education How to educate and to take care of an Irish Wolfhound... Regine Vandamme

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1 education How to educate and to take care of an Irish Wolfhound... Regine Vandamme With thanks to John Briggs and Frans De Ridder for their help for the English version. Drinking!!! Loving!!! Eating!!! Playing!!! Imitating!!! Sleeping!!! A PLACE OF HIS / HER OWN Could you imagine how your puppy will feel when for the first time he comes into your house? No mother anymore, no brothers, no sisters, no well known faces, everything is strange. If your puppy has an open character, he will, after a small pee, certainly explore the surrounding area. Place the piece of sweat smelling cloth with the smell of the litter or the toy that the breeder gave you immediately on the spot which you would like to be the puppies place. If your are lucky, he will find it a good spot. Teach him from the beginning that all the members of the family have the right to stay with him - of course to cuddle, not to annoy him. An Irish Wolfhound needs a soft bed. If he has to remain on the floor, he can obtain bedsores. The seat or the bed is of course marvelous - allow him only what he may do in the future. A foam rubber mat covered with imitation leather and with linen (i.e. a fleece) is easy to maintain. The covered mat is washable and the cover can in the washing machine. In the beginning nothing is safe from your puppy. Until he learned what he can destroy, it is better to use a "vet bed" (veterinary bed - you can buy it on shows). This is the safest solution for the moments that you cannot control your puppy. For the real destroyers (most of all between 7 and 18 months) only a rubber cow mat is the solution. You can buy it in a cattle shop. Make sure that the dog does not lie in the draught. Probably, the puppy is very interested in a place where a lot of people are passing by - i.e before a door or a cupboard that you regularly need to open. In this way, you will not forget that he is there and maybe, while you are there, you may have some time to cuddle him. Slowly, you can teach the puppy to stay alone on this spot. Do no train too long and give him a good award. End the exercise only after a positive result. 1 sur 6 11/07/ :33

2 EDUCATION The main ingredients for the education are: love, consequence and patience. The main ingredient is love. Really loving somebody means that you are asking yourself permanently what you can do to make somebody else happy. You feel yourself concerned and responsible for him. To be able to do this you must imagine yourself in his situation, you cannot love what you do not understand. Real love starts with knowledge. You should ask yourself permanently why your dog does this or that or why he is reacting in a particular way. Only when you can answer this question, you start to understand his world. In a love relationship between 2 human partners, also your partner has a responsibility. You may expect from the other that he let you know what is going on. Here is an essential difference in the relationship with your dog - he does n your intelligence. It is your duty to understand him. Reading a good book about the behaviour of dogs, or even better about wolves can help you a lot. You can learn also a lot from a visit to a pack. A lot of breeders will welcome you. If you have chosen a good breeder, the education started already some weeks ago. The whole family and the dogs of the breeder have already helped and now it is your turn to continue. The initial learning phase that began at 3 weeks will go on till 14 weeks. In this period, it is important that your puppy will learn a lot of new thins as people, animals, sounds... At this age he is very curious, eager to learn and very trustful. From the age of 6 weeks, his brains will function enough to learn fast and easy. Use this important period as optimal as possible. He will receive his third and final inoculation at the age of weeks - so be careful. He is not yet completely protected against some dangerous diseases. We advise you to take your dog with you to i.e. a restaurant, bar, market, places where a lot of people are coming together etc. but not to places where a lot of dogs are coming together or to parks where a lot of dogs are answering nature's calls. Also when walking in the town you should avoid trees, the corners of walls etc. Do not allow your puppy to sniffle on the ground. If you meet another dog, ask the owner if the dog is inoculated, if he is ill and if he is friendly. After only one bad experience i.e. with an aggressive dog, it is sometimes very difficult to gain the trust of your puppy again. It is still important to take your with you. From 8 weeks, the social phase will start. During this period, your puppy learns to coop with others (dogs, other animals, people...). During this learning period, please realize that your puppy is watching you. He will try to deduct from your attitude if a situation is safe or not. If he is scared and remarks that you are acting normal and cheerful, he will easily relax. If you try however to reassure him or to calm him down, he will remark that something was really wrong and this will make him more insecure and afraid. You are his leader and he will take you as an example - take that in mind. You must avoid fear. Do not allow the puppy to run away and do not allow him to lean against you - put him, in a quiet way on his own legs and repeat the situation until he is not afraid anymore. Bear in mind that you yourself are cheerful and relaxed during the exercise (sing a song...). Somewhere during the puberty, between 9 and 18 months, your dog could have a new fear phase. If you are reacting correct, it will go over. It may be needed to repeat the exercises that you executed with your puppy. From 14 till 16 weeks, your puppy will pass through the phase of ranking. Already from his 5th week, he is testing out where his place is in the group. At this age this is not limited anymore to power and dexterity but also intelligence will play a role. He 2 sur 6 11/07/ :33

3 will test now if you are really the boss. In this phase the puppy will test which is the limit - it is up to you to define these limits. Your consequence will be tested, what you forbid today must be forbidden tomorrow. Choose a clear word to show your disapproval, i.e. NO or look angry and show your finger. But afterwards take your puppy out of this negative phase and distract him with something else (a toy, a play...)or gave him an order that he can follow (sit, come...) to come to a positive relationship. I can imagine that you are tempted to shout, scold and punish but keep in mind that this will not help you. Your dog will become scared from you. A dog does not learn from punishing because you cannot explain why you are punishing. You have to try to avoid bad behavior. You can do this by rewarding him for good behavior but also by learning him a number of commands that shows him what you are expecting, i.e. lie, sit, come, on your mat Do not forget to say to your puppy how great he is when he is doing what you are asking. Do this with a high tone and with a friendly voice. The only moment that you can correct your puppy is when you are catching him on the act. Do not forget that, after you have used the chosen word for bad behavior on a low threatening way, to offer an alternative for this bad behavior. And keep in mind that you forbid something that you have to forbid always. It means that you have to prevent the fact that he can do it again when you are not present. Therefore it is very practical that your dog can stay in a place where he can do anything he wants when you are absent. When you are absent you cannot correct him and when you start scolding at him when you come back, he will not understand it. Scolding means also that you take attention of him. Some dogs will learn a negative behavior because the attention. One of the first and most important order a puppy must learn is to come on order. The best way is to wait until he is coming spontaneous and call him on a high friendly tone with his name. If necessary you squat down or go backwards. If he arrives, cuddle him extensive and on. It is important that you reward your dog when he comes to you. At your leg he is safe; it is always a little party even if he has scrapped your best sweater into peaces a moment before. If you call him and he comes, you have to reward him. If you do not do it, you risk that he will not come the next time and this may bring him in danger. Rearing a puppy means also that he must learn to submit himself to your wishes and that he has no control himself about a situation. Therefore learn him as early as possible to lay down on a leash next to your chair, i.e. in an ice saloon, an Irish pub... Teach him to lie down on his side while you are touching his body. He must get used to be touched between his toes, in his ears...s a grown up dog he must be able to be examined by a vet, you must be able to comb him, to cut his nails, clean his teeth; all those things are part of his education and you should start as soon as possible. Playing with the puppy is the best way to educate your puppy. Keep in mind that your puppy is testing you constantly during the play. No play is without meaning; through playing with his own sort or with you, he tries to fix his place in the hierarchy. If you are on the top of the hierarchy, you can decide with what and when you will play. You invite and you decide to finish. Do not agree with the invitation of the puppy. Do not allow the puppy to win more than once on 10 plays to win; as being higher in the hierarchy, you should win. It means that your children should not play tug-of-war with an Irish Wolfhound unless you help them to win. Try also to surprise your dog; you will keep his attention. Playing hide and seek is an excellent example; the dog learns to keep watching you. This could be an interesting game in the fields and in the wood while you let the dog run around freely. If you unhook the leash, please watch your dog. If he is running away, run in the opposite way with the same speed while squeaking high yells or "puppy,puppy" or shouting his name. Do not run after him; he will enjoy it that you are following him and will run 3 sur 6 11/07/ :33

4 further away. If he comes back to you, praise him; at your leg it is always a little party you know. And during the rest of the walk you keep changing direction and hiding yourself; this means for the puppy that you are really unpredictable and that he has to watch you permanently. Of course it is safer to exercise on a closed ground. In Belgium it is officially even forbidden to let sight hounds run around free. SHARP TEETH Until 12 weeks, your puppy has razor sharp milk teeth and he likes to show that. If puppies are playing together, biting is one of more important games. On this way they learn to bite on a controlled way. It has no sense to forbid your puppy to bite. You have to train him when and how he can. You have to teach him that people are much more sensitive than dogs. Even if you can stand it, you should consider children that are in contact with your dog. Most of all it is enough to cry "AI"; if the puppy release you, tell him how nice it is. Grown up dogs react on unwanted biting by standing still, quiet as a mouse, stoic, as big as possible with a look to infinity. Therefore, the puppy becomes insecure and strays of. If the grown up dog moves, the puppy tries again with the same reaction. Sometimes the grown up dog tries to divert the puppy with a toy or a bone Afterwards the grown up dog will invite the puppy for a game "soft chewing". By the adult deciding when and where to play, the puppy realises that he is not running the show. It is remarkable that older dogs are very tolerant but be mind when the puppy goes to far and bites so hard that it really hurts; he will be corrected suddenly and with such a lot of noise that he will understand ad will be calm for a while (you can do this also but only when it is really necessary).learned For children, the first and most important lesson is that movements could provoke small attacks from the puppy. A running child could stimulate the hunting instinct of a sight hound. Also grown up dogs could go after running children and will take their shoulder in the mouth. If your child does not like this it must learn to stand still, to show himself as big as possible and to look away from the dog. You can also agree on an order: i.e. finished,.keep off, stop it... You also can teach your child to push away the puppy's head on a soft, friendly but firm way. Under guidance you can allow your child to put his hand in the mouth of the dog and to shout when it hurts. No normal puppy wants to hurt intentionally, they have however no clew how sensitive the human being is. It is very important that you teach him this before his mouth has the power of a grown up Irish Wolfhound. HOUSE TRAINED A dog is, as most mammals, clean. Normally he will not foul his own spot; he will however not understand that your spot is bigger. You have to teach him this. If you arrive with your puppy at home he needs probably to spend a penny. Walk around with him in a place where you want him to do it and use words that you will use in the future when you like him to piddle, i. e. piddle, pee... If you use these words with a high voice on the moment he is peeing, he will consider this as an approval. Afterwards you have to reward him. If you are using always the same words, you will learn the dog to pee on order and that is very easy when you are traveling around or when you are going to a show. During the day, when you are at home, the speed that your dog will become house 4 sur 6 11/07/ :33

5 trained depends completely from your attention for him. A young dog is peeing about once an hour when he is awake. Try to find out when needs to go by looking to his behavior. Certainly with a big call of nature, the puppy starts to run around and to sniffle. Then it is up to you to be fast enough to bring him outside. Do not forget the proper "words" and reward afterwards. Moments that are "pee important": when he awakes, just before and after feeding, before going to sleep and after a play. If you succeed in remarking in time the behavior of your puppy, it is possible that he will be house trained in about 2 to 5 days. During the night or when you are absent, do not expect that he can hold up everything, because his bladder is too small and his constrictors not yet trained enough. If you put some papers at the door, your puppy will use them for his nature's call. But bear in mind: most of the puppies do like papers as food... If nevertheless, an accident happens, clean everything without paying attention. Do not punish the puppy and certainly do not rub his nose in it. Such accidents are not happening on purpose. It is better not to pay attention at all otherwise your puppy will learn that this one of the ways to catch your attention and yes, negative attention is also attention! If you go outside with your puppy, take a poop bag with you. You put your hand in the bag, take the poop, pull the bag over your hand and close the bag. And hope that the dustbin is not far away. On this way your dog will be loved also by other people. Imagine that you are stepping in it yourself! TOYS Puppies love toys but be careful. More than one dog died by playing with toys. Cords are nice but if there are chewing them; pieces could be swallowed and could cause obstructions in the intestines. If you do not recognize the symptoms, this could be the final end of the game. There are a lot of toys that you can give him when you are around and can keep an eye on it. They would like you to exchange regularly the toys. After a while they look new to him. If you let your dogs alone the list of safe toys becomes much shorter. We give you a list of toys that, so far we know, never caused troubles: King Kong: a rubber ball, very heavy, if they are throwing it around it should not happen in the house. Nylabone: a thick half round bone (Irish size: Galileo). Most of the Irish seems to prefer to chew on the normal Nylabone bone "Chicken flavor". Look out for imitation. The yellow and orange blocks in hard plastic with the sticker "floating" are good for a practical endless chewing pleasure; they become only a little bit smaller. There are cattle bones treated on a special way so that they become very hard. After a few months, it could be that the sides are chewed away or they become too short or they will have some sharp tips; than it is better to remove it and throw it away. The sweet cubic: the original one is dark blue and you can put some food (granules) in it. Some puppies like it very much; others do not understand it at all. "Rask": this is a safe, eatable little bone from Pedigree that will give the denture a good cleaning. 2 minutes of good chewing pleasure and in this category there a lot more, also from other blends. The rest of the toys that we tested were not safe to leave it alone with the dog. 5 sur 6 11/07/ :33

6 CARE An Irish Wolfhound should be combed at least once a week very carefully, first with a brush (if necessary) but afterwards (and this is the most important) with a fine a fine tooth comb. Here you have the opportunity to pay some more attention to your dog, to cuddle him and to control his complete body (doesn't he have some pain somewhere?), to control his skin (wounds, rush, ticks, flees, dandruff...). If you remark that the dog bites or licks himself, you better control his skin. They practically do it without reason. The area around the anus should be clean - wet baby cloths are very handy. It will be better when you cut the hair around the anus very short (and vagina or penis) or even use shears. You should also clean the ears once a week with wet cloths. You better can remove the hairs inside the ear to avoid infections. Cleaning teeth will prevent tartar. At the pharmacy you will find special toothpaste for dogs. Make it a good habit, as if you are doing for your kids. Verify the teeth regularly and, in case there is tartar, ask your vet to remove it. Some vets will do it without anesthesia. You can learn this also and can do it when your dog is quiet. The nails should be cut regularly; do not forget the dewclaw. Inside the nail, there is a nerve and a blood vessel. If you touch it by accident, the best way to stop it is using a hot soldering iron and to push it against the middle of the nail. It looks awful but it turns out better than expected. Trimming. All dead hair, longer than 5 to 6 cm should be pulled out with your thumb and forefinger to bring your dog into a good model. Under the belly and on the head, the hair may have a length of about 1 cm, in the neck a little bit longer. You never trim above the eyes, the muzzle and the beard (needs good combing). The ears must be plucked completely bald (as a mouse skin), outside for beauty, inside for hygiene. The hair between the toes and around the feet is cut with scissors. To wash a dog is not necessary, unless for medical reasons, i.e. rush. If however he is so dirty that he is not allowed anymore in the house, you can wash him. Ask the vet for a well adapted shampoo. But waiting a day and a good brush is mostly sufficient. 6 sur 6 11/07/ :33