About puppies….

 

Even though there is a dramatic size difference between Irish Wolfhounds and Italian Greyhounds they share many things in common.  These puppies both share a certain amount of frailty.  They are gangly long legged sight hounds and they will certainly make choices of leaping off things that are not good for their bones.  Iggys are known to break bones by leaping off furniture with their typical fearless attitude.  IWHs grow so incredibly fast that their bones can ache and they can also be easily injured.  Any time you are dealing with bones it can be an expensive trip to the vet to have them healed and a prospective owner needs to consider this seriously before committing to these breeds.  The IWHs can be very destructive puppies and they grow so fast that sometimes you expect them to be more mature than they really are.  Iggys love nothing more than to run and play….all day and all night.  They can be independent and aloof where an IWH can be your shadow, following you from room to room and whining when they are locked out.  Each are unique and will require their own special attention and training.  Think long and hard you choose to commit to one of these breeds.

 

We have worked hard to make sure we are breeding as sound a dog as possible.  We have taken time to look into the backgrounds of the breeding stock we have looking at health, longevity and temperament.  Things can happen, just as they happen to humans, there is no absolute guarantee but we have done our best to provide a puppy that will grow well into old age.  We provide a year genetic guarantee and a lifetime of support for you as a buyer.  In return we ask a few things of you.  Each IWH or Iggy that leaves our house must go to a home with a fenced in yard.  Sight hounds are bred to chase and they will do so regardless of how well trained you think they are and regardless of how much they love you and hang by your side normally.  They will also run until they are exhausted or bring down their prey and often find themselves very far from home with no chance of finding their way back.  In order to keep from subjecting you to the heart ache of losing your beloved pet and the pain of knowing one of our babies has been hit by a car or lost, we will not place a dog in a home without a fence.  We have worked very hard to get the dogs we have and gone to great expense to do so and therefore no longer offer full registration with each puppy.  Most of our dogs are sold as limited registration pet quality dogs.  If you are interested in showing or looking for breeding stock we will consider full registration rights but it will be after phone conversations and a recommendation by your veterinarian.  We are happy to discuss both with you when you inquire about one of our puppies.

 

Each puppy leaves our home having been exposed to other dogs, cats and birds.  Our teenage daughters help handle, clean and socialize the puppies.  They are kept in the middle of our home and are loved, handled and worried over for their first 10 weeks of life.  They are nursed by their mother as well as supplemented with a goat’s milk formula that we have used and found very effective to assist in growth and overall health.  At the appropriate age we feed a high quality, highly digestible dog food which will be given to you when your puppy is delivered. We deworm three times as well as give two rounds of distemper/parvo vaccinations before the puppy goes to its new home.  Upon final payment we will send you a notebook full of tips for crate training, what food they have been eating, our vaccination protocol, record of all vaccines and treatments, information on problems with the breed as well as the AKC standard.  All puppies can be picked up after 10 weeks of age, there are no exceptions to this.  It is critical that the puppy spends that much time with the litter to be fully socialized and capable of handling the stress of leaving their family for yours.  We do ship puppies within the United States and can discuss that option if you are not able to pick them up from our home.  We prefer to have you come here to pick them up if at all possible because you can see the parents as well as giving the dogs a chance to love on you!

 

It is our job to make sure you know as much about the breed you choose as we do and that you are completely happy. We will be here for questions, comments and updates for the life of your dog and beyond.  My first goal is to provide a healthy, happy puppy and the second is to make sure you are happy enough that you come back to us, many years down the road, and ask us to help you find another special member of your family.