Whippet Temperament

[bardmand]

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Do you think there is an ideal whippet temperament or personality? Most whippets I have met have good temperaments in the sense that they are neither overly shy nor agressive towards people or other dogs. However, there seems to be great divergence in levels of activity, how outgoing they are, how geared they are towards their owners, playfulness and so on.

Now, the whippet standard simply states "Gentle, affectionate, even disposition." Just as the rest of the standard, this leaves some room for interpretation. Is that a good thing? Is the different personalities we see in our dogs one of the breed's attractions, or can it mislead potential newcomers to the breed as to what to expect from a whippet puppy?

In Norway, most whippets are show bred, but that does not at all mean they are all the same personality-wise. For those of you who have experience from show, racing or working lines - do you think there are discernible differences in temperament/personality between whippets bred for different purposes?

I am also curious to know whether anyone thinks that whippet temperament/personality has changed over the years? If so, how, and is it for the better or worse? Is there a type of personality that you would consider the original? Would the original purpose of the whippet as a working class working dog have favoured a particular personality, and should that still be considered the ideal?

These are just some musings, and I am sure there is no one answer to these questions - just wondering what other people have thought about these questions.

 

[sharron]

We read the same in one standred. We were also told that Whippets were quite dogs that did not bark alot.

Boy were they wrong :- " .

 

[Joanna]

I have a show bred who is affectionate But completely neurotic, highly intelligent and biddable, and a racing bred who is also developing neurosis but is much more outgoing, confident, loopy and devil-may care. For the same breed, they are poles apart. The racing bred dog is very difficult to train, the show-bred a doddle.

 

[midlanderkeith]

I have a show bred who is affectionate But completely neurotic, highly intelligent and biddable, and a racing bred who is also developing neurosis but is much more outgoing, confident, loopy and devil-may care. For the same breed, they are poles apart. The racing bred dog is very difficult to train, the show-bred a doddle.

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well you learn summat new everyday, i wasnt aware of that, thanks

 

[bardmand]

I have a show bred who is affectionate But completely neurotic, highly intelligent and biddable, and a racing bred who is also developing neurosis but is much more outgoing, confident, loopy and devil-may care. For the same breed, they are poles apart. The racing bred dog is very difficult to train, the show-bred a doddle.

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well you learn summat new everyday, i wasnt aware of that, thanks

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I'm not sure you can generalise about show and racing-bred dogs from two individuals. My show-bred is certainly not neurotic.

edited to say: ...if that is what you mean you have learnt.

 

[nina]

I dont know, this is a difficult one BUT i am of the thinking that personalities run with colours & of course this generally leads back to the lines behind them.

Sound potty (w00t)

After owning whippets for 25 years, on the whole this is my humble opinion of what I have had :

The darker the richer brindle - The more feisty, in your face & totally loopy & can be a bit destructive when it comes to shredding things (w00t)

Blues & blue & white parti's - very sweet natured, a lot calmer & very loving, but love their mad hare arounds, far more obedient.

Solid fawns - the least trouble i have found, quiet, non destructive, happy to go for a walk or veg out on the sofa, very biddable.

Have to add, my 2 original Blue & White Parti's & solid Blue 25 years ago were bred mainly from a mixture of racing stock ex some show stock (mainly Nimrodel)

All the others have been pure show stock.

These have all been bitches as i have never owned a male whippet & sorry never had a BLACK or BLACK & WHITE PARTI, so cant comment.

Sure we all have different opinions but this is just what i have found in those that i have owned.

Nina

 

[bardmand]

One of the reasons why I started this thread, is because I have followed discussions on some other forums about whether or not it is desirable to maintain the original character of less sociable breeds than the whippet - breeds of guarding dogs for instance - which made me wonder whether or not there is such a thing as an original whippet character, or whether sufficient prey drive is the only criteria by which to judge whether a whippet is a true whippet or not. Those who wrote the standard seem to have thought otherwise.

 

[Strike Whippets]

I could only imagine the original Whippet temprement would have been more Terrier like than it is today (well in most Whippet's today anyway) ....Judging by a) the crosses that went into Whippet's and b) for what they were used/bred to do .........As for most temprement's, it just goes by lines and upbringing I guess .........My old showie has a sound, fun, obedient nature, but she's a loon ...........My 1 racer if she'd had been my first Whippet I would have been in big trouble ........She's everything a Whippet's NOT supposed to be (w00t) ........but luckily I handled her well and now she's super :wub: .........As for my other 4 racing bred's ........Well I just wouldn't know I had them .........Easy, obedient, responsive, loving and very easy to train ...........As for prey drive .......they all have it, so they are all Whippet's (w00t) .....well that's good enough for me .........but then saying that it's not PC to have a dog that wants to hunt anymore ......perhaps we'll have to soften this in the breed in years to come just for our dog's own safty ......but lets hope not :thumbsup:

 

[bardmand]

.........but then saying that it's not PC to have a dog that wants to hunt anymore ......perhaps we'll have to soften this in the breed in years to come just for our dog's own safty    ......but lets hope not  :thumbsup:

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But that is just it, isn't it - all breeds have changed and evolved to adapt to different circumstances - is it so bad if prey drive is played down in whippets? Will it not just make it easier to keep them as pets? Or will it mean a change to their characters so profound they will no longer be interesting companions?

 

[Strike Whippets]

.........but then saying that it's not PC to have a dog that wants to hunt anymore ......perhaps we'll have to soften this in the breed in years to come just for our dog's own safty    ......but lets hope not  :thumbsup:

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But that is just it, isn't it - all breeds have changed and evolved to adapt to different circumstances - is it so bad if prey drive is played down in whippets? Will it not just make it easier to keep them as pets? Or will it mean a change to their characters so profound they will no longer be interesting companions?

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It would be bad for my lot if the Whippet's prey drive was played down as a) they race and b) they do catch rabbit's etc ....... I personally think the average Whippet is an easy pet, and if the chase/prey drive instinct was taken out of them, we'd just end up with plain, boring lazy dog's ..........The prey drive instinct is the reason why any dog see's the need to play ball/frisee etc......it simulate's the chase/catch ........so we'd be taking the fun element away aswell ......... ............I say keep them like they are ......perfect, if a tad hard of hearing on occassion's lol

 

[Joanna]

My show bred and racing bred both have prey drive, but it is FAR more obvious and apparent in the racing bred. Whippets are the most delightful breed to live with, very intuitive and receptive to their humans whatever the breeding, I think the racing blood is filled with beans though! :clown:

 

[JAX]

I dont know, this is a difficult one BUT i am of the thinking that personalities run with colours & of course this generally leads back to the lines behind them.
Sound potty (w00t)

After owning whippets for 25 years, on the whole this is my humble opinion of what I have had :

The darker the richer brindle - The more feisty, in your face & totally loopy & can be a bit destructive when it comes to shredding things  (w00t) Blues & blue & white parti's - very sweet natured, a lot calmer & very loving, but love their mad hare arounds, far more obedient. 

Solid fawns - the least trouble i have found, quiet, non destructive, happy to go for a walk or veg out on the sofa, very biddable. 

Have to add, my 2 original Blue & White Parti's & solid Blue 25 years ago were bred mainly from a mixture of racing stock ex some show stock (mainly Nimrodel)

All the others have been pure show stock.

These have all been bitches as i have never owned a male whippet & sorry never had a BLACK or BLACK & WHITE PARTI, so cant comment.

Sure we all have different opinions but this is just what i have found in those that i have owned.

Nina

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Couldnt agree more ,Nina , then I realsied Badger was dark red Brindle and a more gentle , calm and unassuming boy you could wish to meet , But I do remember him being naughty , We used to say that I bet he thinks his name is NO with the amount of times we said it :lol: Solid fanws spot on , just ask Mayzee :wub:

 

[nina]

Couldnt agree more ,Nina , then I realsied Badger was dark red Brindle and a more gentle , calm and unassuming boy you could wish to meet , But I do remember him being naughty , We used to say that I bet he thinks his name is NO with the amount of times we said it  :lol: Solid fanws  spot on , just ask Mayzee  :wub:

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Aaaaahhh BUT Badger here is a boy & i'm sure whatever the colour far less temperamental than the wee madams of the breed even tho he still has the naughty streak, bless him.

 

[Seraphina]

I was always very interested in dogs' temperament and the "nature v. nurture" question. I started my active involvement in dog showing and breeding with great Danes, and such in a large breed there is not much you can forgive. One of the fascinating things i noticed that very often a puppy would behave like his sire, although they never met and therefore this was a definitely an inherited trait. Another thing was that when we moved into the country, our 4 dogs have never seen any farm animals, but they accepted relatively effortlessly the cow, horses, goats, chooks and geese, but i could NEVER teach them, or the next generation, to leave the pig alone. Originally Danes were bred for hunting wild boar, but my dogs were hundreds generations removed from that time, their ancestors for many generation NEVER even seen a pig.

That indicates it is not easy to breed an ancient instinct out of dogs.

My Whippets are all well behaved, but i start training them in the nest, the moment they notice my presence, and continue right through their life. That way i modify their inbred behavior, such as barking. Some require more work than others but generally in the end they all are pretty much on the same level of obedience.

Bluebelle and Genevieve are both blue, and first cousins. But Bluebelle was perfect on recall from the beginning; actually she has a temperament very much like her fawn parti mum. Genevieve, on the other hand would totally ignore me when she came to us. It has been intensive training for the past 2 months, but she still turns deaf now and then.

 

[*Lesley*]

Well I find my 2 show breds to have a different personalities from each other Sienna is mature and laid back sensible and cuddly she will quite happily sit and cuddle all day but loves to chase the lure , and becomes totally involved in that, callie on the other hand is misceivious but on the outside seems less confident than sienna she is quite aloof at times and prefers to sleep in her bed where it's quiet'she's very loving when she wants to be though :huggles:

Spry who is coursing bred is totally different she is totally confident , totally giddy like a whirlwind she will have a go at anything and very loving :huggles:

Kane is a new experience so far being a boy but he is coursing bred and is very much like Spry when she was young and they seem to have partenered up always playing (w00t) (w00t)

I'm not sure what an ideal temperament would be really I think mine all have it in the own different ways, because they all have different personalities which makes them more interesting and fun at and the same time are lovely to be around and a joy to own :wub:

 

[~JO~]

Mine are absolute opposites, both have some coursing lines in them - the rest being show-bred...

Archie's pedigree is very much that of a true dual purpose whippet (which is what his breeder wanted to achieve & keep) He is very arrogant, not very biddable at all, got incredible hunting drive - not just sighthound wise but he has an amazing nose and can scent most animals. He will be 4 this year and in the last 12 months has got much more cuddly and affectionate. I think the arrogance is quite typical (perhaps more of a whippet bitch?)

Stanleys temperament has some ideal traits and some awful traits, he is incredibly biddable and almost acts like a collie in the way he 'downs' and 'heals'. he cannot bear to be apart from me, but he is far too highly strung - and really does not like strangers especially if they come to close to me or my house :wacko: He has nipped 2 people up the bum (plumber & courier) - just like a collie..... :unsure: which is just not a trait which is 'typical' I think and obviously not ideal

I supoose an ideal whippet personality would be somewhere in between the 2 of them! But I love them both dearly and especially my litle Stan lying across my feet every night :*

Louis is incredibly loving, outgoing, naughty (of course) yet biddable - so perhaps he has a more 'ideal' whippet temperament - mind you he is oly 6 months...so time will tell :teehee:

 

[Hilary & Hounds]

Fascinating topic! :thumbsup:

Both of my pure whippets are show bred with a lot of Nevedith behind them although they are not closely related. Albie is destructive, arrogant and even insolent, obedient when he wants to be (not often and usually involves food), has a high prey drive (wants to kill the Felix cat on the telly and it's a cartoon! :blink: ) and barks. His saving grace is that he loves his Mum! :wub: Oh, and he's a cuddle monster. :wub: :wub:

Logan is obedient, naughty in a puppy way, loving, prey drive not yet developed but is not showing any of Albie's arrogance! He's happy and confident, much more so than Albie at a similar age. Now he's mastered the art of coming down stairs he doesn't seem to be frightened of anything! :lol: He stands up for himself and is more than a match for the others in play fighting. He doesn't let the greyhounds intimidate him either and seems to realise that they're all talk! He's a joy! o :wub: :wub:

I think Lesley's situation where she has two litter sisters who are so different is really interesting! Both have had the same "nature and nurture" you might say.

 

[Karen]

I think what Nina touched on was right although its not so apparent as it used to be because Whippets are not so line bred now and there is more of a mix of temperements.

I think the strong darker brindles have a lot of terrier traits, (they were crossed with staffie to make them more tenatious when they where old type pit coursing where they just had to catch and kill as many rabbits as possible) and can be more in your face.

The solid fawns seem to be much more laid back I think and have IG traits in thier genes. More of a genteel ladies coursing dog

Blacks seem keen and a bit wild, Manchester terrier like perhaps?

As I said I think it is less obvious now than it was 25 odd years ago.

When I married David who had only had solid fawns for 25 years he didnt know what hit him when the brindles moved in (w00t) They didnt just trot out for a pee, everything was done at top speed even eating and greeting. He has learnt to place his hands in vunerable areas now

There will always be exceptions to the above, if you have a fawn with a tiny bit of white on it, its just a brindle with no stripes :thumbsup:

Very interesting topic

 

[Cathrine]

.........but then saying that it's not PC to have a dog that wants to hunt anymore ......perhaps we'll have to soften this in the breed in years to come just for our dog's own safty    ......but lets hope not  :thumbsup:

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But that is just it, isn't it - all breeds have changed and evolved to adapt to different circumstances - is it so bad if prey drive is played down in whippets? Will it not just make it easier to keep them as pets? Or will it mean a change to their characters so profound they will no longer be interesting companions?

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Hei!

I think you also have to remember that many whippet owners here in UK actually use the whippet to hunt with. I guess that is a reason the prey drive is still useful to keep.

Where in Norway do you come from? :thumbsup:

 

[~elizabeth~]

Spry who is coursing bred is totally different she is totally confident , totally giddy like a whirlwind she will have a go at anything and very loving :huggles:

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I'd never really given this much thought until I reread Bo Bengtson's The Whippet recently:

"Lagunas - usually tough, sturdy, happy-go-lucky dogs, prepared to throw their arms around any stranger and love them' " and thought how well it described my (Laguna) dog, plus many of the other Laguna coursing dogs I've met (albeit fairly out-bred ones).

He is a very happy character who wags his tail from the beginning of any outing right to the end, and has not a neurotic nerve in his system. Prey drive is strong as you'd expect, and very strong-willed and has a strong desire to be dominant, but in a persistent, stealthy, non-confrontational way.

I don't know whether there is a connection between prey-drive and temperament in whippets, but on balance nearly all of the coursing dogs I've met seem to have lovely outgoing, confident and affectionate temperaments.