Right. Please will somebody tell me about whippets?

[seeker]

We live in the country, the dog would be nominally 12 year old ds's ( but I know that I might end up.......etc) We have a small garden but mile and miles of good walks. There's usually someone home, but we are out and about a lot- specially at weekends, where we do a lot of watching children do sporty stuff.....does a whippet sound like a suitable breed? He is a rescue pup so would be young if he comes to us.

My only reservation would be that some whippets are quite weedy and don't do well standing outside in the cold for long periods of time, even in a coat, which would mean they might not enjoy the watching children do sporty stuff as much as something a bit more robust.

I wondered that. But I suppose he could sit in the car and watch through the window?

(The one I dogsit for would shiver and cry in that situation, but perhaps she is exceptionally wimpy).

Sounds like a fair solution to me Seeker.
Upside of whippets is they don't get covered in mud - you can rub them off and they're clean. They don't smell either. They are little heat-seeking pointy missiles though and spend a lot of time trying to get in the best bit of the bed. I think the one I know is cosseted - maybe you can also get tougher more working class whippets?!

Dp is from Bradford-if we get the whippet I intend to buy him a flat cap to go with him....

Ah you'll be fine then.

It will require we you to repeat dh's favouite bad joke though 'whippet?' No I bought it!'

Yes, we are in Yorkshire

"Mt wife's gone to the West Indies""Jamaica?" "no, she went of her own accord"

Any more whippet facts?

We have a rescued whippet cross, my friend has a pure whippet.
Both love running around the woods for hours and love getting muddy. Upside of the short thin fur is that they clean up easily and don't get too smelly.
They do like to chase small things and often take off across the woods in pursuit of squirrels. The pure whippet can take his time coming back to my friend (my cross whippety is a bit more of a mummies boy and comes back after the third whistle ) Having said that, my friend said if she walks her whippet on his own he comes back sooner but if she walks him with my whippety cross he shows off a bit and takes longer coming back)
Some get cold and shivery when outside but you can buy fleece - lined, padded, showerproof whippet coats so that is easily sorted.
In the house they are calm and biddable, usually happy to snuggle up on the sofa and not too demanding. But when the dc want to play with him (dc are age 10 and 13) he is all up for ball games, running around the garden and will even have a go at the dog agility jumps dd sets up in the garden for him. He is a lot of fun!

I would never have considered a whippet cross, we came across him at the rescue centre and the dc fell in love with him. (easy to see why, pics on profile ) but he is the easiest, funniest, gentlest dog we have owned and we love him!

Oh behind, those ears!

We have a pony with ears like a donkey- I do like ears!

Yep yep I have a whippet. He's good for a mad run about then spends rest of day sleeping on sofa. He is not too wimpy in terms of cold.

Um what else.

They are usually very easy dogs, quiet and not whiffy! but can suffer with separation anxiety and this can manifest itself through whining and chewing which can be pretty incessant and wearing so find out if he is in rescue because of this and be prepared to tough it out for a few months if so. My pup was pretty full on for a good 6 months but he is 6 years old now and a very quiet, loving, chilled chap.

UNLESS he sees something small and furry - bunnies, pheasants, cats are all fair game for a chase I'm afraid. He very rarely catches anything but I am very glad we live in the middle of the countryside where it's rare to see a cat. He is def not a city boy.

He is the most loyal and long suffering best buddy to dd (12) and tolerates being squished, cuddled, trained, filmed in her mad movies, playing hide and seek etc - the first day back at school after the easter hols he kind of looked at me when the kids had left as if to say ' well that was blimmin exhausting then' before he slunk off to the sofa for a well earned snooze.

Oh lord- I want him even more now!

I think I just put a pic up? Loyal companion.

Merrylegs, yours sounds adorable
And I too think my whippetycross heaves a sigh of relief at the end of the school holidays...

He suffered from separation anxiety when we first got him, we think he was abandoned / ran away from a traveller camp so when we adopted him it was a huge shock going from a camp with constant companionship (human and canine) to being in a house as the only dog and sometimes completely alone (I work part time)

With the help from the lovely lady at the rescue centre we crate trained him and he is now very content and laid back and goes off into his crate of his own accord when he sees us get shoes / coats on in the morning...

Go for it seeker fab fab dogs!
We love the ears too (they are what made us fall in love with him) we think he is half whippet half bat!!

Ooooh Merrylegs lovely picture!

Get over to the pointy hounds thread.

If you need more encouragement

My lurcher is very probably a whippet x, and he loves trundling round on the yard, walking out on a hack, or just snoring in the landy at weekends. He does get cold easily, but the coats are great
He has no prey drive (ended up in rescue as a failed hare courser), but obv that can be an issue with pointys. But is a loving, snuggly dog who is happy to spend the day snoring on the sofa while I'm working, or run round madly for hours.

Theres a pic on my profile of him

Awww CMOT, your pointy looks like my pointy!! Gorgeous

They do don't they! Does yours have lots of black skin (but not hair) patches?

Yes!!! They became very noticeable in the summer, like giant black freckles showing throught he fur! On his legs (where he is thin-haired anyway) they are permanently visible.

Snap! Its like having a dalmation with white and tan fur. Apart from the nuttiness of course

I've got one too and I adore her (whippet x border collie). She's my first hound and I wished I'd had one years ago. I've always liked them but spaniels were my breed of choice. I still have one spaniel and she gets on very well with my pointy (tries to keep up with the running but doesn't stand a chance). I would say a most definite yes, go for it, they are truly wonderful animals and I can't imagine anyone regretting having one.

We have a whippet and a whippet x greyhound (we call her our grippet ).

Our whippet is calm and lovely. He considers himself one of the dc's, but he is very feline. We think he is actually half dog, half cat as he weaves in and out of your legs like a cat and tries to wrap himself around you.

Our grippet is an older girl and not blessed with brains. She has a very high prey drive and I have no doubt that if she would catch a cat, she would kill it. We think she was worked in the past.

Both are very calm and lazy in the house and not very demanding. They love a good run and don't smell. Whippy used to suffer from separation anxiety, but crate training helped that. If they are spending time outdoors, they do need a good coat and ours are not happy to stand still in the cold for much time, even with a coat.

We also have a small garden, but living semi-rural means we have lots of good walks on our doorstep, so the dogs don't mind a small garden. Try to find a local enclosed space where your whippy can have a good off lead run though if the garden is not big enough.

Oh and you will be bankrupted when buying a whole wardrobe of collars and coats for the dog....

I havr just met my dads friends rescue whippet tonight. She is beautiful and so lovely despite being mistreated horribly in first few weeks of her life (beaten with sticks, half starved and dew claws removed with pliers )

She is the sweetest thing and is in a lovelyhome now with lots of doggy experience and already she full of life and confidence at nearly 4 months. Completely unfazed and happy entering a garden full of kids playing football and my crazy puppy wanting to jump all over her and she loved it. She was a joy to watch teasing mine to play chase knowing she could run rings around him

That's a lovely story fan .