It has already been suggested that the Irish Wolfhound makes an excellent companion and guard. The variety, however, is not one to be confined to a lonely backyard, chained to an apology for a kennel. With this and similar breeds the chain should be practically unknown, save that the hound, like any other, should be acquainted with both collar and chain. No young puppy should ever be chained if straight limbs and decent body-conformation are sought. Plenty of exercise is required for all the members of the Greyhound family, and road-walking exercise is especially beneficial for hardening the pads. If, in addition to this, young dogs can have access to a meadow, preferably with a hill, this will soon develop them to the full.

The kennels should be well positioned, roomy, light, and well ventilated. If a range of kennels be not required and a nice loose box is vacant, this will make a capital home for the average Wolfhound when it is necessary to restrict him in any way. The more, however, that such a dog, when required as a companion and guard, is allowed to associate with the owner and his family, the more useful is it likely to become. Seclusion and chaining, when carried to excess, either mean a savage or a broken-spirited animal - the one a nuisance and a source of danger, and the other a canine fool.

Although with all large breeds it is most desirable to start with a puppy, yet the novice would do well not to purchase one that is too young. As a matter of fact, the Irish Wolfhound up to the age of four or five months is more than ordinarily delicate or susceptible to certain ailments incidental to that period of a young dog's life. Distemper, and the complications that follow, claim a good many victims. It will, therefore, be politic to look out for a puppy that is some six months old. Breeders of repute always have in their kennels puppies which, while they just miss being show specimens, nevertheless make first-class companions and guards. The Irish Wolfhound is not mature until two years old.

The Irish Wolfhound is another of the varieties of British dog that vary much in colour as puppies. They may not show such a marked,difference as do the Airedale or the Yorkshire, but it is sufficiently so to be worth recording. We have it on no less an authority than Mr. Hood Wright that the really blues are born black, while the slates are born that colour. There is always a tendency, he says, for them to get lighter. In support of this he instances the case of his old bitch Champion Selwood Callach.

She was as black as her brother Champion Selwood Dhouran at birth; at the age of six months she was a medium shade of fawn grizzle, while her brother remained black. Mr. Hood Wright also states that he has known of a case of a red-fawn dog (but one with a blue skin) that after he had attained the age of two years became a blue. The dog was sold as a fawn, but the next time that the late owner met the animal he was an undoubtedly natural blue.

In selecting a puppy, the head-points, as noted below, should be carefully considered, especially as to length, position, and size of ears. The head as a whole must not promise to be too Deer-houndy on the one hand, or Great Dane-like on the other. Other points that should be looked for are a deep chest, straight legs, large, rounded feet, a long neck, and of course a well-arched loin.

Of late Irish Wolfhound type has been freely criticised in the Press, and the more practical fanciers have advocated a readjustment of points, as it were, with a view to strengthening those characteristics that appear weak. With that end in view a most commonsense letter appeared in Our Dogs over the simple nom de guerre of "Breeder." In it the writer not only suggests a suitable scale of point-values for the breed, but also gives an idea of how an ideal hound should be made up. The description therein given so closely accords with our own that we give it for the benefit of those that are beginning: -

Height, 34111.; weight, 1401b.; girth, 38m.; head, 14in., avoiding the broad forehead, and with strong muzzle. Eyes small and dark. Ears neatly tucked and cocked. Body long, deep, and supple. Tail long and lashing. Neck clean and arched. Hooks well let down, and without a suspicion of "cow." Legs like parallel rulers. Coat rough and wiry. Beard and eyebrows plentiful. Colour, any met with in the Deerhound. Muscular all over, of course.

The Irish Wolfhound boasts an excellent club to watch over its interests, and the following is the description of the breed as drawn up by that body: -

General Appearance

The Irish Wolfhound should not be quite so heavy or massive as the Great Dane, but more so than the Deerhound, which in general type he should otherwise resemble. Of great size and commanding appearance, very muscular, strongly though gracefully built, movements easy and active ; head and neck carried high; the tail carried with an upward sweep with a slight curve towards the extremity.

The Minimum Height and Weight of dogs should be 31 in. and 12o lb.; of bitches 28in. and 9olb. Anything below this should be debarred from competition. Great size, including height at shoulder and proportionate length of body, is the desideratum to be aimed at, and it is desired to firmly establish a race that shall average from 32m. to 34m. in dogs, showing the requisite power, activity, courage, and symmetry.

Head

Long, the frontal bones of the forehead very slightly raised, and very little indentation between the eyes. Skull not too broad. Muzzle long and moderately pointed. Ears small and Greyhound-like in carriage.

Neck

Rather long, very strong and muscular, well arched, without dewlap, or loose skin about the throat.

Chest

Very deep. Breast wide.

Back

Rather long than short. Loins arched.

Tail

Long and slightly curved, of moderate thickness, and well covered with hair.

Belly

Well drawn up.

Forequarters

Shoulders muscular, giving breadth of chest, set sloping. Elbows well under, neither turned inwards nor outwards.

Leg

Fore-arm muscular, and the whole leg strong and quite straight.

Hindquarters

Muscular thighs and second thigh long and strong as in the Greyhound, and hocks well let down and turning neither in nor out.

Feet

Moderately large and round, neither turned inwards nor outwards. Toes well arched and closed. Nails very strong and curved.

Hair

Rough and hard on body, legs, and head; especially wiry and long over eyes and under jaw.

Colour And Markings

The recognised colours are grey, brindle, red, black, pure white, fawn, or any colour that appears in the Deerhound. [Captain Graham states that he has seen several perfectly black-and-tan Deerhounds.]

Faults

Too light or heavy a head, too highly arched frontal bone, large ears and hanging flat to the face; short neck; full dewlap; too narrow or too broad a chest; sunken or hollow or quite straight back; bent fore legs; overbent fetlocks; twisted feet; spreading toes; too curly a tail; weak hindquarters and a general want of muscle; too short in body.

The following scale of point-values have been suggested by "Breeder" in the paper above named: -