Rescue whippet

[LT86]

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Hi,

I am new to this forum, and after some advice.

At the weekend me and my partner went to a local rescue centre to make a donation, and as we were walking around we fell in love with a whippet. We both decided to have a good think about it before making a commitment.

I would love nothing more than to give this lovely dog a good home for life, but I have a few worries.

We both work full time, and I have read that Whippets can suffer from separation anxiety, my partner would be able to pop home on his lunch a few times a week as he works local to our house, and I am sure our mums would also help out with mid day walking etc. Would this help keep the dog happy?

I also have a house cat, and I have read about Whippets prey instincts. My cat is 5 years old now, and has shown aggression in the past. I don't want either the dog or the cat to be scared of the other, but I would prefer the dog to know that the cat won't put up with any messing either. We have talked about keeping both animal safe while we aren't there to supervise, like letting them have separate areas of the house during the day, and keeping the dog under our control while we are in. Has anyone here been able to integrate a rescue whippet in with their established cat?

Any advice is really welcomed, and thank you in advance.

 

[Biker John]

I didn't have a rescue but I did have a Whippet pup which I brought home to my two cats, the cats behaved very good, showing the pup they were in charge but keeping their claws in. Their was places the cats could get to that the dog couldn't more for my peace of mind than anything else. I have now lost both cats through old age, (23 and 19), but while I had them although they and the Whippet were never good friends they tended to view each other with suspicion but all lived together without any problems. With bringing in an adult I would expect a lot would depend on if it had lived with cats before.

 

[eingana]

Hi LT86 and welcome to DogForum

I don't think that anybody can give you a full answer to your questions. Some whippets suffer from separation anxiety, but quite a lot don't have any problem with it at all, and I know several sight hounds of all descriptions that live happily with cats. Those that share a house successfully tend to be cats that just don't run away. If a cat runs it will be really hard to stop any dog, especially a sight hound, from chasing. Chasing doesn't necessarily mean that the dog will do harm, but it all goes pear shaped and out of your control once the pursuit is under way.

You also need to be aware that rules that will apply with your cat inside the house will not apply outside the house (with your cat or any other cat or small animal) and so a whippet who shares with a cat in the house may still chase and/or attack that same cat in the garden. All of this can be worked on, but sight hounds are so mesmerised by their chase response that if they are off the lead there will usually be no way to call them off from a chase.

The obvious solution to this is to not let them off the lead when you're out unless you're in a controlled environment. If not being able to let your dog off a lead is an issue then maybe a sight hound is not for you.

I love sight hounds- I think they're glamorous, and elegant and beautiful, but they aren't my sort of dog in temperament and I foster kittens so I regularly have small squeaky things in my house, so I have to admire from afar and have a GSD instead.