We finally got a doggie :)

[defblade]

I've been looking at the dog threads here with envy for ages now; well I can finally post my own!

We've been looking for a whippet for a while now, had one fall through at the last minute and missed all the rescue ones by being too slow. But word of mouth worked, and today we collected Pup who's a handsome 18 month old boy. He's settling in OK (hard life having to get used to a house after being in a kennel most of the time).....

....but farting like a good 'un

[Morningside]

Worth a double .

[The Nur]

Gorgeous dog, may you have many years of friendship

[Art_Vandelay]

Lovely dogs Whippets. Certainly on my shortlist of "Dogs I must have at some point in my life"

Jealous doesn't cover it...

Congratulations

[Urban Sports]

Did you shave it?

[becksW]

Fantastic. Having a whippet ourselves I am just a wee bit biased

I am sure he will provide you with many years enjoyment, but get him insured, whippets do know how to get themselves in trouble!! I speak from experience

Re: the wind, may need a diet change once more settled. Our whippet was horrendous when fed on James Well Beloved, changed to Pro Plan adult and was fantastic (that was 5.5yrs ago) he has been on the same food and same flavour ever since!! Schmackos do not suit him either!

Never even thought of having a whippet until we took ours on (rescue pup) Not sure I'd have any other breed now.

Edited by becksW on Sunday 31st January 17:58

[defblade]

We hope to have him a looong time

@urban - the very short hair is one of the things my other half was most keen on. It's incredably soft and he didn't seem to mind being out in the snow at all.

@becksW - we've only bought a small bag of the food he's on, give him a week or so to settle down and see how he goes... we're not going with the raw egg treat his last owner gave him We're half and half on insurance tho.... someone somewhere is making a profit off it; we have to decide which end of the odds we fancy....

[Piglet]

Raw eggs are a fantastic source of protein, keep up his treat. Our Lola loves raw eggs, she's not quite mastered breaking them open yet, she's only been having them for the last week to boost her immune system.

On the insurance front, we've just incurred around £3.5k of vet fees for our 14 month springer and we still don't really know what the problem is and whilst she's home with us now, I doubt that this is the end of the problems. 2 nights at our vets, 8 nights at the veterinary hospital, exploratory surgery, lots of tests and 6 weeks of antibiotics.

Without the insurance we would have been forced to chose on day 2 of her illness how much she meant to us and we don't have £3.5k to spend...

Lovely boy anyway, enjoy him!

Edited by Piglet on Sunday 31st January 18:40

[Thevet]

Seriously would advise insurance of some sort, avoids so much of the "profiteering effin vets" hassle that is often seen on here and elsewhere.

[becksW]

defblade said:

We hope to have him a looong time

@urban - the very short hair is one of the things my other half was most keen on. It's incredably soft and he didn't seem to mind being out in the snow at all.

@becksW - we've only bought a small bag of the food he's on, give him a week or so to settle down and see how he goes... we're not going with the raw egg treat his last owner gave him We're half and half on insurance tho.... someone somewhere is making a profit off it; we have to decide which end of the odds we fancy....

Seriously insurance for whippet..good. 1.2k bill for ours last yr after he was badly bitten by a dobermann, aswell as other claims for him eating stuff he shouldn't have and whippets are really prone to tearing their skin on branches, wire etc... (I see them come in regularly at work with cuts and nicks)

Eggs are ok but a good diet will provide all the protein he needs

Edited by becksW on Sunday 31st January 19:07

[mattley]

defblade said:

We're half and half on insurance tho.... someone somewhere is making a profit off it; we have to decide which end of the odds we fancy....

You know the odds aren't in your favour after all someone somewhere is making a profit off it.

You really have to hope it's just money down the drain, which most of the time it is, but unless you've got a contingency fund or a heart of stone it's a no brainer for a pet. A mate of mine is currently crying into his wallet because his manky moggy (his words) is needing some serious treatment and he just can't bring himself to tell his kids ....

[Piglet]

becksW said:

Eggs are ok but a good diet will provide all the protein he needs

Out of interest Becks what would you consider to be a good diet? Dried? (I don't mean that to sound as loaded as it does, I'm genuinely interested...)

[Tiggsy]

Never insured our two lurchers...pretty toughdogs but they do tear their skin on stuff when running. So always have some superglue to hand, would have to be a pretty mental cut for me to take one of mine to the vet over a cut now having stuck them together loads of times.

[Simpo Two]

So you bought a really skinny dog with no hair and then stuck him in the snow...

But seriously, congrats, I hear that whippets are very good pets.

[Jasandjules]

Congrats. I am sure you will spoil him enough to make him forget the s**t he went through.

[Soft Top]

Thevet said:

Seriously would advise insurance of some sort, avoids so much of the "profiteering effin vets" hassle that is often seen on here and elsewhere.

Absolutely 100%. We don't have a dog but the cat can rack up some seriously big bills and insurance is so worth it. It isn't much and you won't even notice it. Over the life of an animal it will cost £1000 to £3000, (possibly a bit more for a dog), but then so can one bill from the Vet.

[jeff m]

Handsom looking guy.
I'm sure you were told, but just to be sure...
Sight hounds of which he is one should not be off lead unless they are incredibly obedient, which they usually aren't
One glimpse of a squirrel or rabbit and they are off, you can stand there and yell Sit as many times as you like, but once they latch onto something the genes take over.

You now have a great dog and a cat, rabbit and squirrel free garden.

[Rollcage]

I would strongly advise insurance, unless you have loads of money in the bank and dont mind spending it!

I had my two insured for years and never needed it, but could then have afforded not to have bothered. When my financial circumstances took an abrupt change the insurance was cancelled and again they were ok for a few years, but when they were both ill and died within a couple of months of each other I couldnt afford to give them the care that might have saved them - sadly I'll never know if it would have made a difference, but I suspect it could well have done so, and that has been the toughest thing of all to deal with.

Get him insured, please.

BTW, lovely looking dog! I like whippets almost as much as GSD's!

[Doofus]

Camoflage dog

Edited by Doofus on Sunday 31st January 21:01

[defblade]

Is drinking tea going to cause him any problems? He seems to like it

We'll find out about the insurance.... we could cover some fairly hefty bills (we have for our cat) but hmmmmmmm