in the MIDDLE of a counter and pull things with ease out of the kitchen sink, is a totally different experience and requires much thinking and plotting on my part to ensure nothing I prize is within reach.

Irish Wolfhounds are NOT for everyone and especially NOT for someone who cannot grasp the concept that having a Giant Breed dog in the house requires a totally different mindset than having a large dog. The IW may not MEAN to sniff your dinner plate and check the food to make sure it’s not poisoned before you can eat it, or carry it off with our dinner still on it, but the simple fact that they tower over the dinner table gives them easy access to it.

They don’t mean for their tail to clear that credenza in the entryway that houses all your photographs, but their butt is at the ideal level so that when that strong tail starts wagging, everything is cleared off of it in 2 seconds flat.

They don’t mean to throw gobs of saliva everywhere, including that clean shirt you just put on, but their jowls hold large amounts of spit AND water and when they shake their heads, it just goes EVERYWHERE and at heights that can truly astound you if you ever look up at your ceilings. But they don’t drool, so at least that’s a plus!

They don’t mean to strip an entire 3 foot tall honeysuckle bush of all the leaves and flowers in about 3 minutes of inattention on YOUR part, but what do you expect when someone’s mouth is large enough to encircle the neck of a wolf… It really was my own fault in thinking that such a sweet, innocent face like this wouldn’t hurt the bush…

They are a very loving breed and NEED to be with their family as much as possible and are happiest just snoozing in the house while everyone goes about their business. To leave them outside, isolated from their people is cruel since this breed is not just a Giant in stature, but in heart….