Wolfhound Vs Deerhound - differences between breeds Questions

I am curious and interested as to what owners of these two breeds think about;

Size, difference in the weight and height (I read both are similar?)

Lifespan (Wolfhound seem to have a shorter lifespan compared to deerhound?)

Predisposed disease and health risk (Which breed is more prone to health risk and developing genetically predisposed disease?)

Temperament (How different are they?)

Shedding of coat (I read that deerhound does not but Wolfhound does?)

By Wolfhound I take it you mean Irish Wolfhound and not Russian Wolfhound(Borzoi)!!!!!!!

Scottish Deerhound Vs Irish Wolfhound. Sorry about that.

What a coincidence. I've just been playing with a young Deerhound that I met out walking today. I'll pop a photo on later for you.

Anyway - there's people better placed thanme to comment on this thread but:

Size difference - Without going into figures, tall Deerhounds can be as tall as smaller IWH but on average the IWH will be taller and much heavier. Fran (Bribiba) mentioned this morning that one of hers is 39" at the shoulder. Front on you will notice that the IWH has a much broarder chest and front legs are set further apart. IWH has a more 'massive' head. Also the back end is far more pinched on a deerhound than the IWH. The legs on a deerhound are much thinner - Actually there's a quite a big difference between the two.

True - on average a deerhound has a much longer lifespan.

I'll leave temprement / health etc to those that own the breeds.

Cheers Phil. I Would love to see the pic!

Just posted 3 DH pics in a new thread. Anyway, here's one. You see what I mean about them being far more slender. Note how close the front legs are together - almost touching because of the more narrow chest. See the smaller head too.

I'm sure somebody else will add an IWH picture for you to compare.

Yeah I compared some pics of both and the Wolfhound are much thicker, boxier and wider body, mouth/snot (?) and head.

Thanks for the pic, looks like a lamb there lol

Ive only had irish wolfhounds so cant compare to deerhound but the iwh is a gentle giant ive had three and they are fantastic dogs very gentle, they didnt live very long sadly the oldest was 7 (gemma)and died due to kidney failure and the youngest(cassie) was 2 1/2 she had cancer of the stomach. This was our first with me and my sis[/IMG].

I only have a couple of pics of the other two as polaroid cameras were popular at the time!

What a beautiful pic you have there madisondobie. The wolfie seems so blissful and innocent in it The short lifespan is sad really, nuturing such a wonderful creature to that size and can only enjoy eachother's company for a few short years.

adog - I'm sure Fran (DOGSEY member Bribiba) won't mind me posting this one again - for you for a size demo.

IWH Paddy

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If you wanted to see more great pics look on the net for Bribiba

adog, I was up with the Bribiba pack this weekend. We were joined by a couple of Deerhounds for a couple of the walks, and I managed to get a couple of shots of bothe breeds, which I've added to this note.

Not showing up Matt :? Love to see the pics if you get it sorted

I've seen this pic before, but eveytime i see I have to stare at if for several minutes as it just seems impossible!

I have to say IWH's are one of my dream breeds, hopefully one day I'll have one. But one thing I need to know (sorry off topic), how badly do they slobber?

What an amazing picture, I hadn't realised the size of IWH, absolutely gorgeous!!

Missed all this, we have had 17 puppies over christmas (23 Wolfhounds in our house !!)and are just getting back to normal.
Wolfhounds don't slobber, they are far to dignified for that!!
Matt Timbers photo of a wolfhound ( Morgan) in front and deerhound (Artney) behind.


Here you can see the difference in the heads

Wolfhounds may not live longer but I much prefer the company of my gentle giants.

Wolfhounds are MUCH more substantial than deerhounds.Deerhounds are more like a greyhound build whereas wolfhounds are HUGE not only in height but in build aswell.They are true giants.

Your wolfhounds are amazing, truly gorgeous!

OMG . No way, ive never seen a dog that big before. I seriously cant believe it. She could use it as a horse lol. If a big dogs lifespan is abou 9-12, what would a wolfhounds be? They seem really big

Didn't realise this was an old thread until my heart jumped when I saw Lovezois post.
Oh I do miss her :-(