"Wolfies" -- Derogatory Slang!

"Don't bother."
"They are not going to listen."
"They do not want to hear it."
"They do not care."
"Don't waste your time."
"Good luck."

These are the entreaties I commonly hear from my friends and family who advise me not to answer or correspond with the nutjob inquiries I receive for a "Wolfie" -- slang that I loathe and expound on further down. Unfortunately, my friends and family's sentiments are "spot on" because nearly all of these people who contact me about "Wolfies" are 'instant experts.' They decided they know everything there is to know, despite having meager to no experience with the breed, because they looked up the information on the Internet. Oh yes, I've heard this once, I've heard it a thousand times.

Most all of these people impose upon mine and others time, and when provided with information that they did not want or expect to hear, they outright reject it because they claim to have performed research! Oh, and of course, this includes all the so-called Facebook "authorities."

Such as the couple who just sent an inquiry for "Wolfie" puppies and who currently own two female adult wolfhounds. Indeed, this couple is not just looking for a third but also a fourth Wolfhound puppy to join their "family household" asserting that since they have no children, the Wolfhounds are their kids and will be very well taken care of since they have pet health insurance.  

Now, any reputable, veteran breeder of Irish Wolfhounds would inform these novices that obtaining a third and fourth Wolfhound is out of the question for a multitude of logical reasons. Foremost, these people lack extensive experience with such an athletic, giant breed that can weigh upwards of 140-180 pounds. Most worrisome is their kumbaya attitude and delusions of blissfulness that reveals that they are nutjobs --in the sense that they do not have normal perceptions of reality. The dead giveaway is their use of the demeaning slang "Wolfie" which has been the fad for all the social media types heavily invested in the Internet "social world" and only proves that they have an ill-advised belief that the breed is just a giant, toothless stuffed animal.

I explained that Wolfhounds in a pack scenario do not always get along with one another and need to be managed very carefully. I informed them that the likelihood of a dogfight would exponentially increase with the addition of one to two more wolfhounds -- but they disagreed informing me that they had done research! When I provided details of what could transpire during a dog fight their response was "your information was way over the top and....I'm not justifying our decision with you or anyone for that matter."

Yep, yet another "Wolfie" social media type living in an alternate reality blithely ignoring what does not please them. Until, of course, it is too late as my good friend who has directed Wolfhound rescue operations for several decades exclaimed she has heard this all a hundred times. She will be the one getting the desperate call informing her that they just can't manage it any longer and one or more of the ill-fated Wolfhounds will be surrendered. Is this scenario guaranteed - no -- but after my 33 years immersed in the breed having seen or heard about nearly every possible situation, it is much more likely that an incident will occur when involving inexperienced owners.

For the record, the term "Wolfie" is looked upon as disrespectful and demeaning by long-established, veteran breeder/fanciers. This colloquialism is not considered a term of endearment. It is used unknowingly by people who are fostering the misguided belief that the breed is only a harmless couch potato who makes friends with all animals. Indeed, you cannot get farther from the truth.

The Irish Wolfhound is a majestic hunting breed, one of the oldest canine hunters with origins lost in antiquity. He is a sighthound with a venerable history in which we should display deference for, and hold in the greatest esteem. The noblest hunter who on the whole possesses a high prey drive and who will give chase and dispatch just about anything that moves including Deer, goats, cats, chickens, squirrels, birds, groundhogs, and so forth. Fundamentally, the essence of an instinct is any performed behavior that is not based on prior learning. Hard-wired prey drive is an inborn complex behavior that most sighthound breeds possess. Their origins date one or more Millennium as they once specialized in independent hunting and dispatching of Game. Believe the experts; this inherent ability is still well and strong today.

So, please, do us old timers, and the Irish Wolfhound breed the courtesy and cease using the social media colloquialism that manages to cheapen and shame this aristocratic Gazehound. Irish Wolfhounds are not cutesy, harmless, oafish "Wolfies." Oh, and one other point: even when we old time breeders refer to wolfhounds in conversation, we respectfully refer to them as hounds and NOT dogs.