Whippet dog

History of origin

Graceful, swift, small dogs of the Whippet breed turned out to be much older than the inhabitants of England thought, who, back in the Middle Ages, appreciated these short-haired dogs for their ability to selflessly rush after the fastest prey. According to the latest genetic research, the Whippets are descendants of the ancient pharaoh dogs that lived in Egypt hundreds of thousands of years ago. These beautiful and graceful dogs came to the British Isles, most likely, along with the Roman legions even before our era, and were liked by the local inhabitants. These elegant greyhounds got their name from the English word “whipp”, which meant the ability to run fast, and in the 17th century their name was transformed into “wheppet”, which meant a dog for baiting the beast.

Initially, these compact greyhounds were used for their intended purpose – as hunting dogs, able to catch up with prey and bring a trophy to the owner. Moreover, the whippets are able to feed the hunted game to the hunter not only in the field, but also from the water, which makes it a fairly versatile hunting dog for a medium-sized animal. Many cynologists believe that during the breeding process, terrier blood was added to the whippets, which made their temperament quite active, and also developed the ability to crack down on rats. But gradually the Whippets moved away from participation in the hunt, concentrating on the race, for which these fast-moving dogs like arrows are incredibly adapted. Participating in tournaments, the whippets showed incredible performance, reaching speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour, and made it possible for their owners to make good money.

Until now, Whippets remain active athletes, actively participating in dog racing for an artificial target. But most of these small English greyhounds have successfully turned into companion dogs, getting along well with a person in an urban environment. With the grace of lines, gentle disposition and unpretentiousness, Whippets have won the hearts of people all over the world, and Our Country is no exception. Appearing in our country in the late 80s of the last century, Whippets have become not only a popular breed among dog lovers, today representatives of kennels successfully compete at exhibitions for the title of breed champions with British counterparts, confirming their high standards.

Breed description

The Whippet breed ideally combines strength with graceful movements, and a balanced character with energy at work. The skull is long and lean, flat at the top and tapering towards the end of the muzzle. The transition from the forehead to the muzzle is weakly expressed. The eyes are oval, bright. The ears are small, soft to the touch, rose-shaped. The jaws are powerful, with a complete scissor bite. The nose is black, in blue dogs it is blue, in liver dogs it is liver, in dogs of isabella, cream and other dilute colors any nose color is allowed except pink. Only piebald or white whippets are allowed to have a “butterfly” nose color. The neck is muscular, long and elegantly arched. The upper line of the body in the loins is arched, but not humpbacked. The strong long back is well muscled. The lower line of the body with a pronounced undermining. The chest is well defined, very deep with springy ribs. The tail is long, tapering towards the tip, without dewlap. The straight forelegs are set not very wide. The shoulders are muscular and sloping, the elbows fit well to the body. Pasterns springy, strong. The hindquarters are strong, the upper thighs are wide, the stifles are well angulated, the lower legs are well developed, the hocks are well let down. The toes of the hind feet are arched, the pads are thick and strong. The coat is short, fine and close fitting. In dogs of the Whippet breed, any coat color is allowed.

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Character

– Taking a dog of the upippet breed into the family, a person acquires true love, – says Tatyana Shulgina, head of the whippet kennel “Love Story”. – Whippets are incredibly affectionate, they idolize the owner and all members of the family in which they live, get along great with children, take part in their games with pleasure, and treat them very carefully. These are true friends, at the same time very unobtrusive, not requiring attention from people or constant games – they spend most of the time in the house lying on something soft.

Whippets perfectly understand the mood of the owners, they very subtly capture the situation in the family, they are very worried about quarrels that happen between people they love, they can get so upset that they stop eating, that is, they perceive themselves and behave like a full member of the family. These dogs adapt perfectly to the family routine – if people get up early, then the whippet will rise with them, and on weekends it will not run to wake everyone up at six in the morning for a walk, but will let everyone rest and will not disturb ahead of time. Whippet delicacy can be learned by most people. These are loyal friends with a balanced character and good disposition. They get along well with other pets, they do not try to offend anyone – the whippets, for the most part, are not at all aggressive, the definition of “my affectionate and gentle beast” exactly suits them.

Care and maintenance

Due to their small size and balanced nature, the Whippets feel great both in city apartments and in private houses with their own territory. And caring for dogs of this breed is not a lot of trouble for their owners.

“Whippets have short hair and a complete lack of undercoat, so caring for it is not difficult at all – it’s enough to comb the dog once or twice a week with a rubber glove or a brush with natural bristles,” says Tatyana Shulgina. – After walking, it is enough to wipe the dog’s body, stomach and paws with a cloth or napkin. Whippets do not need to be bathed often, once a month will be enough. But these dogs are very fond of sleeping with their owners, climbing under the covers, if the pet has chosen the owner’s bed for sleeping, then you may have to arrange bath procedures for the whippet more often. There are now many special shampoos for short haired dogs, even dry shampoos, that keep your pet clean. Before bathing, you can also wipe the dog’s ears, but as a rule, whippets have no problems with ears – the ears are small and well ventilated.

Whippet walks should be planned so that the morning walk takes at least an hour, moreover, it should be as saturated as possible with events that are interesting from the point of view of the dog.

“The Whippet should see a lot during the morning walk, smell, ideally, run without a leash in a park or square, get the amount of emotions and information that is enough for him for the whole day,” explains Tatyana Shulgina. – He must load his brain so that he can only relax at home, and not look for something to do. Evening walk can be more relaxed. Whippets are born to run, so it is very important for them to be able to run without a leash and frolic. If the dog lives in the city, then you need to let him go away from cars – do not forget that this is a greyhound that can see a moving object and rush after it. If in urban conditions it is not possible to let the dog go free, then at least twice a week, for example, on weekends, the dog needs to be taken out into nature and allowed to run around and frolic, it must throw out energy, besides, loads will allow keep her muscles in good shape. Whippets are great with the company of other dogs, they are not aggressive and are always ready to play catch-up. They perfectly run behind a bicycle or together with the owner.

What to feed the whippet, each owner decides for himself – will it be a natural food system or industrial feed. The main thing is that the dog receives a balanced diet, a sufficient amount of minerals and vitamins.

– At first, the owners need to feed the whippet puppy in the same way as the breeder fed him, gradually transferring the baby to a new food system, if you chose it, – says Tatyana Shulgina. – Often the owners themselves begin to spoil the dogs with treats and they become capricious, begin to choose, refuse the usual food, demanding goodies. But dogs are not people, for them the monotonous food received at a certain time is a blessing, a system very suitable for a normal existence. The dog should receive treats only for the work done.

The short coat and lack of undercoat make Whippets vulnerable to frost. In cold weather, it is better not to walk with these dogs for a long time if they do not have the opportunity to run intensively. And the Whippet’s chest needs to be protected with a warm blanket.

“But many owners of whippets are overly fond of outfits, fortunately, now the clothing industry for dogs is actively developing, and all clothes look great on elegant whippets. I do not advise wrapping dogs of this breed – it is not comfortable for whippets to run in warm clothes, a warm horsecloth that covers their chest is quite a suitable outfit for them in cold weather, advises Tatyana Shulgina.

Education and training

Whippets are recognized as one of the smartest breeds, so the owners have no problems with raising and training these dogs.

“I would not say that whippets require special training, rather, they need education in order to understand how to properly behave with a person outside their territory,” says Tatyana Shulgina. “These are incredibly smart dogs that understand what the owner wants from them, they perfectly remember commands and rules of behavior. For such sensitive animals, only positive reinforcement is suitable for upbringing: if the dog is a food worker, then this is a piece of delicacy for a correctly completed task, if the dog is more responsive to emotions, then praise and affection as a reward. These sensitive dogs should not be hurt, much less physically punished. They can start to worry, stop eating, start to be afraid of the owners, which will affect the character of the dog and violate the trusting relationship with the owner. But love and affection work wonders. But there is a peculiarity in the upbringing of whippets – they must understand why they perform certain exercises. Now many owners of whippets go to various training courses, where the same commands are often worked out. And the whippet may not understand why he has to sit or lie down for the tenth time, if he has already successfully completed these commands several times. For example, I don’t teach my whippets to give a paw, but when I bathe them, they themselves give me not only their front paws, but also their hind ones, because they understand the meaning of this action.

Whippets go in for dog sports with pleasure and hunting: agility, where you need to demonstrate your agility and speed, participate in races for an artificial target, and dance with dogs.

— Now there are many educational games, interesting toys for dogs that can be used at home. They do not so much make the dog physically tired as they occupy its brain, which the whippets really like, says Tatyana Shulgina. – And if the dog is not occupied, then it will find something for itself and, as a rule, its owner will not like it very much.

Health and disease

Whippets are distinguished by excellent health, good immunity, this is the strongest breed of all hunting dogs.

“With proper nutrition and a sufficient number of walks, whippets feel good until old age and do not lose activity and cheerfulness,” says Tatyana Shulgina. – This breed has practically no genetic diseases, but for complete certainty when choosing a puppy, you can ask the owners for the results of checking the dog’s heart and its vision – sometimes ophthalmic diseases occur in whippets.

The most common problem in whippets is injuries sustained while running.

– You need to carefully choose the place in which you release your dog to run, especially in urban areas. The main enemies of the whippets are people who break bottles, throw out sharp objects that can injure the dog’s paws, explains Tatyana Shulgina. – At high speed, carried away by running, dogs do not see what is under their feet, what is on the sides and can injure not only the limbs, but also the body.

Each owner on walks should have first aid on hand, and in case of serious injuries, contact a veterinarian. Outside the city, far from human habitation, there is less danger of injury.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the contents of the whippets with zoo engineer, veterinarian Anastasia Kalinina.