Adventures in Wolfhounds

Chapter 4

 The Adventures of Willow and McDugan

by Colette J Griffin

Wolfhounds in our future

  Ok now we have covered finding the right breeder and purchasing your puppy. Well as you know we purchased two very lovely Irish wolfhound puppies, our girl is Painted hounds, Griffin Willow, and our boy is Painted hounds, Griffin McDugan, call names, Willow and Dugan.

 Our breeder lives in Northern Utah and we live in Central California neither of us wanted to put the precious babies on a plane so we agreed to meet half way when they were ready to be picked up.  The excitement filled the air and our lives as the days drew nearer, as we went about our daily lives planning our trip and puppy proofing our home. I turned to our IW social net work, for some good advice from the big guys, people who have owned, bred, and showed this giant breed for years. They were all too helpful.

 Here are some of the recommendations I was given to ready ourselves for the arrival; extra large jumbo crates, several very tall sturdy baby gates, about 200 lbs of dog food for the first week, get to know, on a first name basis, the good people at our local home improvement store, call the cable company and put extra wires and remotes aside, call the cell phone store and order extra cell phones. Best of all put a new extra large sofa on order just in case. OMG! Ok I have seen a few damages from these dogs but all this has me to wonder, what are they T- rex’s or dogs…….. and that’s not all, I will need to go shoe shopping for at lease 6 new pairs, buy new eye glasses minimum 3, and lots of paper towels, steel dog dishes, jumbo water pails, a case of aspirin for headaches, and a first aid kit. All this to be done before they get here! I’m assuming the aspirin are for me!

Willow 7 weeks

   Our breeder agreed to meet us, about half way in Nevada.  Now I have to tell you, I love my IW network of friends, but after the last question, I was a bit hesitant to ask about what I should bring for the trip, but you know me! Enquiry minds have got to know! So I took my chance and asked the question of what should we be prepared for?  I just had to ask, I was told be sure to pack paper towels, leashes, paper towels, collars, paper towels, cleaning supplies, paper towels, crates, paper towels, blankets, towels, paper towels, large and small plastic bags, paper towels, ear plugs, paper towels, kibble, and more paper towels, and if there was room in the car be sure to pack  our clothes for 6 days. 6 sets for over night? And…..You got it PAPER TOWLES!  I was just bringing home 2 little puppies, not an elephant! So I thought……….

  So now that the car is packed with all our supplies and plenty of ……you got it paper towels! Hey you catch on quick J
and we were off to pick up our new wolfies.

 

McDugan 7 weeks

After 7 long hours of travel we get to the meeting place, and meet our new family members, oh they were so adorable! We walked over to say hi and these 12 week old bundles of joy stood up, and OMG, they were the biggest puppies I have ever seen! I mean I knew they were big dogs but you figure a puppy is supposed to be small. They were almost 22” tall and weighed 30 lbs each. OK maybe we were, bringing home elephants after all. Not one but two! So we played with the babies a while and then signed the paper work, mean while puppies are running in every direction, shoes are being carried off dog food dishes clanging, food flying in all directions, and tails smacking you in the face, but this did not detour me, oh no not one bit! I was so in love with these babies that the world seemed to stand still just for me. My heart melted and an instant bonding began.  So Hal and I finished the paperwork, and agreed to pick them up in the morning.  Now most normal people would have packed up and left town never to be seen again, but NOoooooo, we are not normal people, we are wolfie lovers and returned promptly in the morning as planned to pick up our new charges. We took photos of Willow and McDugan, with Tracy our breeder and her lovely daughters and bid them a safe trip loaded the puppies in the crate and we were off.

 

Hal Griffin with Willow and McDugan

The ride home another 8 hours due to stops for breaks for the pups and us went very well. They were such good babies, not one peep, no messes to clean, no need for the paper towels and totally uneventful. We were so happy and the dogs were great, we couldn’t believe how good they were. Never needed the ear plugs, or the aspirin. When we arrived home we fed them light per Tracy’s instruction, walked them and played with them for a bit and put them to bed for the night. Hal and I were very exhausted, and joined them. Thinking they would cry a bit we were prepared for a long night.

Me and my kids

We were so surprised; they actually slept until 5:00 A.M. I am thinking this is a piece of cake, they were the greatest dogs! So at 5:01 A.M.  we quickly stumbled out of bed and led the pups out side to potty, at 5:15 I returned to the house and began the regiment of feeding all our 3 dogs and the 2 new pups. Our guys aren’t very patient and wanted their breakfast, like yesterday, and the pups also hungry joined in. 5:18, all 5 dogs were jumping on me from both sides while I am preparing meals.  I open the bag of puppy chow while 2 hungry wolfhounds are jumping on my head, and Brandy our rat terrier is barking for her food as she always gets fed first. 5:20 I was placing the pups dishes on the floor only to have both of them dive face first in the dish of kibble, knocking it from my hands, food splattering every where, I pulled them away and Willow decided she would get her own and dived into the open bag. Meanwhile McDugan is sprawled on the floor scarffing up what was spilt. In the mean time Hal was trying to get Willow’s head out of the bag and I am trying to help McDugan clean up the mess on the floor. It was a freaking 3 ring circus to say the least! Finally at 5:30 we got things in control, fed the other dogs, and proceeded to give the pups water. 5:31 McDugan promptly jumps in the water dish sending water everywhere, at 5:32 as I bend over to clean up the water, both pups dive bomb me and down I went, right into this large puddle of water with my butt soaking wet, and two puppies licking my face, while Hal just stood there laughing. 5:40 breakfast over, messes cleaned, and not to mention the paper towels came in very handy. And it was time to walk them again. At 5:45 between the two they managed to somehow tie me up, trip me on my butt again, arms, legs, leashes, and fur all flying in the air, with me ending up flat on my back, with both of them sitting on top of me as if to say, Dang that was fun lets do it again! At 5:47 I lay there with a smile on my face, realizing how much I must love my dogs. I managed to take it all in stride shake my self off and get everyone back to the house.  And all this before my first cup of coffee!!!

  You always learn from your mistakes and do things just a little different the next time.  I had forgotten what it was like to live with puppies. It didn’t seem so long ago. These two were a handful, but are now calming down and accepting life as it comes; they are embracing the love that Hal and I have for them and feeling much more secure.  It’s a wolfhound thing if you never had a wolfhound you wouldn’t understand. We finally have our hounds and are committed to a long fun loving life with them. Stick with us and hear more adventures of Willow and McDugan.

 

 And that’s the tail waggin buzz On Doggie talk

 Huggies to my Doggies

 Have a joyous Holiday Season

                Colette