The Whippet

[vanquo 2]

Good thread this, it's been an interesting read.

 

My whippet's 22½" TTS, just turned 10 months old and is now filling out nicely. Might even have a bit more height in him yet. Most of the other whippets I see around here are much smaller but a mate has one about the same height/shape that's got some hard blood in his lines.

 

A few pics of him, these are from about 6 weeks back so he's grown a bit more since then.

 

 

[Guest hunterside]

brilliant post very imformative, heres one i had sadly not with us she was 19 inch out of non ped racing stuff.

Edited September 24, 2010 by hunterside

[chartpolski 20,510]

I'm a great supporter of Whippets, both ped and non-ped; but come on ! No way can a 24" 55lb dog be classed as a "Whippet" !!! Smaller Greyhounds have won the Waterloo Cup !! At least I can have this oppinion on here, unlike K9 where I was banned for voicing the same oppinion ! The BWRA sold it's soul when it upped the limit from 32lb to 55lb, just to accomodate the breeders who wanted to use Greyhound X's more and more ! Don't get me wrong; when I go to a straight open, it's to see the scratch dogs, but when I go to a bend open, it's to see the little 'uns run; I can see 55lb'ers run any time I want at the local Greyhound tracks ! I'm in no way knocking these great dogs, but I think they should just be called "Race Dogs" not Whipets !

 

Cheers.

[gsp_lass 3]

Great post, also been interested in the differences of the whippet so very interesting reading.

[Sonny Brindle 2]

No way can a 24" 55lb dog be classed as a "Whippet" !!!

 

Got to agree with you there.

[pat cope 7]

A friend has adopted a Bully Whippet pup who has cramping issues.

Can you send me details of diet that might help ? Very healthy otherwise.

Cheers. Pat. x

[s.e.s.k.u 1,893]

I was asked to post some photos of the different types of whippets. Before I do I should explain something.

In the U.K., Whippets are best judged as a type of dog, not a specific breed. Liken them to a terrier with various different types.

The Kennel Club have no jurisdiction over the name whatsoever. In fact it could be argued that the KC dog is so far removed from it's original type as to be seen an entirely different entity.

I am not being biased here, I own both pedigree and non-pedigree whippets and like both types not only that but the variation provides dogs that can be exceedingly fast or have lots of stamina.

So as not to offend, I'll be using my own dogs as examples. There are dogs that excel at specific disciplines but think it's unfair to post photos without their owners permission.

Obviously anyone who's got a purpose bred whippet are welcome to submit their examples.

 

Pedigree whippets:

 

This is Buffy. My first whippet. She is a combination of show and coursing breeding. Oakbark / Towercrest / Cottonmere lines. She is quite a decent sized bitch, lots of stamina and gutsy as hell.

 

I lined Buffy to a racing pedigree whippet. Basically I wanted something genetically diverse only and didn't want to line breed. I already had homes secured for pets only so it made sense to choose something completely different to prevent me unwittingly producing any faults. The dogs produced aren't perfect examples of racing whippets but I think you can see this produced a more finer, muscular dog.

 

Riley

 

Nell (with Buffy in background)

 

Jeebs Personally I think he's taken more physically to his Mum's lines. Not as fast as his siblings either but he's been very good at hunting.

 

All 3 dogs have raced and I'm sure it comes as no surprise when I say that Riley and Nell where the best racers when you compare their physique to Jeebs.

 

 

Non-Ped racing whippets.

These are the original whippet per se. Pedigree whippets (if you go back far enough) all originate from them.

They have a relatively small gene pool, however outcrossing to greyhounds is done which maintains genetic diversity.

Because of these linings, there are no stipulations to weight or height and classes are split to accomodate the various sizes. Weights range from 16lb to 55lb, (generally). Because of the diversity these dogs are quite varied in their appearance. They do not have a breed standard like kennel club dogs and as such various head shapes, ear and tail carriages etc etc are the norm and it's my belief that this diversity is why the breed remains generally fault free, bar one anamoly which I'll describe later.

 

Pixel (31lb)

 

K.B. and Jack. Not the most flattering of photos but I think it shows how muscular these dogs are! (both 40lb+)

 

Dobber (37lb)

 

Solo (35lb)

 

The muscle composition is still evident on the smaller lightweight whippets but we tend to have heavyweight / scratch dogs. Additionally, all the above dogs are related. To really appreciate the size variations and diversity it is probably best viewing my site where there's been racing events. Non-ped whippets tend to be the best sprinting dog. Over 150yds they're usually a second faster than their pedigree relatives.

 

This breeding for sprint racing dogs has produced an anamoly know as myostatin muscle related hypertrophy.

The gene is recessive. Dogs that are heterozygous (posess one form of the gene) are faster than dogs that do not.

See link Study of myostatin muscle related hypertrophy

Dogs that posess the one gene have no health related issues whatsoever. They tend to be desirable to those lurcher linings were owners wish to add some speed to the offspring. Even dogs without the mutation will still provide an increased muscle mass to a lining.

 

Occasionally, a pup will possess 2 forms of the gene (homozygous) the result is what is known as a bully whippet.

They are rare. Mainly because non-ped racers avoid breeding 2 carriers knowingly and in those instances where they do, the probability of producing one is still very low. Our's came about through an accidental mating, we had to have DNA testing done to ascertain the sire but we already had our suspicians. The carrier dog is Solo pictured above, but I suspect a number of our dogs have the mutation, purely because of their muscle composition and how easily these dogs ''buff up''

 

Sasha

 

Sasha has had issues with cramping but we managed to stop this by changing her diet. Other health issues are unknown as there is very little research done on them. There is speculation that as the heart has cardiac muscle they may have a shorter life span but this has yet to be proven. Infact the research carried out in the link above came about because a child has the anamoly. Apparently the parents of the child were both professional athletes. The anamoly is also present in belgian blue cattle where it's abbundance of lean muscle has proved popular for meat produce.

Needless to say bodybuilders are fascinated by the anamoly.

 

Hope this was useful to those interested.

great post very interesting thanks atb

[Malt 379]

Decent thread.

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

Excellent, informative post WW - many thanks

 

I'm quite interested in all the variations, since I am forever defending my whippet as being a whippet and not something else. He's big, and stocky, and has bags of stamina - I was expecting a fine little thing, but I've ended up with him and frankly I couldn't be happier. As I mentioned in the other thread, he is a Fallswater whippet, Nimrodel lines.

 

 

 

 

Here he is next to my mate's whippet - can't remember his lines, but it's a good comparison of the difference in size and build.

[staffs riffraff 1,068]

thats a nice whippet lurcher girl can the people that have worked there whippets at night tell us what they were like how much tamina and how hardy were they please only first hand experiance not opinions

[Wild Whippies 11]

I'm so glad this has been well received! Some lovely dogs popping up too

 

Sorry to put a downer on this thread but I have to bring this up...

 

I'm a great supporter of Whippets, both ped and non-ped; but come on ! No way can a 24" 55lb dog be classed as a "Whippet" !!! Smaller Greyhounds have won the Waterloo Cup !! At least I can have this oppinion on here, unlike K9 where I was banned for voicing the same oppinion ! The BWRA sold it's soul when it upped the limit from 32lb to 55lb, just to accomodate the breeders who wanted to use Greyhound X's more and more ! Don't get me wrong; when I go to a straight open, it's to see the scratch dogs, but when I go to a bend open, it's to see the little 'uns run; I can see 55lb'ers run any time I want at the local Greyhound tracks ! I'm in no way knocking these great dogs, but I think they should just be called "Race Dogs" not Whipets !

 

Cheers.

 

Chartpolski, for the record it was the comment below posted on K9 that resulted in you being moderated:

 

Whippets should be from around 16lb to 32 lb.......the rest should be culled !!!

 

Such opinions are not well received with people who love their dogs and are not well received by anti's either

 

Additonally, I know for a fact you was not banned. You was put onto moderator preview for 2 days. This was to prevent you adding more inflammatory remarks and causing upset to the members who had logged complaints with the moderator.

If you have a grievance with the moderator's actions, you should take the matter up with the site's admin, not bitch untruths elsewhere on the internet.

 

With regards to the weight discussion, non ped racing whippets have always been of varying sizes. If you look on Pathe there are plenty of archived whippet races showing these dogs were a lot bigger than 32lb!

If you buy a puppy solely for racing and then are rejected because it exceeds 32lb then your left with 3 options, if it's a little over you can starve the dog, you could go lurcher racing or you rehome the dog.

I don't think any of these options are fair on the dog, it's owner and in some ways lurcher racing.

So instead of exclusion, non-ped racing found means of accomodating these dogs by having scratch racing.

 

I don't doubt some have tried to exploit this by breeding as much greyhound as possible into the breed, but the BWRA have introduced breeding rules to try and deter this. It's not perfect and I wouldn't be surprised if it's revised in the future but at least it's better than exclusion or God forbid - culling.

 

It might enlighten some to know the black and white scratch dog in my pik is NBScCh/Sup Sc VRCh/SL Sup VScCh. Avit. A scratch dog weighing 37lb who is 1/8 greyhound and litter brothers are Sup Rch / Sup Nch / Ch Ch's Maid Your Point - 3 x NBch, 4 x RBch, 2 x Rch , 3 x Nch and Nch / 2 x Rch / NVch Maid u Luck - both dogs who race in the handicap.

 

I've also got a 45lb pup who is also 1/8 greyhound. (litter brother to the handicap bitch Pixel pictured) I might not relish the idea of running him with dogs that are predominantly greyhound bred but so long as the dog enjoys his racing, that's what he'll do. Surely I have a bigger right to complain than you, but I don't because I don't believe in exclusion.

 

 

Non-ped racers have welcomed you and your dogs to their tracks, I think you should extend them the same courtesy.

[Wild Whippies 11]

thats a nice whippet lurcher girl can the people that have worked there whippets at night tell us what they were like how much tamina and how hardy were they please only first hand experiance not opinions

 

Would like people to respond to this as it appears there are a lot of people wanting to know which particular breedlines excel well at coursing and I'm afraid it's hard to keep up with all the comings and going in the whippet world!

[stroller 341]

What an excellent post written by a very knowledgeable and literate person. Its like a breath of fresh air. Thankyou

[Malt 379]

Chartpolski, for the record it was the comment below posted on K9 that resulted in you being moderated:

 

Whippets should be from around 16lb to 32 lb.......the rest should be culled !!!

 

f*****g hell CP I thought more of you than that mate, if that's right. That sounds like the kind of shit you'd expect to hear from a KC Crufts type show breeder, not a man who puts working ability above conformation... :no:

Edited September 25, 2010 by maltenby

[timjim 43]

fabulous thread ! just what this site should be about, some fantastic whippets, they look the buisness