Hello all 
I stumbled across this site whilst Google’ing for info about whippets and lurchers, and have been mooching for a few days, reading the threads and admiring some of the many photo’s posted. My family and I have decided it’s time we got a dog again, having not had one for some years. This site has already been very helpful, but there are some questions I would like to ask.
Due to previous evolvement with a friend's racing greyhounds (Newton Abbot flapping track), and another friend's working lurchers, I favour some form of running dog... but of a smaller frame than greyhound sized dogs. Therefore, I think I am settled on a whippet based lurcher... but don't know what mix I should look for, or indeed, whether a pure bred whippet would be a better bet. I thought that if I posted here about what we, as a family, want from a dog, maybe I could benefit from your collective experience. 8)
Our primary requirement is for a family pet. We have 3 sons who all love dogs, although our youngest son (11) is particularly crazy about them (wants to be a Police dog handler when he grows up!) We want a dog that will enjoy a very active lifestyle, with lots of walking (4-10 miles a day, more at weekends). Our dog needs to have very good manners, as we visit and sleep over with friends and family quite often and the dog will come with us always.
A personal goal of mine, having admired an obedience display at the New Forrest County Show a couple weeks ago, is to try and train the dog to a decent level of obedience, possibly to take part in either obedience or agility trials with him/her. No particular reason, except that it looks great fun.
When I used to go out rabbiting with a friend, one dog of his used to particularly impress me. ‘Robbie’ was (I think!) a 1/4 collie, 3/4 whippet. He was compact, athletic and very bright. With my limited knowledge of the various lurcher ‘types’, I think a dog like Robbie would suit us very well. I also *really* like the look of Miss Madam’s bedlington/whippet in this thread. Adorable! :wub:
I’m also not against the idea of a pure bred whippet, but am unsure about the obedience part. Forgive my ignorance here, but is it necessary/desirable to have a bit of collie (for example) mixed in if I wanted to do obedience trials? (I know that Robbie seemed much ‘sharper’ than the greyhounds I used to help exercise ).
We will be looking to find a puppy some time in the next few months, so are not in any rush… we could take a puppy now, or we could wait for the 'right' litter to be born.
Thanks for reading this over long note, and thanks in advance for any replies.
Cheers,
Wayne Kennedy
(Bristol)
I stumbled across this site whilst Google’ing for info about whippets and lurchers, and have been mooching for a few days, reading the threads and admiring some of the many photo’s posted. My family and I have decided it’s time we got a dog again, having not had one for some years. This site has already been very helpful, but there are some questions I would like to ask.
Due to previous evolvement with a friend's racing greyhounds (Newton Abbot flapping track), and another friend's working lurchers, I favour some form of running dog... but of a smaller frame than greyhound sized dogs. Therefore, I think I am settled on a whippet based lurcher... but don't know what mix I should look for, or indeed, whether a pure bred whippet would be a better bet. I thought that if I posted here about what we, as a family, want from a dog, maybe I could benefit from your collective experience. 8)
Our primary requirement is for a family pet. We have 3 sons who all love dogs, although our youngest son (11) is particularly crazy about them (wants to be a Police dog handler when he grows up!) We want a dog that will enjoy a very active lifestyle, with lots of walking (4-10 miles a day, more at weekends). Our dog needs to have very good manners, as we visit and sleep over with friends and family quite often and the dog will come with us always.
A personal goal of mine, having admired an obedience display at the New Forrest County Show a couple weeks ago, is to try and train the dog to a decent level of obedience, possibly to take part in either obedience or agility trials with him/her. No particular reason, except that it looks great fun.
When I used to go out rabbiting with a friend, one dog of his used to particularly impress me. ‘Robbie’ was (I think!) a 1/4 collie, 3/4 whippet. He was compact, athletic and very bright. With my limited knowledge of the various lurcher ‘types’, I think a dog like Robbie would suit us very well. I also *really* like the look of Miss Madam’s bedlington/whippet in this thread. Adorable! :wub:
I’m also not against the idea of a pure bred whippet, but am unsure about the obedience part. Forgive my ignorance here, but is it necessary/desirable to have a bit of collie (for example) mixed in if I wanted to do obedience trials? (I know that Robbie seemed much ‘sharper’ than the greyhounds I used to help exercise
).We will be looking to find a puppy some time in the next few months, so are not in any rush… we could take a puppy now, or we could wait for the 'right' litter to be born.
Thanks for reading this over long note, and thanks in advance for any replies.
Cheers,
Wayne Kennedy
(Bristol)
