Torteval Irish Wolfhounds

It's not until you try to incorporate an older dog into the home that you realise the extent to which you mould a young puppy's behaviour. McKenna had to absorb a whole range of behaviours that were completely new to her, such as taking treats gently; having her teeth cleaned; eating her meals prone; not crossing the chain at the end of the driveway; being last in line after the others for everything . . . except the things they don't like, such as grooming, of course, when they're more than happy for her to be first. What became clear was that she learnt as much from observing and copying the dogs' behaviour as she did from our teaching - not surprising really, as although she didn't understand English, she was certainly fluent in 'wolfhound' right from the start.

The development of her relationships with the others was fascinating to watch. Darcy gave her one or two small growls in the first couple of days, and that was enough for McKenna to acknowledge her leadership and not to question it since; Branigan had to be more forceful, and for the first few weeks would put her in place if she stepped out of line, but once she learnt to at least appear to respect him there was no more trouble; Hogan . . . well, McKenna and Hogan were a love match right from the start. The joy and fun they had in each other's company was wonderful to see. McKenna, having by far the tougher, more dominant character, would bully Hogan relentlessly, but because Hogan was happy to be submissive there was never any ill feeling between them. More recently, with both dogs reaching maturity, things have calmed down somewhat, but they remain good friends.

Kenna was the first to extend the paw of friendship to Rafferty on his arrival, neither Darcy nor Hogan wanting anything to do with him. The youngster now has her measure, and knows that she can always be relied on to provide him with a good romp whenever he's in the mood. Often, she will attempt to resist, but he knows and she knows that there's nothing she likes better!

She is always busy, bustling, full of energy, and when she sleeps it's never for long. On walks, she combines the speed of a whirlwind with the unpredictability of a loose cannon, and has a highly developed hunting instinct that is a definite liability. Never before have we had a wolfhound that chases anything that moves, but McKenna is indiscriminate - rabbits, deer, joggers, cyclists, cars
. . . even boats on the river, and for while -jet planes! In the interests of preserving her life and our sanity, we had to come up an effective deterrent, and found it in the Masterplus-Pro training collar. This proved very successful in teaching her not to chase the things she shouldn't, failing only at the ultimate test - nothing short of an atomic blast will deter her once she is in pursuit of real prey.

An extension of her chasing instinct is her tendency to 'bounce' dogs that she hasn't met before - she charges at them at a full gallop and in full voice, much like a cowboy firing both six-shooters in the air. There is no aggression in it, she's merely testing the newcomers's nerve, but very few owners, and not all dogs, realise this. It's a behaviour that has proved very resistant to training, and as a result she is now lead-walked for much of the time.

McKenna's show career has been a steep learning curve for us. We felt from the start that she had the potential to do well, but it took us some time to develop the handling skills to stop her 'pacing' (an incorrect trotting movement) in the ring. Prevention involves a fast 'take-off' which Paul mastered to such good effect that in September 2007 she was awarded the reserve bitch Challenge Certificate (ie second best wolfhound bitch) at Richmond Championship Show, qualifying her for Crufts for life. It was the proudest moment of our showing career, and one neither of us will ever forget. However, her tendency to revert to a pacing action at any moment means that showing her is always a somewhat nerve-racking experience.

Sincre her arrival McKenna has matured both physically and in character, sometimes appearing to match Darcy for ladylike elegance . . . but then she reverts to form, an adventurous hoyden who will always extract the utmost fun from every new experience, and who laughs at danger and gets into more scrapes than is good for our nerves.