A Whippet As A Family Pet

[kitty]

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What would you look for? Would you say that pedigree is important, or no?

I'm new to the wonderful world of whippets and wonder what is the best way to find a family pet for us.

I've been recommended a breeder in Ireland, but I dont feel sure about having a pup sent over that I havent met, from a breeder I havent visited.

What do you people think, please?

 

[Janimal]

Hi Kitty - Welcome to K9 - Whippets make great family pets. Very good luck with your search :luck: :luck

- Some of the Irish breeders come onto this site so you may be able to get in touch. As for pedigree - it depends on what you want to do with the dog, lure course, agility, race or show or JUST a pet.

Both my dogs are Pets only, but are Still Pedigrees and have Registered KC Pedigree papers.

do let us know when you decide wont you. :thumbsup:

 

[05whippet]

Hi Kitty welcome,

I personally don't feel that a pedigree is that important if you are not going to show,you can get a very nice pet Whippet with out reg papers for less money or a rescue if you would maybe consider an older dog.

I think the temp is more important than ped,Whippets are wonderful companions and are very loyal and clean in the house. There are always good breeders out there that could be looking a good pet home for a pup and certainly the people on this forum would be more than willing to help point you in the right direction.There are also Whippet rescues but as I'm not from the Mainland I am not offay with them but someone on here will know of them.

I would imagine that you will find the breeder of the litter over here (Ireland) would probably expect you to come over to pick your pup and see where it has come from and one if not both of the parents,also so that he/she will be able to assess you as a suitable potential owner.This is what we did when our last litter went (three are over there) all the new owners came to us.

I hope you find your new companion soon and wish you all the luck with him/her :luck: they are fabulous little dogs :wub: we have five of them and they are our preferred breed :thumbsup:

Hope this has helped...........well slightly :b

 

[*Lesley*]

I agree with the others although I wouldn't rule out getting a KC registered dog as we only got ours as pets and the later went into Lure coursing and racing and wouldn't have been able to if they hadn't had the paperwork, I just think it is best to keep your options open IMO.

I think whippet rescue have a waiting list 05 in the Uk at least, although there are a lot of other sight hound rescues :thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide :luck: :luck:

 

[05whippet]

I agree with the others although I wouldn't rule out getting a KC registered dog as we only got ours as pets and the later went into Lure coursing and racing and wouldn't have been able to if they hadn't had the paperwork, I just think it is best to keep your options open IMO.
I think whippet rescue have a waiting list 05 in the Uk at least, although there are a lot of other sight hound rescues :thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide :luck:   :luck:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

See I don't know these things like waiting lists etc,not being over there.

We have a rescue over here but then that's not much use to you over there :blink: very confusing this over here & over there stuff :wacko:

 

[ponygirl]

Hi Kitty! I bought my pedigree boy Eli as a pet with no intention of showing or breeding, also for 2 happy years had my little un-papered rescue bitch Piper, both wonderful loyal family members and a joy to live with! Ped or no ped, whippets make a happy home, and once you've shared your life with one (or 2, or 3 etc etc...) you'll never look back! Good luck with your search, keep an open mind, and you may find that the right dog will find you! :luck:

 

[Paula Roberts]

Whippets are fantastic as pets, but i would strongly suggest that you go and see the breeders if you decide to get a puppy, so that you know where its come from, you can also then see the mother and other pups. Good luck in your search.

 

[markE]

Hallo Kitty, im new here also, and was recently asking basically the same sort of questions as you. Ive since gotten a whippet pup and havnt looked back. Ive found him affectionate, intelligent, clean, comforting, not yappy (yet), and funny.

Id read about whippets being a good family pet and everything i read has been true so far.

Also, the people here, who have far more experience than i have, have been fantastically helpful and kind, with any questions (however trivial they may seem to you) being sympathetically answered.

I cant help you much with info on whippets, but i can heartily recommend them as a pet in my very short experience, and i can recommend this site as a good benchmark for information.

Good luck. mark

 

[*Lesley*]

I agree with the others although I wouldn't rule out getting a KC registered dog as we only got ours as pets and the later went into Lure coursing and racing and wouldn't have been able to if they hadn't had the paperwork, I just think it is best to keep your options open IMO.
I think whippet rescue have a waiting list 05 in the Uk at least, although there are a lot of other sight hound rescues :thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide :luck:   :luck:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

See I don't know these things like waiting lists etc,not being over there.

We have a rescue over here but then that's not much use to you over there :blink: very confusing this over here & over there stuff :wacko:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

But were altogether in our love of whippets though 05 :huggles:

I think the thing is we have here alot more people wanting a whippet from rescue than the whippets that actually go into there, I suppose partly because a lot of people rehome on sites such as K9 ect :unsure:

 

[kitty]

hello everybody, thankyou for you replies and for being so friendly and welcoming.

I just saw this

( get tissues ready) from dog rescue pages

It makes me cry and also feel like swearing.

Supposing they accepted me as a forever home for a whippet like this who has had such a horrendous start to life - what do you think it'd mean in terms of the dog's behaviour/temperament. How permanently traumatised would a dog be from such apalling neglect? I ask this because I have two children, 11 and 8, so a timid or snappy dog wouldnt work in our set up.

I am also not experienced with dog training!

(hope that link works..)

 

[Janimal]

hello everybody, thankyou for you replies and for being so friendly and welcoming.
I just saw this

  ( get tissues ready) from dog rescue pages

It makes me cry and also feel like  swearing.

Supposing they accepted me as a forever home for a  whippet like this who has had such a horrendous start to life - what do you think it'd mean in terms of the dog's behaviour/temperament. How permanently traumatised would a dog be from such apalling neglect? I ask this because I have two children, 11 and 8, so a timid or snappy dog wouldnt work in our  set up.

I am also not experienced with dog training!

(hope that link works..)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

OMG - some of those pictures are just how can anyone let a dog get into those states :rant: :rant:

 

[05whippet]

Unfortunately this seems to happen a lot over here with Lurchers and longdogs. :rant: I don't know about over there (England etc) but there are a powerful amount of these dogs and their type Whips inc about,loads of people breed them to work and then if the dog does'nt get to it straight away they off load them onto someone else and breed again, :angry: then of course the original dog does the same thing with the new owner and then gets palmed off again to somebody, and so & so forth.The whole thing disgusts me :rant: and sometimes I'm embarressed to say I work our dogs as people automatically assume you are one of the a**holes.Their are a LOT of decent working Lurcher & Longdog people out there :thumbsup: but as they know only too well,there are also an awful lot of Scabs who really could'nt care less about the dogs or their welfare I don't know what the answer is or even if there is one but this ought not to happen they are such a loving sensitive breed :wub: and I can't stand seeing them in such a chronically poor condition :angry: I really do applaud the rescues :cheers:

Sorry about that kinda went off on one there :b

 

[05whippet]

I agree with the others although I wouldn't rule out getting a KC registered dog as we only got ours as pets and the later went into Lure coursing and racing and wouldn't have been able to if they hadn't had the paperwork, I just think it is best to keep your options open IMO.
I think whippet rescue have a waiting list 05 in the Uk at least, although there are a lot of other sight hound rescues :thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide :luck:   :luck:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

See I don't know these things like waiting lists etc,not being over there.

We have a rescue over here but then that's not much use to you over there :blink: very confusing this over here & over there stuff :wacko:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

But were altogether in our love of whippets though 05 :huggles:

I think the thing is we have here alot more people wanting a whippet from rescue than the whippets that actually go into there, I suppose partly because a lot of people rehome on sites such as K9 ect :unsure:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Lesley you are sooo right but we seem to have an awful lot of unscrupulous types over here where dogs are concerned and I think it is very hard for the rescues to weedle out the decent sorts.

 

[kitty]

It is staggering, isnt it. and heartbreaking. and infuriating. Seeing all the pics on this site of beautifully cared for dogs, and then seeing those pics. aaaaaaaaaaaagh.

 

[Susan]

What a bloody shame :rant:

Poor dogs must have been so itchy and in a lot of pain :rant: , hope they find great homes when they are feeling better :thumbsup:

 

[mtotos]

why do people not ask for help before it gets bad cruelty to animals makes my blood boil :rant: , thank god the poor dogs will get proper care now.

 

[~Sarah~]

The older I get the more disillusioned I get with some so called 'human beings' :rant: :rant: (they don't deserve to be called human beings).

I just cannot understand how people can treat animals with such awful cruelty. At least they will be well cared for now, and hope they find loving forever homes soon. :luck: :luck:

 

[Crystal]

What a horrendous sight, I can't believe my eyes - except over the years I've taken in a few rescues all whippet/lurcher and a GSD only 2 that were really bad.

Kitty I also have children and whippets( my youngest daughter is 8) they are brilliant together as long as the children know the rules and boundaries . The only thing I have learnt is that if you take in a rescue with an unknown background you don't know how child friendly or how they react in certain circumstances which can be a little worrying. I took in a little whippet bitch she was an ex brood bitch that had been re-homed(due to marital breakdown) and the re-homers didn't want her because she had ripped 'dads' chair, she was an absolute angel a real pleasure and she never ripped anything in my house-the only thing she did was bounce up at the children which upsets some people and i never got her out of the habit. She was fantastic.

 

[Rae]

Poor dogs.

At least now they are in good hands and will hopefully get a home of their own.

We have 4 rescue dogs now, and have sadly lost another 2. All but one I would have trusted with children (and she was a super skitzy whippet who had come from a loving family and had been well loved and cared for all of her life, but was just too nervous.)

The other dogs I would trust as family pets - especially Leia, who is our maddest lurcher. Whoever has brought her up has been very rough with her and she hates being told off - so she is very submissive with people and does as she is told most of the time, but still a typical bouncy friendly lurhcer.

See how they improve in their foster homes and what they will be like. You could always get a rescue now....and then a whippet puppy later on......

 

[kitty]

It's not so easy to get a whippet rescue, rae.. there is a waiting list. I dont know how long it'll be before those dogs in the link are ready to be rehomed. I think I am a bit low on the list, too, because I am not experienced and dont have a dog already.

Anyway, it's really good to hear your whippety stories of how your dogs fit into your family life.

there are often collie x whippets coming up for rehoming. presumably you have a totally different temperament to deal with then... anyone know about this mixture?

(is it sacriledge to talk about whippet x's here... )