All through the years the Irish Terrier breed has fascinated us in a certain way that they became part of our lives, and we are breeding them with love and understanding. The following photos are to bring about to the spectators how Irish Terriers looks like in the different phases of his development from a whelp to a young dog.

Acquiring an Irish Terrier has to be well thought on. However pretty a whelp might look like, on no account should you decide spontaneously. Please consider, you are now accepting a responsibility to a creature that later on cannot be put away like any piece of equipment. It is rather important to witness that you are engaging in a obligation normally lasting for eleven or thirteen years and even more, a period the Irish Terrier will accompany his family through "pleasant days and unpleasant ones" on their path through life. Furthermore it is to be considered that parallel to the ages detailed below, the imprinting and the education of the whelp or the young dog will play a vivid part. Especially during the first twelve months of the young dog you will need a great amount of time and patience.

1st - 4th Week of Live

During his first week of life (newborn phase) the most important occupations for a whelp are drinking and sleeping. Sucking and swallowing are inborn to the whelp. When trying to do this the whelp is moving along the body of his mother with oscilating movements of his head. If he meets a teat he will try to get hold of it and to suck. When he has satisfied his hunger he will seek an area of contact as large as possible with his mother as his own mechanism of regulating warmth has not yet been developed completely. Movements at that time are still made by the front legs of the whelp due to the hind legs having hardly got their functionality.

A whelp is born with eyes and ears closed for these sensitive organs are to be protected within the first days of life. About the eighth day the ears start to get opened and you may often notice this by the scales forming around the auditory canals. The eyes start opening about the tenth days. Opening of the eyes start from the inner corners of the eyelids. At first the eyes of the whelp still are an opaque blue but becoming clear within about three weeks. The whelps then will react visually to movements quite evidently.

Already shortly after his birth the whelp can communicate with his environment and especially with his mother in many a vocal expression. He is constantly moaning whenever he is hungry or he is cold. He will be squeaking aloud and sharp as soon his mother might step on him by chance or he has fallen out of the whelping box or he has some sort of pains. The individual utterances cause particular reactions with the bitch steered by instincts, she will become uneasy and she will try to bring the whelp back to a satisfying condition.

The birth weight of an Irish Terrier whelp normally lies between 260 and 300 grams. The average litter consists of 5.5 whelps per litter.

By having ears and eyes opened the whelp will now discover his environment and his contacts will at first take place between his mother, his brothers and sisters, and the family of the breeder. At this point of time the whelp still has no teeth.

4th - 6th Week of Live

Beginning between the fourth and sixth week the dentition of the milk-teeth proceeds. After complete dentition the whelp owns 28 milk teeth. During this period the thirst for action of the whelp evidently grows, and he will clearly react on noises answered by growling and even barking.

Commencing about the fifth week of his life the little dog will definitely climb out of the litter box and will already do their "business" outside his warmly sleeping place. The breeder now will give additional feed, and it is always exiting to see a whelp taking his first milk feed. From this time onwards you have to let have the whelps the opportunity to drop. A free run is now in demand and not a children's cage in the living room. Raising whelps only in the house perhaps even on newspapers, is in flagrant contradiction to the requirements of a whelp. You should have a keen eye on that before you buy a whelp avoiding being badly surprised at a later date. How to get a whelp clean rapidly if he is used to do his "business" in the house or the dwelling? How resistant might be a whelp, which has never felt real earth under his paws, which has never digged a whole?

7th - 10th Week of Live

With his seventh week the whelp definitely will start his discovery tours and many a breeder has been astonished on what such a small whelp had been able to do, for from now on nothing is safe of him. Curiosity and predatory instincts let have him his experiences as well as his first fights for rank order. Beginning from that period a good breeder intensively observes his young dogs as he may learn very much on the characteristics of the individual whelp.

Now the most time consuming works for the breeder will commence, as the whelps need a permanent contact to us, the "two legged ones". All that the whelp may not get during this period can hardly be recovered later on, as between the seventh and the twelfth week the definite relationship to the human being is developed by the young dog, well understood relation with the individual man and not that person he later will live with (imprinting phase). Parallel to this it would be advisable for the whelps to stay with their pack as long as possible to learn the necessary social behaviour. Both of the components mentioned above are essential for the further development of the young dog. This phase the young dog is passing from his eighth week to his twelfth and is called period of socialisation. Now it is apparent why a whelp should hardly be given away at the age of eight weeks, for who of the future owners might have a pack of dogs to offer to the whelp to do that job. Mostly the contrary will be the case as they watch over their new member the same as over their eyeballs and are afraid big unknown dogs might injure their little ones.

You should keep in mind that all the love and all the educational skill a future owner might have may never completely compensate any deficiencies in contacts (to men as well as to packs). Thus already with the breeder a whelp should get to be acquainted to such things as e.g. car driving, walking on unknown areas music, clapping pots a.o., to later on becoming a dog we have longed for so much.

Usually, in the age of seven weeks the whelp gets his first vaccination. During the first weeks the whelp got this protection through his mother's milk. With the amount of additional feeding growing this protection dimishes and the whelp has to be vaccinated. Building a sufficiently effective protection it will last the next one to two weeks at least. This period is called the immunologic lack and is the period with the greatest risk of infection. Again, a clear argument for the fact why a whelp should not be given to a new owner during this time, as there is no complete protection can be guaranteed.

10th - 12th Week of Live

The best age for giving away a young Irish Terrier is starting from the tenth week on. Especially with a family having children a whelp should not be passed on too early, as with each further week of life the young dog will come up better and better with the rushing children. There still is a further advantage: with the new family the whelp will sleep almost the whole night through, for from this point of time on the young Irish will already be quite independent, will not miss his brothers and sisters any longer and will adapt himself quite good to the new family.

3rd - 4th Month

Now that he has been accustomed to his new home a further change of teeth - that to the permanent teeth - will commence for the young dog at the age of three months. It is mostly observed by the new owners when the incisive teeth show apparent gaps, as do small children. Usually the change of teeth lasts up to the seventh month of age.

5th - 7th Month

From the fifth month to the sixth month the pack-ranking phase is ruling and joining from the seventh month to the twelfth month is the puberty phase. Simply from the definition the novice to dog education may assume what he will be facing during this period. During these phases you must consequently and intensively persist on your educational efforts. You have to consider that this breed despite all its charm belongs to the category of terriers, and a terrier is a dog nature has trained to make his way.

7th - 12th Month

Having mastered this period of ranking quite good and having realised the first successes one often thinks during the phase of puberty that all the educational efforts might have been in vain. Often trained things, especially the coming on command, will deliberately be ignored. Don't lose courage for during this phase you will have to stand many a test.

Epilogue

However, if after twelve months you do have a true and reliable Irish at your side and having walked together through pleasant days and unpleasant ones, then all the youthful pranks will be forgotten and a little bit you will long for the times our Irish was still a whelp. I assume, this period of life no one wants to miss despite all the pains it had. This time will never come back and you should enjoy each and every day

Yours Karina Kirch