Schnauzer or Whippet?

[TheMysteryCat]

I'm considering getting a dog, but have a young toddler and want to be careful in what I look for.

My house isn't huge and the garden is also quite small, but I have lots of time for walks and live near lots of woodland and the beach.

I also have a slightly cantankerous older cat, who is OK with dogs, but likely to be quite aloof!

I'd be interested in a rescue dog, but not sure if I'm likely to find either of these breeds in my area. Are there any others that people might like to recommend, or rescue organisations for these breeds?

I can't imagine two more different breeds!!! DP used to have a standard Schnauzer but we now have a whippet and a greyhound x whippet. With children I'd go for a whippet, but ones in rescue are hard to come by (we were lucky with our first) - you will need a cat friendly one, but they do exist. Look at scruples whippet rescue, they have quite a long list of applicants for each dog, otherwise would you perhaps consider a whippetty lurcher?

Whippets don't need lots of garden, so long as you have a secure area they can go to run a couple of times a week. Our garden is tiny not huge, but the dogs are happy with it.

Thank you! Yes, I'd be happy with a x breed, so i'll have a look at the rescue centre you mentioned.

We got our whippety lurcher (which is a whippet cross) from a Greyhound rescue centre. This particular Greyhound Trust gets whippety crosses in very regularly. In fact they currently have 3 waiting to be rehomed :-)

Our whippety boy is at least 95% whippet (we have put him next to various pure bread whippets and the difference between them is minimal)

Our whippety boy does not have (nor need) a big garden. He loves his frequent walks but does not climb the walls if the walks are short or missed out alltogether occasionally. He ignores all neighbouring cats but does like to chase the pigeons out of the garden. He does not bark, does not smell of dog and likes to curl up into a small ball in the corner of the sofa.

He is brilliant

thanks. there's two RGTs near me, so i'll have a proper look and find out if they have any xbreeds.

I'd love a greyhound (or a lurcher for that matter!), but i know i don't have enough space for one, which is why i'm looking at smaller dogs.

I love schnauzers as well - find them to be wonderfully eccentric, but no idea what they are like around children.

I think on balance i'm more drawn to a whippet because of their temperament, so it's great to know there's a few places i can look.

Are there any other smaller dogs (but not terriers) that people could recommend? I've grown up around big mad spaniels, alsatians and collies and though I love them, i just don't have the space.

Somehow I knew you two would be on here Magrat and Lock :o

Mystery, there is also GRWE, they are called a greyhound rescue but they have lots of different pointy hounds (pointy being Grunds, Whippets & Lurchers) and they rehome all over the country :) I think all/most of their dogs live in foster homes so some of them are used to cats, other small furries and children.

I'd go for a whippet over a schnauzer, they're just so graceful! I have a gorgeous greyhound :)

On the size issue - pointy dogs (even the largest of greyhounds) do curl up quite small. (unless they are roaching in which case you will find them on their backs, stretched out, legs akimbo). And because they are quite quiet and clean in the house they are not as noticeable as a smaller, noisier, scruffier dog

Our whippety is more like a cat, does not smell, has claimed one corner of the sofa as his, half the time we don't know he is there!

Haha, quelle surprise eh Cunny

behindlocknumbernine I was pondering just that point!

I think it's also about them not being overwhelmingly big next to my little boy, who is quite short! Also, I was thinking about lead control (pulling) with a big dog and a buggy or toddling tot. That's why I thought a big dog might be a bit much to manage as well as living in my little house!

If you have any tips on managing toddlers and doggies, I'd be very grateful, as not had a dog around small people before. there's a short guide on the GRWE site that I've just read which was quite good, but not very specific.

Cunny, that predictable eh?

Our two ds's were 6 and almost 3 years old when we got whippetty, but ds2 is teeny tiny for his age (at 3 he weighed about 11 kg). Mixing the ds's with the dog was at first a bit worrying but then I'm the worrying type. We found crate training helped and we still have stair gates up to separate dogs and children when we need to.

The ds's very quickly learned some basic rules, don't crowd the dogs, don't interupt when the dogs are eating, no pulling/poking the dogs, if the dogs go to their crate you leave them alone - that is their "safe" zone and so on.

Our second dog being a greyhound x whippet is slightly bigger than whippetty (he is 22" to the shoulder and weighs 13-14 kg, she is 23" to the shoulder and weighs 18-19 kg). Tbh ds2 tends to walk down the road with his arm resting over her back as he walks in a "me and my hounds" type way. Both are very gentle with the ds's and both are very eager to please, though whippetty is the more feline and aloof of the two.

I grew up with a collie x and when I saw whippetty, my first reaction was "yikes", but tbh I wouldn't have another type of dog now (scruples btw currently has two young whippet x collie x greyhounds who were born in january and have been with them since birth).

I've fallen a little in love with Wizzie on the Scruples site and he's being fostered not too far from me. Spottidog and Tux (the two I think you mean) are just gorgeous as well!

I think i might phone them and see if i can go and spend some time with the dog(s) with DS. DS btw is very keen on dogs. He's spent quite a lot of time with a friend's puppy over the last few months, and whilst DS is not very gentle yet, he's learning!

I'm a bit of a sucker for older/more unwanted pets too. My current moggy is an old boy with a lifelong illness that I couldn't resist ( he has a desperately cheeky face). When I got him I was told he probably wouldn't last 4/5 years. I've had him for 7 now and he's just had a check up and is doing grand. blurry love pets!

We got Sprocket the greyhound at the end of january, when DD was just 7.5 mo, she turned 1 last sunday, I have to say, walking him with the buggy is very easy, grunds are taught from an early age to walk nicely on a lead so they rarely pull, only if they see a fellow grund will they pull (ime), but in Sprockets case, the lead just goes a bit tight instead of slack, but even then he isn't pulling really.

Sizewise, he is like living with a horse. We live in what you call a '2 up 2 down' house and our downstairs rooms are just wide corridors with furniture in really. His bed is upstairs as he hates being left on his own downstairs (and also no room downstairs for one big enough for him) and will whine, bark and eventually, he will start mooing, loudly.

Those whippets are so gorgeous! Makes me think about whether our dog would like a buddy :)

My sister has a miniature schnauzer and although she loves her dearly I'm not so taken. She is a bit too yappy for me.

Sprocket!! brilliant name. Wasn't that the dog in Fraggle Rock?

it's the horse element I was a bit wary of, but good to know that yours is gentle and well behaved.

I'm getting all excited about whippets now! thanks for everyone's help.

What a timely thread for me to stumble upon! I have owned both a miniature schnauzer (she was an absolutely brilliant little dog) and currently have a 14 year old standard schnauzer. I am also a lone parent to two ds's. As I absolutely know that I never want to be without a dog I have been thinking for some time about my next doggy step and have come to the conclusion that the only non schnauzer breed that could tempt me would be a whippet!

The standard schnauzer has been a fab dog, incredible with children (and old people, she should have been a pat dog!) but she can be quite demanding. She was incredibly hard work as a puppy (the miniature was pretty easy) and that memory frightens me a little when I already have a lot on my plate. It strikes me that whippets are generally much easier dogs than schnauzers. Think I might go and have a look at those sites

I was looking for something else and stumbled across this. We used to own a whippet and frankly and I know this is going to bring the wrath of every whippet owner down on my head wouldn't touch one again with a barge pole!
Yes they are loving, yes they are fab with children, they don?t bark much or eat the postman and they do fold up small. But in comparison with a gun dog I?m sorry but I think they are devoid of anything that makes a dog a dog! They lack joie de vivre and are slightly aloof certainly not the in your face of a gun dog, they are watchers rather than participators on family life.
They are also terrible thieves when it comes to human food, can have a penchant for cats, squirrels and rabbits and I don?t care about the last two but plenty of people get very irate especially in urban areas and if you live in a very friendly but rural location with people always crossing your threshold and leaving you front door/gate open the bloody things have a tendency to run off.
We too recently considered a miniature schnauzer as I just love them when they are clipped out with eyebrows and a beard etc. But we have about four in small town and their owners testified to their tendency to yap and that would drive me insane.

If you are interested in whippets, take a look on dogsblog under whippets [[http://www.dogsblog.com/category/whippet/ here]. This lists rescue dogs of all types from all over the country, but you can look for specific breeds. They have a few gorgeous ones on there at the moment - the first one Tia is only 6 months old and is currently fostered with children. I would be sooo tempted but I think we can't fit another dog in the house! There is also Sam and Jet who have grown too big for the show ring or breeding. Sorry, but I am addicted at looking at rescue whippets - I'd rehome the lot if I could!

Sorry, that link didn't work, I'll try again www.dogsblog.com/category/whippet/

thansk magrat i'll have a look.

You could look on manytears.co.uk - it's a rescue centre but they have dogs fostered all over the country so one may be near you. They seem to give honest write-ups about temperament, suitability with children etc. I don't know whippets at all but I did walk rescued greyhounds a couple of times and they didn't seem very waggy/friendly but I suppose that's because they have different people walking them every day... Also if you google "what breed of dog is right for me" (or similar) you can take a quiz which will highlight suitable breeds for your lifestyle. But I would always recommend talking to some local rescues about what you're looking for (apologies if you've done all this already) and good luck

We have an urban whippet. With effort you can train em not to chase the neighours cats! You can also train kids to keep the front door closed. Our whippet is NOT a food thief either. She responds brilliantly to gentle encouragement as a training tool.

Ideal pet for lazy city dweller and ideal with small/anxious children. We got ours for my ASD son when he was 4 and she's a firm fave with the local kids of all ages from toddlers to teens, simply cos she's so gentle in temperment. I don't think whippets are the ideal pet for everyone, but I specifically didn't want to be taking 10 mile treks every day in the snow, or a bouncy hyperactive breed, so for our lifestyle she's been perfect.

Sadly my housing situation and my son's disability mean I just don't have the time or space to devote to a more "demanding" breed, but our whippet is as content with us as we are with her iykwim.

Lurcherlink or scruples whippet rescue are the two places I'd start my hunt.

I can honestly say my whippety lurcher (and there is only a teeny tiney part of him that is not whippet) is full of joie de vivre!

He zooms over the fields, tail doing that rotar-blade wag of his, getting mud splattered, and when he is tired he comes back panting and with a huge grin on his face!
He is a food thief, but not terribly so and we put that down to the fact he was a stray and had to fend for himself.
He greets us with full on wagginess, practically throwing himself at us, before running off and returning with his latest prized posession (a toy or shoe or empty cardboard box)
He likes to snuggle in our bed and is the most people orientated dog I have ever met.

I used to have a cocker spaniel. He would go home with anyone. Our whippety loves us. We have a closer bond. I prefer this. (notwithstanding the fact the cocker was deranged quite frankly!)

I wondered if any of you ladies knew how good/bad whippets are for allergies? DS is very allergic to my ILs border terrier and we are keen to get a dog but only if it doesn't have too much affect on his asthma. I would love a whippet ideally. Sorry to derail slightly. Ta

Whippets are not thought to be a hypo-allergenic breed but they do have have very close coats and shed very little and have a very different coat type to a boarder terrier.

I'd visit a rescue, if possible, and have DS interact with one before you adopt.

My whippet is so full of joie de vivre that I wouldn't be surprised if he actually burst with joy one day. Perfect family dog IMHO.

Thanks dome, I met a fab lady at weekend with the most gorgeous whippet, I may see if I can pop around and see how ds is.