Of
great size and commanding appearance, the
Irish Wolfhound
is remarkable in combining
power and swiftness with keen sight. The
largest and
tallest of the
galloping hounds, in
general type he is a rough-coated, Greyhound-like
breed; very muscular, strong 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
32 inches and 120 pounds; of bitches, 30 inches and
105 pounds; these to apply only to hounds
over 18
months of age. 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 32 to
34 inches in
dogs, showing the requisite power, activity, courage
and symmetry.
The
Irish
Wolfhound's
History
The
Irish
Wolfhound
has an exceptional and remarkable history spanning more than
two millennia. His
tale in Ireland
begins with repeated migrations of the Celts
ranging from 600 B.C. until 150 B.C. The Celts
were from what is now eastern France
and southwestern Germany. These
people brought with them a hunting dog who is the ancestor of
today's Irish Wolfhound.
As
People's needs changed from the Iron Age
through the Dark
and Middle Ages,
and into the beginnings of the Modern Era,
the Irish Wolfhound
was bred as a war dog, a protector and guardian, a hunter, and
as a
companion.
Hard
times have fallen on the Irish
and on their hounds again and again. when
the British
conquered Ireland,
their unfriendly laws resulted in the killing for bounty of many Irish
Wolfhounds.
War
has always been very hard on animals,
and the Irish
have a long history of warfare including several rebellions
against British
rule. The
Potato
Famine
and other historical difficulties left the Irish people with little to feed
themselves, much less their beautiful Irish
Wolfhounds
or
Irish
wolfdogs as they were commonly known.
It
seems the Irish
Wolfhound
worked himself out of a job. With
the death of the wolf in Ireland,
there was no longer a need for a killer of wolves. People
then did not generally keep pets; they could only afford to keep an animal
unless it had a
function. A
few hounds survived, but the breed became very nearly extinct.
We
are today and forever indebted to a few individuals who during
the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th dedicated
themselves to saving this great breed from certain extinction.
Notable
among these is Captain G.
A.
Graham
who collected the remaining hounds and constructed a breeding
program to save the Irish
Wolfhound.
Under
Captain
Graham's
supervision, the breed standard for Irish
Wolfhounds
was written based on the few living hounds as well as pictures
and literature. This
breed standard must be kept firmly in mind. It must never be ignored, or we will lose the
identity of the Irish
Wolfhound.
Also,
see the excerpt from
the
President's
Message,
1927-1932 Yearbooks,
Mrs.
Norwood
Browning
Smith.
