Dugan the Dog has gone to his eternal reward!

    Dugan the Dog has gone to heaven!  
    They saved him a front row seat.

                      Dugan the Dog gets some air!

The greatest thing about having Dugan as a pet was that he was the nicest dog a person could have!  If you find any literature about the Irish Wolfhound, you will not read very far before you find the expression: “The Gentle Giant”.  We had the pleasure of having Dugan at our house for 8 years, ever since he was a puppy just old enough to leave his mommy.  During that time we never saw him snarl or growl in anger even once.  He never barked just because he heard other dogs bark and we never saw him bark at people.  Some people think I was exaggerating when I said we might have heard him bark at something he saw in the yard every other month or so.  When some one rang the door bell or knocked on the door he would start wagging his tail vigorously in anxious anticipation of seeing a friend. Dugan the Dog was in love with the whole of humanity, and he would have been happy to greet every single person so he could tell them so!  That’s why he liked seeing all the people while marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  He figured all the people were lined up for his benefit.   He was especially fond of younger children and was so loving towards them.

Dugan the Dog styling at the 2010 St. Patrick's Day Parade

Why must so sweet of a dog have such a short life expectancy.  It is typical for the giant breeds to have their lives cut short with heart problems and cancer while other dogs live 2 or 3 times longer .  Most Wolfhounds have trouble with joints and arthritis too.

Anyway, some months ago Dugan lost one of his rear toe nails.  We couldn’t tell if it fell out on its own accord, or if it got hung up on something and got jerked out.  It was a bloody mess for a few hours.  I kept a watch on it through the days looking for infection or other sign of trouble.  I was concerned because a co-worker had a dog whose first sign of cancer was loosing a nail and bleeding profusely.  Then suddenly one day Dugans foot was swollen like a club and a hole appeared in a pad (not on the toe) on his foot and another hole appeared further up on his ankle.  A blood tainted liquid would ooze out.  The Vet put him on antibiotics and the swelling went away right away but the hole in his pad never healed, and it seemed that a tissue was growing inside his foot and was trying to push out through the hole.  The Vet cultured to see what germs remained after all his antibiotic treatments and discovered staph and ecoli.  The possible drug treatments would destroy his kidneys and his remaining health.  I still suspect cancer but we never tested for it because we were eliminating bacteria first.  We choose to put him down while he was still bright and happy instead of torturing him with destructive treatments.

Our home is now empty and sad; we will miss him so much.  We are grateful he blessed our household.  If dogs go to heaven, they were saving front row seat for Dugan the Dog! 

Dugan the Dog Learns a New Skill!

People who are not familiar with dogs of the giant breeds are surprised to learn that the expected lifespan of these dogs is relatively short compared to the smaller dogs.  Sadly, most Irish Wolfhounds live about 8 years or so.  I have seen some a little older and they really show their age.  Most succumb to heart disease or cancer.  Almost all older Wolfhounds get some joint problems. 

I have noticed that Dugan the Dog is starting to show his age at 5-1/2 years.  Dugan has trouble jumping up into the back of the truck as easily as he used to.  Dugan gets to ride in the back of the truck after his occasional bath.  This allows him to dry off quickly so he won’t get filthy outside while he is wet or smell up the house with his powerful wet dog smell if we were to keep him inside to stay clean while he dries off.  He now seems unsure of himself when trying to jump up there and I am afraid he could seriously injure a leg by banging it on the edge of the trucks tailgate.

So I took some scrap lumber and constructed a ramp so he can walk or run up into the truck bed.  First, I the set the ramp up in the back yard propped up on one end a little with some blocks.  I then would take Dugan by the collar and lead him up the ramp and off of the end as I enticed him with a treat.  He was reluctant to cooperate at first because he could see no sense in it.  After all, he could plainly see perfectly good solid ground on each side of the ramp, so why bother going up a ramp?  After some days he got the hang of it so I raised the end up a higher to make it steeper and we practiced some more. 

Then at last I figured he was ready to graduate to going up the ramp into the truck.  I set the ramp up and tried to get Dugan to go up into the truck as I held his collar.  At first he would get nervous and rear back like a scared horse, but after a little encouragement and some enticement with treats he started going up the ramp like an old pro!  

Who says you cannot teach old dogs new tricks?

Dugan the Dog Chomps A Chicken!

Dugan stands next to the chicken run. He shares the bucket with the chickens, so I tell him he drinks "chicken water".


Well folks, the world is minus one laying hen. Unfortunately she was laying eggs for me. Dugan the Dog has on occasion managed to catch a bird like a sparrow or dove, and he used to eat them. They really give him a major case of the gas! Nowadays he does not make the effort he has in days gone by to catch birds. But the other day he caught his biggest bird yet, one of my chickens!

Dugan is always envious of the chickens because they get almost all the leftover food we would otherwise throw out.


It was entirely my fault. I have been keeping my chickens behind a five foot chain link fence, and that’s not a very tall fence for chickens because they can fly. In order to keep them from flying over the fence I would use scissors to cut the feathers off the tips of their wings. Funny thing, if you cut the feathers off just one wing, they go in tight circles when they try to fly. I like to cut them short on both wings and they can never get off the ground for several months.

Dugan looks longingly at the leftovers the chickens are eating as he gets a cool slurp of "chicken water".


Time really flies and I did not pay attention to how long the wing feathers were getting on my chickens. I was out in the back yard doing some weekly chores when I heard a chicken making the noise frightened chickens make. I looked over to see Dugan chasing one of my chickens in the yard. I hollered at him and started running over in his direction, but I was too late. Dugan has a big mouth, plenty ample enough to clamp down on any average size chicken. Much to my amazement, Dugan chomped down on the chicken with such force that an egg squirted out of her onto the ground! When I got over to Dugan I tried to talk him into letting her go, no luck. I tried pulling his mouth open but I may as well have tried to pull a vise open. I got a look at the chicken in his mouth and there was some vital parts hanging out of her, so I gave up trying to get her away from him.

I immediately took a pair of scissors into the chicken run to trim the remaining chickens’ wings. I had to chase the chickens around in order to catch them one at a time and trim them. It must have been a ridiculous sight. It so excited Dugan to see me take up chicken chasing, he must have thought he inspired me to “go over to the dark side” and start chasing and catching chickens too. Whenever I finally caught one they would squawk like they were being killed. This really excited Dugan, so much so he dropped his catch and ran up and down the chicken run with me.

I cannot blame Dugan, he did what dogs do. But I will praise him for this: Dugan has never in his lifetime ever snarled, growled, or bared his fangs in anger! When I tried to forcibly open his mouth to take his prey from him, he remained the Gentle Giant he has always been. I am just glad I am not a chicken!

Dugan the Dogs pictures from older posts

Here are some fun pictures from previous posts. To view an older post, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on "Older Posts"

Dugan the Dog at 5 months takes a break from his many doggie duties to relax on the grass. (from “Blog, what kind of word is it anyway?/Dugan is Cool blog 04/04/08)

Dugan the Dog as he leaves the breeders house July 2006 (from How Dugan came to be at our house post 04/06/06)

Uhm, yummy!(from Dugan the Dog brushes his teeth post 04/13/08)

Dugan is all relaxed from his tooth brushing and ready for the weekly nail filing.(from Dugan the Dog gets his nails filed post 04/20/08)

Just below, click on "View All Images" to see a slide show on bath time for Dugan.

(from Dugan the Dog gets a bath post 04/29/08)


From left to right: Horse, Dog. (from Dugan the Dog is not a Horse post 05/04/08)

Hey Master, you might want to cut back on your tooth brushing, I like to smell a little stronger breath! (from Dugan the Dog Eats post 05/12/08)




Dugan sez: "What do you mean I'm not a lap dog?" (from Dugan the Dog had a birthday post 06/01/08)

Dugan chomps his snake.
Dugan has a "little" spring in his step. (from Dugan the Dog Plays post 06/08/08)

Dugan tries pulling April with his tail. (from Dugan the Dog is not a Crotch Sniffer post 06/15/08)

Ha Ha Ha Master, that was a good joke! Tell me the one about the one eyed, three legged Cat again!


"Dugan the Dog: Defender of the truth, protector of the helpless, feared enemy of all evil doers". He's got an eye out for you!
"Say friend, can you spare a treat for a dog who's down and out on his luck?" (from Fun Pictures of Dugan the Dog post 07/07/08)

Dugan prepares to smash a picture or two with one mighty swish of his awesome tail. (from Dugan the Dogs Tail of Destruction post 08/17/09)

I kid you not Dugan, that mouse I killed was this big! (from Dugan now has a Playmate post 10/20/08)

(from Dugan goes on a Walk post 11/27/09)

Dugan the Dog pours on the charm as he is surrounded by this bevy of beautiful babes and sez: "It's good to be a chick magnet".(from Dugan on Parade post 03/15/09)

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Once again Dugan the Dog participated in the St. Patrick Day parade in Phoenix, Arizona. The parade was held on Saturday March 13, and Dugan along with some of the other Irish Wolfhounds of the Desert Irish Wolfhound Association showed the people what real Irish hounds look like. We forgot our cameras, but got some cell phone pictures. As usual, Dugan figured that all those people were lined up for a mile along the road just so he could personally greet them. He had fun.

Dugan the Dog Visits his Scottish Cousins!

Dugan visited with his cousins, the Scotts! On Saturday February 27, 2010 Dugan and his Master attended the annual Scottish Highland Games held in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a great event that gave the people of Scottish heritage a chance to get together for a lot of fun. Dugan has never seen so many men walking around in plaid skirts, although to protect their manly images they call them kilts (at least in Ireland they do). I noticed the men in kilts often had a little leather purse hanging on their belts too. One guy asked why Dugan was not attired in a kilt, and I explained that it was not in keeping with his macho image.

Anyway, the Desert Irish Wolfhound Association was pleased to attend, and our booth was very near the entrance. When people entered the grounds, the very first thing they would see was Dugan! Being a hound dog of magnificent stature and noble bearing people would naturally come over to greet him. Literally hundreds of people came over to see Dugan, and being a generous and magnanimous hound, he was pleased to allow everyone to pet him so they could have the special treat of touching one of the tallest dogs in the world! I answered hundreds of questions about the Irish Wolfhound breed, and many people were so excited to have a hands on experience with a breed they have heard about, but never before encountered in the flesh! We were only able to attend in the morning, and when it was time to leave, I could tell Dugan was tired from the 3 hours of constant attention. Being the Gentle Giant he is, Dugan was very patient and kind to accommodate the hundreds of people who wanted to greet him. I always say that the Irish Wolfhound is the King of dog breeds, and Dugan is the Prince of his breed. He was so patient to give so many a royal treat. A special thanks goes out to my daughter April, who so kindly has taken most of the pictures on this blogspot

Desert Irish Wolfhound Associations Treasurer, Chris Davis was on hand to collect donations for our associations rescue efforts.





































Even though Dugan is one of the tallest dogs in the world, we could not get a close-up and keep the man in the stilts in the shot!

What on earth could Dugan be staring at?
Wouldn't you know, old Dugan has his eye on the cupcakes in the next booth!