the honest truth about grooming an irish wolfhound

I worked as a receptionist for a groomer/boarding facility one summer. Someone brought in their wolfhound for a bath, and it was all hands on deck! I think it took all 3 groomers to do the blow drying, with extra fans running, and 4+ people brushing. I was on tail/butt brushing duty. The dog was a very good boy.

What a beautiful girl. We had a gigantic wolfhound many years ago. They have to be the most patient and beautiful natured dogs, especially around kids.

All I know is I’ve wanted a wolfie since the first time I met one. How can you not love them? She’s so well-behaved!

Such a beautiful sweet-natured dog. 🥰🥰 You did well grooming such a big dog!

Hi, Yep it's a big but satisfying job, I'm chief home groomer for our Borzoi ( Russian Wolf Hound) named Lyric and a friends Borzoi, Lyric hates hydrobaths, but behaves well under a warm garden hose. I found that using a spray bottle to apply diluted shampoo was really effective in getting a good lather and saves heaps of product. Same for conditioner. I get in trouble from my wife for using her curved embroidery scissors to remove lick knots in his arm pits. On windy days, I'll walk him to wind dry, then finish grooming his thicker coat with a shop vacuum /blower. Like all sighthounds he's a tragic diva when it comes to nail trims, even before any contact.

Always groomed my own wolfhounds, being gentle is key. Make sure to use conditionerafter the shampoo. We groom ours every week-brushing etc...They don't need many baths, hard on their skin. Ours will get a bath every 8-12 weeks. The weekly grooming with a cleansing /conditioning spray keeps them fresh.. Learned this through trial and error over the years. Currently on our 8th and 9th Wolfhound.

The breeder should have told you about the NEED to hand-strip the 'puppy coat', it should have been done when about 5 months old. At that age the 'soft' coat comes off easily by hand pulling. Removing the puppy coat allows the 'adult weatherproof" coat to 'come in'. The adult coat repels water allowing the dog to be outside without getting soaked to the skin. Just some advice from someone who loves IW's and has been owned by the breed (they own you, not the other way around) for over 50 years.

Her hair is beautiful. I have 3 wolfies and I keep their hair short because I am lazy 😂

I've had wolfhounds since 1998. Sometimes I do the grooming myself and sometimes I take them to a groomer. I have never heard of $300 for a groom. They are not hard to groom. The hardest part is they tend to sit or lay down in the shower and it's hard to get them back up to wash underneath. My current senior always goes to the groomer because it takes my groomer and I working together to help her due to severe arthritis. But they don't require fancy hair cuts or anything. Just a bit of a trim around the eyes and potty area. Because of Hazel's arthritis we let her lay down as much as we can during the nail trim and brushing. She loves the hair dryer and brushing! We just work on whatever area she gives us at a time.

Santa is gorgeous, both in looks and personality. You did so well with her groom. It's hard work grooming a big dog at floor level. I had a long haired GSD who tolerated baths and brushing etc. You looked at her and could almost see the mats forming or her coat about to blow. She let us brush a quarter of her every evening as it was easiest on her. The other long haired one loved showers and groom time and would bring his brush every night!!! Well done with Santa, she is beautiful.

thank you for the truth 🙏

Wonderful breed

Dearest viewers if you must clip a mat on your pet (cat or dog) work a comb under the mat, between it and the skin, then you can more safely use scissors OR a clipper over the top to cut the mat - clippers will cut skin too!

Over 20 years ago, I had a mini dachshund who had such sensitive skin, Rufus was a smooth coat red, and I tried so many different shampoos--he was a true low-rider and, well, where we lived and always walked through and worst smelling things just going to the bathroom--he had to have many baths and even Johnson's Baby Shampoo made him itchy-scratchy. He was a stray, so, no idea what the heredity was. I found this avocado based flea shampoo that actually worked well and did not give issues. This was 2002 when we found it. Even when we moved over 800 miles away in 2005, the pet store I found it at, a local one-off pet store--was so amazing that: when I found I could not find that shampoo anywhere where I moved, I called them up, explained the situation, they remembered me and Rufus, they were more than happy to let me purchase over the phone and ship to me. Sadly, my Rufus had to be helped over the Rainbow Bridge in 2006, when, best guess by the vet I took him to when I found him, was 10. Since then, I have had so many awesome puppers that I have had to give the level of attention you give your hound, not from a grooming standpoint, but from a care standpoint. Social, medical, physical issues, etc. You are to be commended for the love and time you put in to taking care of your awesome pupper.

My dream dog! She's beautiful!

yeah, gotta use the grooming rake first for hours because of the size then there's a specific kind of brush (looks like a knife) that gets the hair leaving the undercoat.

very good girl

God bless you baby I love you 😘❤️

(Groomer here.) Believe me, a wolfhound doesn't take so long to dry as many dogs of equivalent size! Wire hair is pretty thin and has minimal undercoat. But it's still a long time. It looks like that dryer is pretty low velocity so it will be slow and won't do a lot of work in blowing out tangles - that's usual for a DIY dog wash. As for cutting mats with scissors and accidentally slicing your dog's skin: we see that quite a bit, and it's usually because the owner has taken a mat, pulled it out a bit from the skin, and not realised that dog skin is stretchier than human skin so it follows the fur out when you pull it. You can tease the knot away from the skin with brushes, and to be extra sure, slip a comb under the knot (so the teeth of the comb are between the scissors and the skin) before you cut. You should only need clippers if the knot/mat is so tight to the skin that you can't get a comb under it.

One of my favourite dogs ❤

I have a well meant comment about grooming. If both of you are unhappy, find a different way. Please don't dismiss my words outright. There are changes that can be made. Truly. His body need not be washed all at once. You can divide his wash on different days, or weeks in between. Do back half vs front half, or in three, like legs & butt then, belly & back, then head. It is easy to divide the groom up, because as you say, it takes work to get the fur actually wet. You can do it at home in a warm part of the house, using a wet hand towel and a bucket. The pet version of a sponge bath. Instead of using soap, which needs to be throughly rinsed use something else. Warm water and vinegar would do fine. Or starch and water. Starch not flour, because starch has a smaller size, and won't get stuck in the fur, and because starch has more oil absorption than flours do. So water with store bought starch like potato starch, corn starch, or rice starch. Or you can make your own using oatmeal. Use plain breakfast type of rolled oats. Take one or two cups and soak the oats well overnight. When ready to use, agitate oats well to release the starch, and then strain the milky oat starch water from the fibrous rolled oats. Ready to use. Don't cook any of the the starches, just mix with water, and thin down as needed. Please understand that the reason why the habit when grooming dogs, is to give them the big production of a full and wet bath is for the groomer's convenience. Not the pet's. Also they groom much smaller dogs. But a wolfhound is so much heavier. Which means as he ages, it will get more and more difficult for him to stand for the long periods of time that is necessary for a groomer's style groom. What I am saying is that this process with him is not going to get easier in time, it will be more difficult for the both of you. So fussing about now, to find a happier way is worth the time. I apologize for being so open about something that isn't my business. My every good wish for you, your family, and your beautiful dog. Blessings to you.

We had a really bad experience with a groomer and our wolfhound/cross. He came out limping and was emotionally shut down for 3 days. Vet determined back injury. So something happened. But they denied any knowledge of anything. Now he won't climbs stairs so self-washes are out. In the winter we use waterless shampoo. But yeah, it's a challenge.

You did good with the lathering. One youtube groomer (Girl With The Dogs) uses a car wash nozzle to lather up her clients.

You did a great job.

I have a mini Wolfhound I adore. She’s 55 pounds. Your dog is a beauty, so sweet too. Yeah, never use a scissor near her skin. Your hand should be between her skin and the scissor. I don’t use the dryer on my dog, just towel her off and then go for a walk, the air dries her (but not on cold days). Makes it easier on both of us.

Thank you for doing this. Great job!! You might be able to make your life easier by washing your dog less frequently. Unless the dog has done something to get extremely dirty (Eg rolling around in a muddy puddle) most dogs benefit from washing every six to eight weeks due to their natural oil production to protect their hair. Over washing strips their oil and results in them compensating their oil production. I was an over washer too until my veterinarian told me to stop. If the dog gets dirty between regular washes, a simple rinse with just water is usually enough to get the job done. Hope this helps

I used to use the shop vac on my wolfhounds to suck water out...

Omg I would have bawled if I cut my dog...I get so scared cutting nails...

Yeah, use clippers on mats going forward.

I too groom my large dog as I do not trust people with her.

Drying will go faster if you keep the nozzle close to the dog and go slower.

A full groom, with soap and water, every third week? Does that not dry out her skin?

You don’t blow dry an Irish Wolfhound, it’s bad for the undercoat, towel dry and then let dry on its own! 🙄

$300 is reasonable considering your explanation of what it takes YOU to do it. Consider if you had to do this for someone else's pet....would you take less than $300??? You're complaining about your back hurting and couldn't do it anymore.