The Irish Wolfhound is called Cu Faoil in Gaelic; they are sighthounds, in that they hunt with their eyes and their speed, not with their noses.

Raising Irish Wolfhound puppies is a pure joy, with the only drawback being that they only live around 7 years.

The average lifespan of an Irish Wolfhound is 5 – 10 years, which is sad because these dogs bring so much grace and happiness into the world.  They’re swift and powerful as well as easy going and quiet.

They do not possess the gift of the gab, and obviously have not kissed the Blarney Stone that’s for certain.  But a lot of dog owners will appreciate this, as loud dogs can get quite annoying after a while.

They are among the tallest dogs on the entire globe, which makes them special, and although tall, they are fairly slender for their height, weighing in at around 120 pounds.  Some of the larger breeds of dog are much thicker and heavier, the Mastiff and the Saint Bernard come to mind.  But, these hounds are a lot faster than these lumbering breeds.

It has been theorized that the Mastiff had something to do with the genetic input which spawned this breed in centuries past, but certainly the girth was not passed along in such great quantity.  Two other breeds with historical ties to the Wolfhound of the land of Eire are the Deerhound and the Great Dane.

These hounds come in many different colors, which definitely points to the fact that if we trace the roots of this breed back far enough we would find a number of separate breeds played a part in creating this distinct offshoot.  Common colors would include grey, red, black, brindle, white, and fawn, with mixtures of all of these colors are common as well.

The history of this breed goes back a very long way, and some archeologists report that this dog or at least its ancestors have been domesticated for thousands upon thousands of years, one records states that these dogs have been human companions going back to 7,000 B.C.

Originally these dogs were hunting dogs to be certain, they are excellent hunters because of their eye sight and speed, but, they were also dogs of war.

And probably because they were dogs of war they are very attuned to humans and form strong bonds with families, this creates a breed that does not like to be alone and bonds strongly with the family that it lives with.  Leaving this dog alone in the house all day is a very, very bad idea.

When shopping for Irish Wolfhound puppies be sure to always purchase through a licensed and well known breeder.  If a price looks too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true (beware internet scams); remember, puppy farm owner’s prey on the unwary.