The Irish Wolfhound can be described as an intelligent, courageous and beautiful hound, with the appearance of a gentle giant, ...all of which tells us nothing at all about the dog.
 

HEAD: The head is of great importance....without it the dog loses all expression and bumps into things.  Dogs without heads should only be shown under Irish Wolfhound Breeder Judges only, as regular judges tend to notice this failing.

MUZZLE: This is something else that all Irish Wolfhound should have. It should start below the eyes and finish at the nose, and should not be too pointed or the judge may mistake the dog for a Borzoi, or too heavy in which case it might win the Great Dane classes. Its predominant use is for jogging elbows when trying to enjoy a cup of coffee.

TEETH: These should be white, and should not stick out too far, or in too much. If they get grey or yellow, a mixture of sand and Ajax, applied with a wire-brush will get them white in no time. It may make the gums bleed but there is nothing in the breed standard about bleeding gums. Irish Wolfhound teeth are designed for transporting any object from the house to the end of the yard especially towels, bath sponges or one slipper.

EYES: These should be open, and there should be two of them. They should both look in the same direction. If they don't, train the dog to keep them shut.

EARS: Again there should be two, one on each side of the head, but they should not be so large that a good gust of wind can lift him off the ground. Dogs with no ears may have difficulty in hearing.

NECK: The neck should be strong, muscular and of medium length, preferable at the head end of the body. Dogs without nects may suffer from malnutrition due to difficulty in transferring food from the mouth to the stomach region.

LEGS: The Irish Wolfhound should have four legs, one at each corner. They should be quite long but at least long enough to reach the ground. It is also desirable to have all four legs the same length, otherwise the dog will walk with a tilt. At the end of each leg, there should be a foot. Dogs with feet going in opposite directions have a problem, as this is a very difficult fault to correct.

BODY: The body connects the front of the dog to the back. Dogs without bodies should not be shown or bred from. Dogs with bodies too low to the ground also have problems, especially nursing bitches.

TAIL: All Irish Wolfhounds should have a tail, and it should be at the opposite end of
the head. For this reason it should be quite long, to enable owners to differentiate between head and tail end at feeding times. They should also be the right height for helping to clear coffee tables.

TEMPERAMENT: The Irish Wolfhound must never be shy, sullen or growly, except when bill collectors come around. Biting a judge, even when justified as when being put into second place, is frowned upon. Biting stewards is quite permissible, however, as these are normally replaceable.

COLOR AND MARKINGS: The Irish Wolfhound must be of any colour acceptable in the Deerhound, whatever they are, but it must be remembered there is a bias amoung judges who keep putting up grey or cream dogs. However, if you have an unusual colour, wait until a breeder judge producing the same colourings as your own is judging, as he will be the expert and recognise a good Irish Wolfhound when he sees one.

DISQUALIFICATIONS: Any artificial means used to deceive the judge, e.g. artificial limbs, false teeth, glass eyes or glued on coats (especially if this comes off on handling).

FAULTS: No Irish Wolfhound has any faults worth mentioning.