Whippet - noisy kids or lab / golden?!

[Doggooooooo]

Hi everyone, hoping for some advice from whippet / lab / golden owners and anyone more knowledgable than me! We have decided to get a pup - 2 children age 3 and 4 and 2x large cats. I work from home 2x days a week (that's it, no other days work). We have a small home with small patio but large parks etc nearby. We are looking for a dog with an excellent temperament around children. We adore whippets but our kids can be noisy (as all can). They are respectful and gentle and would never be unsupervised, we grew up with labs so know about the need to keep everyone safe etc. Are whippets truly kid friendly (well bred, well socialised fron reputable breeder?) - we are hoping for a true family dog, one the kids can fully play with / snuggle with safely, or are we better to just go for a lab or golden, the stereotypical family dog? Any insights/ experience much appreciated. Thanks in advance everyone.

There are plenty of lurcher puppies in rescue who are cat trainable. I get to foster them! Of my last three, one went to a home with chickens, sheep and a 2 year old (plus 3 older children), one to a home with cats, and one to a home with two smallish children, a parrot and a guinea pig... A lot of the pups are between 4 and 6 months so their personality is a lot clearer than at 8 weeks when you would get them from a breeder.

One of my lurchers is currently upside down between my sons legs as they share the sofa, and my son sleeps with his head on the dogs tummy most nights. No problems about cuddling with any of the lurchers that I know, and smooth coated ones shed very little

What about a small Lurcher? Lots and lots in Rescue and plenty of Lurcher pups turning up in rescue. Many have part whippet in them. Personally avoid any with collie in as possibly likely to be "on the go" types.

Fair few rescues will rehome to young children and match you with the best pup/young dog.

If you look at the rescues, for EGLR the puppies come in and out pretty quickly, so scroll back through the FB page to see how many they've had recently, rather than looking on the web page and thinking puppies don't come up.

On the fb page, I had George, Posy and Rose in the more recent pics

Can't recommend a Lurcher enough op!! We got ours as a puppy a year before ds was born. Extremely close doesn't cover it!! Last year when ds was 3 we got her dm also!! We have 2 dcats also, and other ddogs. Older dc can take can Lurchers out now problem (11+13) and younger dc has much patience with them.
A very underestimated family dog ime.

Thank you! I will look.

I’ve got a Goldie, and she is the sweetest, most affectionate, cuddly dog you could ever wish for. But as a puppy she was a true ‘land shark’, and I mean really bad!
So I’d def recommend a goldie, but an adult rescue if at all poss.

We've a golden doodle, he's 7 and had him since dd was 5 and ds 3. Breeder had kids and cats and I can honestly say best temperament of any dog we've had before. Loves everyone, kids have dressed him up, played doctors and even dentist with him!( never forced he just always wanted to be involved).
I worked from home when he was a puppy and often had extra children around who never phased him. He's the one my daughter will tell her worries to and has a knack of making even non dog lovers want to pet him.
Don't be put off by anyone telling you the children are too young, as long as your going into this with your eyes open and will be careful that pup has his own space they will be best of friends.

The whippet next door goes nuts when you walk past the windows. They are on their nth pair of nets

I adore labs and goldens but wouldn't have either as pups with kids that age. They get big quickly and are very bouncy and full of energy. They will knock your children flying, not being naughty or malicious, just because they are young and full of the joys of spring. My lab x golden adores kids and is very well trained (not by me!) and never jumps up but he has still sent friends' and families' small children flying more times than I can count.

An older more sedate lab or golden that is known to like children would be a better choice. Guide Dogs often rehome older dogs that are withdrawn from training or retired (which can happen at any age) so would be worth looking into.

Either way for both breeds factor in that they are working breeds and they will likely need up to two hours exercise a day as adults, much of it offlead. Without that you will likely have behavioural issues and they will be much harder to keep calm around the kids.

GR owner here. He's very submissive and tolerant. But not keen on kids. He particularly resents DD as he was my baby for two years and then she came along. They both barge onto my lap but he will always back off or just quietly move away if he gets overwhelmed.

In the wrong hands he'd be a wreck. DD is very considerate and since she could crawl and toddle has learned not to tread on him or his tail. And she never retaliates when he knocks her jumping about.

So you need to be prepared for some hard work training the dog and your DCs. Mine also sheds cushions' worth of hair on a weekly basis. It's hideous! But they are amazing friendly loving dogs.

Know people talk about show v working labs.
But not all run true to type my show lab can and does walk for hours .On a normal day we cover 8/10 miles easily plus training sessions sometimes double that .Any less and he is full of bounce

Though to be fair in the house is laid back most of time

I don’t think any breed is ‘child friendly’ and hate it when I hear things like ‘all staffs love kids’ ‘all labs are perfect family pets’ ‘all greys are so docile’.

Rather than going for popular family breeds on the assumption they will be automatically kid friendly I think you should think about what traits appeal to you e.g size, activity level, prey drive, coat type, trainability etc and pick a breed with those traits.

Make sure you pick a puppy from nice, friendly parents that had been raised around a kids from birth and I don’t imagine you’ll go far wrong.

Our whippet is now 6 months old and fits in perfectly with our family. We have a 6yo and a 10yo. He is the softest dog I have ever met and is more than happy to be snuggled, infact he sleeps cuddled up in bed with us each night! He loves he children and they love him as he isn’t too big and bouncy. He is a really easy pup, housetrained and will happily sleep 90% of the day, can be left for up to four hours happily (he just snoozes on the sofa) and hasn’t chewed anything he shouldn’t have.

We also have a cat by the way who our whippet does like to try and play with but he has become a lot better and will now leave him alone when ordered to.

My whippet is adorable and amazing with children. He really just loves people in general and will often go up to dog owners at the park for pats before nothing with the dogs. Loves a good snuggle too. He also barely sheds and has no doggy smell.

The downsides are he is somewhat clingy and had some separation anxiety issues for a while. He will recall but if you don’t catch his attention in time it can be hard to get him back.

This is my lovely retired Guide Dog.
There are about 5 applications per available dog, but it’s worth trying.