Whippets (possibly)

[SteellFJ]

After some good advice and direction from BexVN in another thread (thanks Bex) i registered with Hounds First with a view to rescuing a puppy. Well we only went and passed a home visit for Hounds First the other night and are now waiting to here when we can go visit a litter or two.

Now considering Whippets & Italian Greyhounds as Lurchers and Greyhounds would be to big for my OH.

My Question is this: with these breeds having Negative body fat levels and needing the likes of Raised Bowls Etc where on the interwebs is great for buying accessories and what brands for coats, harnesses etc?

I'm buzzing to get my first puppy since I was a pup myself.

[moorx]

Congratulations on passing your homecheck!

My two whippets have Blizzard coats, which can be bought from various places, including here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17-19-21-23-Blizzard-Whi...



They have Ruffwear harnesses like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ruffwear-Webmaster-Harne...



We did try different fleece trimmed harnesses, but they were able to get out of them too easily.

The harnesses have ID tags on them, and Sam and Jet also wear 'house collars' with tags for when they're not in their harnesses.

They also have Equafleece Dog Tankies for when it's cold:

https://www.equafleece.co.uk/store/dog_tankies.htm...

And for special occasions, Jet has his dragon suit



By the way - whippets are usually smaller - ours are giant mutant ninja whippets!

Good luck and keep us updated

[bexVN]

great too hear, good luck with it all. I can't believe for a minute that you will have any regrets with your breed choice .

Can't add much to what moorx says except raised bowls definitely advisable even for a smallish whippet. My first whippet never had one until a nerve problem but use one now for Bryn and it helped reduce some acid reflux he had.

My last whippet was 13.5kg, my current whippet 10.5kg. I've seen 16-17kg whippets and 8-9kg ones!!

Oh and sometimes greyhound rescue sites sell coats etc (that will fit whippets aswell)

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 25th February 19:18

[bexVN]

http://jansgifts.co.uk/

And this site I have used in the past (wouldn't let me attach it to my other post!!)

[SteellFJ]

Thanks Guys,

Have being seeing those coats more than most so will go for them when the time comes.

Looking forward to surprising the kids, they think we're getting one soon but won't be telling them when.

I'll keep you all posted.

[Yertis]

I'm not sure about this 'raised feeding bowl' malarky - we got one when our eldest injured her neck last year and it was recommended, and she used it then. But she definitely prefers her bowl on the deck.

Italian Greyhounds - although they look superficially similar to whippets - are really a different kettle of fish altogether, being more toy dogs than working dogs like whips. 'Iggys' are pretty difficult to house train and, by all accounts, quite skittish. A well trained whippet is however usually pretty fearless, ours used to take great pleasure in getting bigger dogs to chase them then blasting off into the distance, or looping round behind their pursuers to pass again at speed. Wonderful things to watch.



Scallywags...

[moorx]

bexVN said:

My last whippet was 13.5kg, my current whippet 10.5kg. I've seen 16-17kg whippets and 8-9kg ones!!

Ours are 22kg

[bexVN]

moorx said:

bexVN said:

My last whippet was 13.5kg, my current whippet 10.5kg. I've seen 16-17kg whippets and 8-9kg ones!!

Ours are 22kg

Blimey!! They are huge, bet most don't think they are whippets!. Bryn's dad was about 17-18kg so I thought Bryn would get bigger than he did!

[SteellFJ]

Brilliant Picture and story, guess I'll need to rescue more than one 😂

[moorx]

bexVN said:

moorx said:

bexVN said:

My last whippet was 13.5kg, my current whippet 10.5kg. I've seen 16-17kg whippets and 8-9kg ones!!

Ours are 22kg

Blimey!! They are huge, bet most don't think they are whippets!. Bryn's dad was about 17-18kg so I thought Bryn would get bigger than he did!

Yes, they are 22 inches to the shoulder - they are not much smaller than Honey (greyhound) who is 25kg. That's why they ended up in rescue - they grew too big and the breeder couldn't show or breed from them.

[bexVN]

SteellFJ said:

Brilliant Picture and story, guess I'll need to rescue more than one ??

. My last whippet was so ridiculously submissive to other dogs in his own home that we decided against a second in the end, however we definitely feel Bryn would cope and enjoy a fellow whippet companion.

[bakerstreet]

You can get smaller greyhounds, but even a small female will be north of 20Kg. Is it size or weight you are concerned about?

We have raised feeding and water bowls. Hes had it since the day he arrived in our house. Custom made by me

[SteellFJ]

bakerstreet said:

You can get smaller greyhounds, but even a small female will be north of 20Kg. Is it size or weight you are concerned about?

We have raised feeding and water bowls. Hes had it since the day he arrived in our house. Custom made by me

I think anything more than 12/15kg would be to much for the OH, if one happens to grow bigger then we'll (I) will consider it a bonus. She would have a Yorkie if it was all her doing or she would allow cats to take over and rule the house.

I'd have Huskies or Rottweilers given half a chance but she's a first timer so i've done a lot of research into temperament and sizes etc over the 3 years i've been talking her round. Narrowed it down to Whippets, Staffys, Labradours and Border Terriers as a broad choice, finally deciding Whippets just before the New Year.

I will probably be looking for a second dog in a few years as well so can go bigger then as the kids will also be older, my youngest is 3 at the moment.

Considering doing my own "Bowl raising apparatus" as well as a wee project to get the tools out.

[SteellFJ]

Actually if you all don't mind confirming something for me: the Person who done the home Visit was a local Veterinary Nurse, when we were talking foods she was a bit adverse to high protein feeds as she believed Sight hounds go mental on higher protein diets, is this true?

What foods are best for them? i want the best for the dogs health only and not something heavily weighted in one direction.

She recommended a local place to us for food which is good so if need be i can speak with them when I have an idea.

[Yertis]

Ours are all between 10kg and 12 kg, which is perfect for us because they extend to the size of, say, a springer, but fold up smaller than cats when they're asleep. Which will generally be in our bed. (When we got them we said they wouldn't be coming upstairs, a rule which lasted less than 24 hours.)

One of the best things about whippets is that they are generally very clean – they hardly shed even when malting, even then the fur is short, and they keep their bums covered up well. Unlike some breeds they smell hardly at all, and if you bury your nose in their fur they smell really nice, like biscuits.

[Pat101]

Yertis said:

Ours are all between 10kg and 12 kg, which is perfect for us because they extend to the size of, say, a springer, but fold up smaller than cats when they're asleep. Which will generally be in our bed. (When we got them we said they wouldn't be coming upstairs, a rule which lasted less than 24 hours.)

One of the best things about whippets is that they are generally very clean – they hardly shed even when malting, even then the fur is short, and they keep their bums covered up well. Unlike some breeds they smell hardly at all, and if you bury your nose in their fur they smell really nice, like biscuits.

Ditto bigger bed would make life easier though.

[bexVN]

We were accepted....Finally! for a home check from a whippet charity. We had it today, fingers crossed it went well, it seemed to, luckily my job seemed to help!!

[bexVN]

SteellFJ said:

Actually if you all don't mind confirming something for me: the Person who done the home Visit was a local Veterinary Nurse, when we were talking foods she was a bit adverse to high protein feeds as she believed Sight hounds go mental on higher protein diets, is this true?

What foods are best for them? i want the best for the dogs health only and not something heavily weighted in one direction.

She recommended a local place to us for food which is good so if need be i can speak with them when I have an idea.

I've heard this before but usually with greyhounds but they suggest 20% which I think is too low. Foods with around 26% should be fine over 32% probably too high. Personally I don't worry too much about protein content more about ingredient quality (I feed Vets Kitchen Salmon which is 24%)

Edited by bexVN on Sunday 28th February 23:06

[SteellFJ]

bexVN said:

We were accepted....Finally! for a home check from a whippet charity. We had it today, fingers crossed it went well, it seemed to, luckily my job seemed to help!!

Well done Bex, a dog in good hands again soon

[moorx]

SteellFJ said:

Actually if you all don't mind confirming something for me: the Person who done the home Visit was a local Veterinary Nurse, when we were talking foods she was a bit adverse to high protein feeds as she believed Sight hounds go mental on higher protein diets, is this true?

What foods are best for them? i want the best for the dogs health only and not something heavily weighted in one direction.

She recommended a local place to us for food which is good so if need be i can speak with them when I have an idea.

Missed this - all three of the dried foods I have used for any length of time with my sighthounds have been 20% protein. I've never tried a higher protein kibble, but mine do get a little bit of tinned meat or fish with theirs.