He was my heart and soul walking around outside my body. I am so grateful and lucky he chose me.

We will meet again, my sweet bubby 💓🌈

Falkor likes to watch the entrances for possible patrons he can beckon in for cuddles and cocktails!

Like the title says, I'm wondering if Irish wolfhounds are a good dog breed. I've got a farm with animals of all shapes and sizes and wanted to know how they are around other animals (cows, chickens, ducks, horses, etc. ) and how they are around kids. My current dog (German shepherd) isn't exactly good around them even though the breed is said to be and I wanted to see if anyone had the same experience with Irish Wolfhounds. I know it varies from dog to dog but wanted to see if it's at all a common thing

A new study led by researchers at Arizona State University offers the first compelling molecular explanation of why large dogs live shorter lives: the answer may lie in how hallmarks of aging reshape dog DNA. The study was published in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.aeb2986).

Happy "5 months birthday" ( and almost 2 month in the mountains) my little-big baby Joy!

ALREADY? 

Its hard to believe that its already 5 months since Joy first started crawling around under her moms warm belly with her sisters , looking for the milk bar

Hard to believe its almost 3 month that we visited the historic mill in a beautiful valley in norther Italy to see her the very first time, meet her mom and dad and all the uncles and aunts and other siblings living there, and her incredible breeder, Signora Ludovica Salamone. 

And the past 60 days since I brought Joy home to the mountains she has become the quintessential center of my life, touching others wherever she goes, making me laugh and love, sigh and fuss, train and educate, encourage and distract, clean and say no 1000 times a day - and I would not have it any other way . 

THE GUILT!

Its been a different kind of week and a half, mainly for the reason that I had to leave Joy in the care of my very big hearted neighbor and friend, Lucy and her Patou herd dog Cookie. I had a 4 day trip planned a long, long time ago before Joy was even a consideration, and I could not leave my French friends hang out for dry as the only German speaking travel guide for the Cannstatter  Wasen Beer Fest in Stuttgart Germany*. (see photo proof) My wife was gone on a different trip the same time so I asked Lucy, next door neighbor and daily doggy walk partner with Cookie if she would consider taking care of Joy for these 4 days (leaving on Wednesday night and coming back on Sunday afternoon) . 

The guilt and anxiety I felt was crushing and I even hated myself for having planned that trip that left me basically no option but to leave Joy in the care of someone else. My rational side tried to argue that it is a good experience for Joy to learn how to deal with my absence even overnight and how to trust other people when I am not there. So, with a long checklist and a huge bag full of blankets, toys and all "her things" I brought Joy over on Wednesday night and that was it. Not gonna lie: I had tears in my eyes as I left.... 

Needless to say, it went all really well: Joy loves Lucy and Cookie and Lucy loves Joy as much, Cookie, as an 8y old, distinguished lady was a tad less amused and made sure to teach the annoying little pocket rocket some manners. At the end,  Cookie was extremely caring and patient with all the shenanigans, and Lucy kept sending me updates, photos and videos so I could eventually relax and enjoy the beer fest with my friends as it should be.

Thank you, Lucy and Cookie for taking care of my baby! 

In hindsight, I do confirm that it is important to get your puppy getting used to "changes" , if for nothing else but to prepare for some worst case scenario like an emergency hospital visit or the like. Its so hard to do but its a good and necessary preparation. 

IN OTHER NEWS: 

Meet Mrs Duck, Mr. Turkey and the Chicken gang: on our daily walk on the way out the village, we pass a chicken coop with a humongous and very cocky rooster (pun intended so sorry) a few ducks, geese and 2 huge turkeys who seemed to be completely unimpressed by Joys presence and growing size. Joy on the other hand was very impressed by the size of these strange beings making strange sounds and smelling , well, strangely and she usually swapped to the other side of the alley to pass in a hurried and unassuming way. I started to try to introduce her to these feathery folks and eventually, she stopped , gazed through the chicken wire and started to "talk" to them. To be continued... fingers crossed 

SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS... 

Please tell me that I am not the only IW parent who could spend endless time just watching their baby sleep ? There is something inherently peaceful and relaxing to watch them sleep, observe them when they dream, listen to the little yelps and barks and see the legs and the tail twitch and run and wag. If I am the only one I'll take it with pride: I always enjoyed watching beauty beyond measure, and my sleeping little Joy is the most beautiful thing I could image. And I get to take pictures of her endless eyelashes that so perfectly line those always half open sleepy eyes. Ah, the EYELASHES!!! sigh

PULLING HER WEIGHT:

The last weigh-in date at the vet listed her at 31kg at 4month and 3 weeks of age. My breeder gets regular photo and video updates and she is very happy with how Joy is growing, so I guess things are all in the green here. I do have a little issue with the age related recommendations for activities: Her energy level and need for activity does not quite match the activity guidelines , despite trying a variety of things: several short walks in the village, city walks, short play dates with other dogs, just hanging out in the backyard, little training sessions for recall, sit, and other "elementary school age" stuff. She seems always not tired and wants to do more. We're at an average of 3.5km of mixed walk and activities per day now, split into several units, and only if she gets one longer walk (5-10min longer) she seems happy to come home and chill. 

MS JEKYLL AND MS HYDE:

over the past few days, my little Angel Joy has discovered her inner demon: when she thinks its time to party, she lets it all out: teeth, claws, jumps, snaps, pawing - the works . When Cookie the Patou is around, she gets shown the limits very fast but around people I have to use my most serious "command voice" and some body language to get her to back off. Ankles and calws, no matter how they are wrapped, are the most welcome snack followed by flowy and wavy things like long skirts, shirts, coats and the like. She is like a little dragon who had swallowed to much molten lava and damn she is fast ! 

HEARABLES NOT EDIBLES: 

This is, in hindsight, quite funny but could have gotten REALLY expensive.

As the "old-as-dirt-grumpy-old-man" that I am, I did, eventually give in to reality of nature and the age related decline of my hearing capabilities. I guess an extended time in the military and way to many nights in the techno clubs next to the speaker towers didnt help the issue. A bit ago, I got a set of last generation hearing aids, very discreet, almost invisible, high end to the extend that they serve as "invisible Ipods" for my phone, listening to music etc as well as doing an excellent job reconnecting me with my surroundings on an auditory level, especially in social settings with lots of ambient noise.   I wear them every day from morning to evening and the get recharged over night next to my toothbrush. I would not do without them, although I had to insure them for about 8K Eur against loss (despite free French healthcare and a very very good top off insurance)

Good stuff, but expensive. Aging sucks sometimes. 

Enters Joy:

One of the qualities I do love most about her is her overwhelming demand for physical contact: belly rubs, slow leg-muscle massages, gentle nose and forehead relaxation, you name, she wants it. If there is a superlative for "affectionate", let me know. She puts her head between my neck and my shoulder like a little baby wanting  to be rocked gently and when all is right in her world, she starts giving little kisses with her pink little sandpaper tongue.

Who could resist? 

Referring back to the "Jeckyl & Hyde" paragraph above, I have to admit that this angel like sweetness can do a hard 180 turn in a millisecond.

I hear a deep breath next to my ear she just licked so affectionately, I feel her body tense and BOOM, there she is: my little wiggly baby dragon on her back, with an endless, flexible neck, razor-sharp needle teeth, and muscular legs with pointy claws on each of the paws - and she uses hind and front leg without regard of their respective  positioning. 

Before I could even react, one of the hind paws hit my face one the side of  one ear, yanking one hearing aid  out and send it flying over the couch. The next second she had bitten my other ear, the hairthin , invisible wire got stuck in her white teeth, she snatched the other device out and, with a big,loud  snap, it disappeard into her mouth. 

I struggled for a moment to get her off me, shoved my hand into the dragons snout, pryed her jaws open, and have my finger fight the tongue and the molars and just managed to get my hearing aid before it hit the chute in the back down to "nowhere land." 

Joy was far from done and took my engagement as a signal that "me too , I was ready to party" , while my entire intention was to find the other unit that got first  hit by the paw. It was a mighty struggle, but in the end I won, claimed the couch, found my hearing device in the far corner, and retreated to check everything for lost parts, cleaned off slobber and dust and decided for the rest of the evening just to turn up the volume of the TV. 

The thought of me filing an insurance claim for several thousand EUR for a hearing aid that was not lost but "ingested by a canine and rendered unusable"  made me laugh and cry at the same time. 

Alright, that was a long one, thanks for reading , I hope it made you smile a little, (it did make me smile again just typing it all up)

remember to hug all your doggos and loved ones and keep taking those millions of photos of them only you will ever look at again, 

See you next week, be happy and safe, 

Joy and Dominik from the mountains 

*(Not IW related footnote:

The Cannstatter Wasen Beer Fest in Stuttgart is very similar to the Munich Oktoberfest, with just a few differences: The Wasen is a bit smaller than the Oktoberfest (4.5million visitors over 17 days weeks vs 6mil over 3 weeks in Munich) but the Wasen is less touristy and commercial and much more authentic than the Oktoberfest:

Word on the street is that "Munich is for the tourists, Stuttgart for the locals" .

Yes, I am biased. Very much so. Sue me :D or ask me for travel tipps)

He is still so wobbly on his back legs and he slipped badly this morning. I don't know how long i have left with him. 11 next month

Just turned 1!

My 14mo Maggie ADORES my mom 😍

Yet another week has passed and I am already a day behind on our weekly Joy news, life happens and the days keep ticking away..  While it is sometimes hard to not fall for the chaotic  charme of a 4 and a half month old puppy , life has some work to take care of, so we tried really hard to maintain that "life-work-balance" at least for a few minutes a day (haha) 

RAMP TRAINING

As mentioned before, Joys ever growing weight (see below) and her ability to turn into a half full sack of flour when lifted up started to cause a problem with getting in and out of my car - (and the fact that its a old fashioned mountain car with high and spindly tires does not help here either).  My back and my disc took a beating si it was time for some serious ramp and folding stairs training to ensure car access without spinal damages. The folding stairs ramp was a relic of my time with Monsieur Proust, my last Great Dane, who hated flat ramps and love the stairs instead.

With a lot of treats, encouragement, time to sniff , touch, bite, gnaw and lick, and finally the "whats the big deal?" from her sis Thelma the Golden to show her how its done and that there is nothing to be afraid off, we succeeded! Going up still needs a bit more of guidance than going down, and we are already working on the "stay" command to wait  before descending.  Very proud of my little big baby girl (and my spine and disks are sending fan mail too ) 

PS since I have not figured out yet how to put pics and vids into the same post here I will post the video proof in a separate post - I am, indeed, old as dirt ! haha )

VET VISIT

After a few walk ins to the Vet just to say hi to the reception team, check her weight, collect some treats and snuggles and get used to the place, last week we had our very first 'real' appointment, just to check her out for the record. On the 21.09.26 , at 4 month and 13 days old, she weighed in at 29.3kg, all looks good, baby teeth are being replaced by the real thing, only check point was a slighly swollen lymph node on her left hind leg, which since then went back to normal. She did great on the examination table and knew exactly where the treat jar is sitting on the desk .  

BABY TEETH AND NEW COLLAR

Call me crazy old Puppy dad but I am trying to save as many of the tiny little baby teeth as possible as a memory of these first few month we spent together. So far I managed to find 2 and given how vigorously she chews on the world in general, my chances to find others are close to zero, I think. But I will have them in a little Memory box to show to ... whoever wants to see them ...   

Speaking of growing up: when I went to Italy to pick her up 5 weeks ago, I came with a small little collar and matching leash and lots of toys and stuffies and a little soft bed  in the car.

My breeder smiled when I put the collar on  and just said : "well that will last a month and a half, max but its a nice color for a girl". Turned out she was right: Last week I had to buy the next size cof the same color and it made me realize how fast she is growing - sniffels 

On to some daily life details  and other news: 

BUBBLE DRINKs

Evidently, Joy does not appreciate the flat (albeit fresh and cold) water in her drinking bowl. She has gotten into the habit of turning the bowl into a bubble drink each time before taking a sip: she pokes her nose in and starts blowing bubbles in it until it sounds  that I am boiling eggs in there. Once the level of the bowl has been reduced to where  here nose is too big to dip in deep enough for bubble action, she starts her "one sipm drip and walk around- routine" until I refill the bowl. I am glad I have an ancient tile floor and a drip catcher round the drinking and feeding spot ! 

EYES WIDE SHUT without the drama 

Some of my Danes slept with their eyes seemingly open - I used to think it had to do with their very heavy and extended facial skin, that, when fully relaxed, simply pulled the eyelids open. Well, it turns out Danes are not the only ones and my heavy jowls theory just  got busted: Joy sleeps with her eyes open  incertain positions: she is completely out  and her pretty brown eyes are looking into the land of dreams, clearly. Too cute to not to notice but really hard to get a photo because I dont want to wake her up just for some online fame haha 

BABY HUGS 

One of the sweetest and most striking characteristics is her deep affection and  desire for exchange of physical contact: maybe its a puppy thing, a breed thing or an individual personal trait, (or a mix of any of those) but the amount of snuggles, kisses, love nibbles, and gentle paw touches she exchanges with the people close to her is amazing and the sweetest thing ever.

None of my Danes were anywhere near as affectionate ( Fay had a weird "naked toe fetish" that was not the same thing ) and I just MELT away when Joy gives me a HUG! We cuddle, she wiggles around until she is in the right position, then puts her head on my neck and wraps her paw around me! Its a literal HUG and I just love it !  

Other than that she is just the happy little big chaos doggie that I brought home just 6 weeks ago, meeting other dogs with growing confidence, chasing grasshoppers and butterflies, dipping in every body of water, deep enough or not and being busy sleeping and growing and making everyone around fall in love. 

Everyone has a great week, hug your doggies and all the best from the mountains 

Joy and Dominik 

https://reddit.com/link/1wsd08r/video/svy196j869sh1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wsd08r/video/l0xlyq5b69sh1/player

My boy will be 11 in 2 months. Last month he was walking pretty stiffly and wobbled a bit in his back legs. Vet said he has mild arthritis and gave me some supplements to have every day and painkillers when he seems bad.

3 nights ago, he didn't want to walk on one of his hind legs, foot was curling over multiple times before he could put it flat on the ground, and extreme stumbling with his bad leg ceossing over the other hing leg. The vet said no fractures or breaks, cpuld be neurological or arthritis is worse, or he's fallen at some point. A CT scan is the likely next step.

At the moment he takes a very long time to get pff the couch to walk outside or to get water and is still stumbling and not wanting to walk on his hind leg. I've been giving him pain relief that the vet suggested.

Is this a common issue with older xlarge breeds? I hate that he's in pain. How do you judge if the pain is too much for them?

We are hopefully adding a wolfie to the family next year. Previously had a vizsla and he was feed a BARF diet with no kibble/biscuits. but these dogs are so much larger and assume they eat.. a lot! I would like to keep it as close to ancestral / natural diet but realistic about the cost of so much meat.

Just rolled her coat a bit today and thought she was looking kinda cute and wanted to share ☺️

Enjoying our first truly cool morning outside together. Gandalf does not understand why he can't fit on my lap in my small chair like he does the couch.

Joy is starting to get too heavy for my old back to lift her in and out of the Landcruiser any longer, so it is time for some serious "car ramp training" .

She just doesnt know it yet haha

All of my Danes were ramp / folding stairs trained to get in and out of cars. Essential to protect their joints as well as maintaining a calm and controlled exit behavior, so it is time for Joy to learn something new.

Ha, lets see how it goes 😅😬🙄😅
( Results in my next post)

Hey fellow hound lovers. I need a quick pep talk. I lost my boy three years ago and he will always have a place in my heart. I reached out to his breeder about two years ago and when a pup became available last year I j decided to pass, as my heart wasn’t ready.

She just contacted me the other day with. Boy that sounds like he would be a good fit, and I think I am ready to open my heart again.

I am just having some jitters and would love to hear some stories about your hounds to remind me of all the wonderful chaos they bring.

Just a Toy Poodle standing her ground

Please see my linked original post. I figured I’d link it here since our rescue is the size of a small Irish wolfhound. Any help is greatly appreciated!

At only 10 months….been a ride so far

A little source of pride: a girl named Gracia, 4.4 months old. She already stands 2 feet 2 inches at the withers and weighs 66 pounds.