Standard Irish Wolf Schnauzer (Irish Wolfhound & Schnauzer Mix): Pictures & Traits

For families seeking a gentle giant to add to their household, an Irish Wolf Schnauzer may be the perfect addition to your home. This designer dog is the result of breeding the high-spirited Schnauzer with the gigantic Irish Wolfhound. The outcome is a lively, loyal canine that will do anything for his family.

As with any hybrid breed, you can never be certain as to how the physical traits of both breeds are going to be distributed. However, it is always going to lead to this being a medium-sized dog no matter how things are split between the breeds.

First, their coat will always be rough and slightly wiry and they will have those typical shaggy eyebrows that you see with every Schnauzer. This can also extend to their whiskers, but this may be less noticeable with this hybrid breed.

The overall body of this breed is strong without being too muscular thanks to their wiry coat. Their front legs can be quite straight with larger feet but there is still a sense of them being quite graceful in their appearance. They can have various colors of fur including red, fawn and black or there can be several colors mixed together.

If you’re considering adding an Irish Wolf Schnauzer to your family, here is everything that you need to know about this beloved designer dog breed.

Irish Wolf Schnauzer Puppies – Before You Get One

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly is a designer dog?” Well, the answer is fairly simple. A designer dog is the cross of two purebred breeds. The difference between this hybrid breed and a mutt is that a designer pup will generally come with a thoroughly documented purebred ancestry.

Sadly, with the rise in popularity and demand for designer dog breeds comes the increase in backyard breeders and puppy mills. Both of these breeding establishments are solely out for monetary gain and generally do not care about the welfare of the dogs they’re breeding and selling.

While you should avoid buying an Irish Wolf Schnauzer puppy from either of these establishments at all costs, there are some key differences between backyard breeders and puppy mills.

Puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding facilities. According to the Humane Society, about 10,000 of these operations exist today and sell about 2.15 million puppies annually.

A backyard breeder is a much smaller operation than a puppy mill and is typically conducted in an amateur breeder’s own backyard, hence the namesake.

While both puppy mills and backyard breeders offer Irish Wolf Schnauzer puppies at extremely appealing and affordable prices, the dog will most likely suffer from both health and behavioral complications down the road.

Some characteristics of a quality dog breeder include:

First and foremost, a responsible dog breeder’s main priority is the wellbeing of their puppies. This ensures that you’ll be receiving a happy and healthy Irish Wolf Schnauzer pup that will thrive in your household.

3 Little-Known Facts About the Irish Wolf Schnauzer

1. They are the tallest of the tall.

Your Irish Wolf Schnauzer’s Irish Wolfhound parent breed is the tallest out of all dog breeds and can measure up to 32 inches at the shoulder!

2. They are available in two sizes.

Irish Wolf Schnauzers are available in two distinct sizes, including standard and giant.

3. They’re fast growers.

Your Irish Wolf Schnauzer will do the majority of his growing within the first six months!

Temperament & Intelligence of the Irish Wolf Schnauzer 🧠

In order to fully understand your Irish Wolf Schnauzer’s personality, it’s important to learn about the temperament and intelligence of his two parent dog breeds.

Despite the Irish Wolfhound’s imposing and looming height, this dog is gentle and easygoing. However, due to their hunting heritage, owners must keep a vigilant eye on this pup outside. They love to chase animals and are surprisingly swift and nimble.

The Schnauzer is a high-spirited dog that’s smart-as-a-whip. Used as personal guard dogs in Germany, their intelligence and fierce devotion make the Schnauzer ideal for this role. Easily trained and super curious, Schnauzers need a fair amount of activity to combat boredom.

Both parent breeds do best with consistent, firm training with positive reinforcement.

The Irish Wolfhound is a breed that is going to be better when they have a yard to explore, so if you only live in an apartment with no permanent access to this, then it will not be the dog for you.

They need this space to play, and they will love interacting with you and especially with ball games. As with any dog, you need to keep them entertained or boredom can set in quite quickly.

Unfortunately, this can lead to this breed developing some rather destructive tendencies, so provide them with some obedience training or make sure that walks vary so they are encountering new things and new scents.

Are These Dogs Good for Families? 🏡

Yep, Irish Wolf Schnauzers are great for families. However, it’s important to keep a watchful eye on your pup when they’re playing with your tots. Due to their large size, it’s easy for an accident to happen.

Does This Breed Get Along with Other Pets? 🐶 😽

Yes! Just keep in mind that it’s important to socialize your Irish Wolf Schnauzer with both people and pooches from an early age. Additionally, your Irish Wolf Schnauzer may have a fierce desire to chase and “hunt” the family feline. So, socializing your pup with the cat from the get-go is critical.

Things to Know When Owning an Irish Wolf Schnauzer

Now that you know more about the Irish Wolf Schnauzer’s personality, let’s take a deep dive into everything else this designer breed needs from you in order to live life to the fullest.

Food & Diet Requirements 🦴

Your Irish Wolf Schnauzer is a big boy and will need 3 cups of high quality, protein-packed kibble divided into two meals each day. You can feed them some lean meat and vegetables, but do not allow this to exceed more than 25% of their daily diet. This will cost you around $40 to $52 every month.

Exercise 🐕

The Irish Wolf Schnauzer has a medium activity level. While he won’t mind snoozing on the couch all afternoon, this pup does need about 60 minutes every day of activity time. This can be split up into walks, a romp in the yard, and some indoor rough housing.

Training 🦮

Your Irish Wolf Schnauzer is an extremely sensitive hybrid breed. You need to keep this in mind during your training sessions with him. Harsh corrections and punishments are extremely counterproductive to this pup. This is because they want to please, and if their feelings are hurt, they’ll quickly lose interest and be more concerned about why you’re mad with them.

This is why positive reinforcement training, such as clicker training, works best with this dog.

Grooming ✂️

This hybrid dog is low maintenance when it comes to his grooming requirements. All your Irish Wolf Schnauzer needs is a thorough brushing once every week with a pin brush and slicker brush to keep his coat nice and shiny. Clip his nails and clean his ears as needed.

Health Conditions ❤️

This breed has the potential to develop a variety of health conditions throughout their life, and knowing what the most serious ones could be in advance will certainly prove to be some useful information.

There are several conditions that can be passed down through their genes although there will be no guarantee that this will be the case.

A good breeder will provide you with details of tests that have been carried out on the parents to show that they are free from various illnesses. If they do not offer this, ask to see it. If the breeder claims not to have any test results, do not buy from that breeder.

The main conditions that you need to be aware of with this breed are as follows:

Male vs Female

The male Irish Wolf Schnauzer is noticeably larger than his female counterpart. Despite this size difference, there aren’t any major personality differences between the two genders.

Final Thoughts

The Irish Wolf Schnauzer makes a terrific breed for just about any household. Devoted, affectionate, and loving, this gentle giant has a heart of gold. Due to their sensitive nature, positive reinforcement training is a must for this breed.

Irish Wolf Schnauzers make wonderful family companions and will keep a watchful eye over their human pack for years to come.

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• Rattle (Poodle & Rat Terrier Mix)
• Pugmatian (Dalmatian & Pug Mix)
• American Chow Bulldog (American Bulldog & Chow Chow Mix)

Featured Image: Pikist