IWs should have commanding size. They should also be powerful and rugged in appearance, and yet they should have a graceful, driving movement (the back end should provide balanced, consistent power).
The temperment of the IW should be one of peace and good will. They should be gentle, well mannered, dignified, and calm with characteristic kindness and patience toward children and other animals. The IW rarely becomes a nuisance due to barking. IWs should not be aggressive and are not suitable for training as guard dogs. However, the IW is intelligent and can be trained. Many wolfhounds are earning obedience titles, but it must be remembered that they do not normally perform obedience exercises with swift percision but with "deliberate dignity."
The ideal mature IW is a big boned, muscular, gracefully moving dog able to move out and to sustain a ground covering gallop. Balance is the key work in his build. He has a long head, small ears, kept rosed much of the time [ears are held back--away from the side of the head], a long, strong muscular neck, and a deep chest with good rib spring, a long, rather that short, back with a moderate arch in the loin. There is a definite tuck up [the stomach is up], an angulated stifle and low hocks, shoulders well laid back. His tail is long, set low rather than high to continue a graceful curving top line. His coat is coarse with harsh outer hair underlaid by a thick layer of dense softer hair. The color, a matter of preference, may vary from light wheaten or grey, with or without brindling, to all shades of grey and black. Red IWs are seen ocasionally; pure white, rarely. The nose, libs and eyelids are black. Dark eyes are preferred over light eyes by many fanciers.