Hello Russ,
The advice in this thread appears to be really good. We have had different breeds over the years including Great Dane and Doberman. I don't think we will have anything other than a whippet again.
We have a fawn boy (Zach) of 17 months and are collecting our second one (a blue bitch) in a couple of weeks.
The comments here are spot on, they are loving pets, easy to groom, have do discernable smell and thieves. I am sold on the breed but like some others they are lively puppies.
Having the right breed is of course part of the picture and training is important as you note in the original post.
I am convinced that early socialisation and reward based training is the key to having a well balanced and behaved dog. This means collecting the puppy early and starting socialisation with you, your family and as many people, experiences noises etc as possible given the pre-vaccination restrictions. Certainly no earlier than seven weeks but no later than twelve weeks. The period between 8 and 12 weeks is the critical socialisation phase for a puppy if you want a dog that bonds to you and is obedient the evidence suggests that will give you the best chance.
As a sighthound, whippets will naturally chase things. If you bond and train the puppy from the early stages you will maximise the chance of good recall etc. We did this with Zach and he can heel off the lead, and is 100% reliable on recall even when he is in a mad dash for something. You can take him to a carnival, or busy high street and he is unfazed.
Many people have achieved good results by training in other ways but all the current research points to early socialisation and reward based training. We found "clicker" training very good.
Hope that you get what you want and good luck
.
The advice in this thread appears to be really good. We have had different breeds over the years including Great Dane and Doberman. I don't think we will have anything other than a whippet again.
We have a fawn boy (Zach) of 17 months and are collecting our second one (a blue bitch) in a couple of weeks.
The comments here are spot on, they are loving pets, easy to groom, have do discernable smell and thieves. I am sold on the breed but like some others they are lively puppies.
Having the right breed is of course part of the picture and training is important as you note in the original post.
I am convinced that early socialisation and reward based training is the key to having a well balanced and behaved dog. This means collecting the puppy early and starting socialisation with you, your family and as many people, experiences noises etc as possible given the pre-vaccination restrictions. Certainly no earlier than seven weeks but no later than twelve weeks. The period between 8 and 12 weeks is the critical socialisation phase for a puppy if you want a dog that bonds to you and is obedient the evidence suggests that will give you the best chance.
As a sighthound, whippets will naturally chase things. If you bond and train the puppy from the early stages you will maximise the chance of good recall etc. We did this with Zach and he can heel off the lead, and is 100% reliable on recall even when he is in a mad dash for something. You can take him to a carnival, or busy high street and he is unfazed.
Many people have achieved good results by training in other ways but all the current research points to early socialisation and reward based training. We found "clicker" training very good.
Hope that you get what you want and good luck
.
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