The most difficult thing about raising an Irish Wolfhound is keeping them safe from their exuberance. New owners find it difficult to understand that the right care is vital for the first year of the growing process. Conveying this message is particularly hard. You need to perfect the careful balance of nutrition and exercise to protect them.
Follow these simple steps to avoid disasters, or at least try and keep them to a minimum!
DO:
Do feed your puppy a healthy balanced diet. We advise you to feed Bonaforte’s Puppy Food (Mother & Starter) As poor nutrition or overfeeding can lead to problems.
Allow your puppy free exercise in a secure area, preferably on grass, daily. Although giant breed puppies have fragile bones and joints, they do require some exercise to build up muscle tone and stamina and so a run around on the lawn with their owner keeping an eye on them is important.
Do provide a safe and secure place for the puppy to rest, away from other dogs or children.
Do take your puppy out to meet people and other dogs once fully vaccinated. Socialising your puppy is paramount, and any dog needs to get used to new places and experiences, such as going in the car to visit friends and family or going to the park to meet other dogs.
DON’T:
Don’t over-exercise your puppy under any circumstances. Do not walk your Wolfhound puppy until six months old and then build up the walk gradually, initially only walking for 5 minutes. Despite their size, Wolfhound puppies are very delicate so treat their growing bones and joints with great care. Any mistakes in exercise and overexuberance under a year old can affect the puppy for the rest of its life.
Don’t let your puppy walk on slippy surfaces such as tiles, laminate flooring, wood flooring or cushion flooring/lino. Slippy floors are responsible for an enormous amount of injuries in both puppies and older dogs of all breeds, but giant breed puppies are particularly susceptible to mishaps. They will slide on these slippery surfaces and hurt their legs and other parts of their body. Some of these injuries can have disastrous consequences.
Don’t let your puppy play with other dogs (or children) unsupervised, even if they are your dogs and playing at home. Do not let an Irish Wolfhound puppy play with older/larger dogs until it is at least a year old. Again, letting your puppy run riot with other dogs is likely to end up with the puppy being hurt or injured.
Don’t let your puppy walk up and down stairs, and prevent them from jumping out of cars. Keep impact on all joints to a minimum. Even getting on and off the sofa in an exuberant manner may harm.
Don't let the puppy run over rough ground and fields. These areas can be fraught with potholes and hidden obstacles which may cause the puppy to stumble and tumble and hurt those long fragile limbs.