hello to everyone,
my husband and i are picking up our first deerhound labor day weekend, she will be 4 mths old.
any idea of average size and weight at this age?
any suggestions breed specific , we have a number of dogs, ;tibetan mastiffs, standard poodle , a pug but little penelope will be our first deerhound , we are fencing a one acre play ground for everyone , we also have two smaller pens , everything is accessible through dog doors.
should a deerhound be crate trained for housebreaking or any other way better for the breed?
any toys they prefer, the size of nylabones for the puppy?
thank you , and we are thrilled to have found the deerhoound people.
we live outside philadelphia.
elise

Hi there Elise ,

sounds like a lovely canine family you have - the deerhound will be a great addition.
I personally am not a big fan of crates , especially not with dogs who have such long legs and really like to stretch them straight out when sleeping (when not asleep on their backs ) . I found all of my dhs very easy to housetrain - especially with the help of a dogdoor . If you want to confine her , an xpenn is the better solution imo .
As for toys , mine love huge toys , the bigger the better - knotted ropes were a big hit with the puppies , they basically never touched nylabones ( or rawhide ones ) , but love/d huge veal-knuckle bones . And , of course , squeaky toys are very much loved by everyone here.
Where is your puppy girl coming from and , how did you discover the breed ?

Verena from BC

thank you for the suggestions,verena
we are getting our penelope from ohio .
i grew up with a wolfhound as a neighbor and never forget the magic of them, it was my turn to pick the new puppy so i chose the deerhound ( a close cousin)as they live longer (i hope).
we just lost Mr. Eider my retired guide dog , he was adopted at the age of 4 after an accident forced him into early retirement, he was the most extraordinary animal , left a huge hole in our hearts, not all that attractive (labernese) but i seemed half human.......have never met a creature so in tune with his humans,, knew what we were going to do before we did!.
anyhow thank you for the advice, very much appreciated,
ps . i am from montreal , have been in PA for 4 years.
elise

Welcome Elise
A pug! there such fun, they always make me giggle and of course I adore the Standard Poodle as I used to trim out to show standard at Montravia

Four months so the puppy should be in the 40lbs weight bracket ( 20 +kilos) at that age, I think if you could maybe seperate of a sleeping area for the puppy using panels that would be a very good idea, or a very large crate the deerhound puppy will need to be able to rest and be kept safe, and they do so love there own ( cave!) to hide away in when they feel like it.

Please do watch out for the growth plates , and do not allow the puppy to go zooming around with the Standard Poodle too much ,those growth plates are so precious and are prone to green stick fractures when overdoing things with adult dogs.
If you have time do take a peek at Hilary Jupps fantastic website with regard to health and feeding

www.irishwolfhounds.org/

Again welcome the guide dog sounds gorgeous I can just vision what he/she looked like.
Betina

Hi Elise and welcome. Congratulations on your new pup. When Lockie was a puppy we did crate train, but it was more for his own safety with the adults at night. Didn't want to wake to growls and snarls in the wee hours. He had the biggest crate we could get and it was fine till about 8 or 9 months old and then the crate was put away. He was also not allowed to run with the adults until he was over 8 months old because of his joints. He would fence run with them but not have contact as they would have run him down.
I remember the first time I let him out with the girls, it was nerve racking as they just ran so fast but he loved it!
LOL now it's the girls I worry about because he plays so rough. Lockie is 19 months old.

thank you for the suggestions , we will watch her and try to protect her frame as she grows, same story with tibetan mastiffs, our celeste developped "panoarthritis" twice in her first year.we did not run her that first year.
we are fortunate, my daughter's boyfriend is also our vet, he was our vet first and i somehow managed to introduce them!
we just ordered the huge crate for nights in our bedroom with the pug, the female mastiff and the poodle( the male mastiff likes to keep guard in front of the glass wall that overlooks the road and the property.),......and in the kitchen i will keep her in a playpen when i am not with her or leave the house until she is fully house trained, we have 3 dog doors wich is a great help.
apart from that the first year i usually try to keep an eye on what they are up to just to make sure they are chewing on chews and toys.....not my furniture!
i will read h.jupps' website, thank you again for your suggestions,
elise

Puppy size? Huge! With Deerhounds, you will find they grow so big so quick you almost expect more of them. Mine was destructive, but I don't believe in crates. Par of the parcel of having a puppy is you expect some chewing, just make sure there is nothing left around, also food can be a problem. Where as the standard dog has o jump up to the counter to get something, Deerhounds don't! They just lean their head over and help themselves. Also the kitchen bin (garbage can in American!) He will still, at 3, have a rummage andhelp himself, often leaving his own food bowl untouched!
You have a right mixture there, they will be fine. Good luck and post some photo's when you get her!

just saw your photo , what a beauty.
and thank you for writing a little to a newcomer.
i certainly will post photos when she comes home, will try to get a few of the other dogs in photo with her but that is usually quite a feat.....quite the rare occasion.and yes thank you we do have a wonderful mix
elise

Yes, I think he is a beauty too! He is feeling a little sorry for himself, he has just had his booster and he cried (they are big babies) he is now itching, or trying to itch the spot where the needle went in, without much sucess! Still, a nice walk and some tea should make him feel better. When do you get your puppy?

we pick up penelope in 4 weeks.
all my dogs except for Mr.Eider are big babies , the worst is norbu the 143lbs male tibetan mastiff, when i bring him to the vet (our daughter's bfriend, so he knows him very well) he actually hides his head in my thighs.
thank you for your words.
elise

My goodness another Elise - welcome also from Elise! Together with my Mum I own the Cusidh Deerhounds and my partner Rob and I also have Lurchers. We're in the UK. I wish you all the best with your Deerhound. The only additional advice I can offer is that when we started with Deerhounds we realised that they did like a 'calmer' pace of life and more routine than say Lurchers. But that does all depend on the individuals involved of course.

thank you elise for the lovely welcome.............such nice name , i am delighted my parents chose a name i love so much , my daughter is emmanuelle and she also loves her name.
we are off to maine on the atlantic coast of the north east usa and a few days after we return we are driving from our home outside of philadelphia to ohio to pick up our penelope...can't wait , but have also forgotten how disruptive a new puppy can be , we are all comfy in our routine and all are out of puppyhood.........oh well here we go again!
friends question our sanity to have 5 dogs,....sometimes 6 as our daughter's boyfriend often stays over with his 2 1/2 year gentle, well trained but very active doberman.there is never a dull moment in our home.........
thanks to all for the welcome,
elise