History and origin

The Whippet is a medium-sized sighthound of English origin developed in the 19th century. It was originally bred by miners in the north of England as a racing and small-game dog. It is known as the the poor man's greyhound because it was the working class's favourite for betting on races.

Characteristics

The FCI standard reads:

ORIGIN: Great Britain.

UTILIZATION: : Breed originally used for hunting, whether by scent or by sight.

GENERAL APPEARANCE: Balanced combination of muscular power and strength with elegance and grace of outline. Its structure is suited to developing speed and work. All forms of exaggeration should be avoided.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT: An ideal companion. Highly adaptable to domestic and sporting surroundings. Gentle, affectionate and of even disposition.

HEAD

Skull: Long and lean, flat on top, rather wide between the eyes, tapering towards the muzzle.

Stop: Slight.

FACIAL REGION:

Nose: Black. In blue dogs, a bluish colour is permissible. Liver nose in dogs of cream and other diluted colours; in white or parti-coloured dogs a partially depigmented nose is permissible.

Jaws/Teeth: Strong, powerful and clean-cut jaws with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

EYES: Oval, bright, expression very alert.

EARS: Rose shaped, small, fine in texture.

NECK: Long, muscular, elegantly arched.

BODY

Topline: Showing a graceful arch over the loin, but the dog is not humped.

Back: Broad, well-muscled, firm, somewhat long. Loin: Giving an impression of strength and power.

Chest: Very deep, with plenty of heart room; brisket deep and well defined. Ribs well sprung and muscled at their dorsal insertion.

Underline and belly: With a definite tuck-up.

TAIL: No feathering. Long, tapering; when in action carried in a delicate curve, but never higher than the level of the back.

FOREQUARTERS:

General appearance: Forearms straight and upright, with moderate bladed bone. The front is not too wide..

Shoulder (shoulder blades): : Well laid back with flat muscles. The space between the shoulder blades at the withers is moderate.

Upper arm: Approximately of equal length to the shoulder blades.

Elbow: The elbows fall directly under the withers when viewed in profile.

Metacarpus (Pastern): Strong with slight spring.

Forefeet: Oval,well split up between the toes; thick pads and strong nails..

HINDQUARTERS:

General appearance:: Strong.The dog able to in stand naturally over a lot of ground.

Thigh: Broad across.

Stifle (Knee): Well bent without exaggeration.Lower thigh: Well developed.

Hock joint: Well let down.

Hind feet: Oval, well split up between the toes, with thick pads and strong nails. Oval,well split up between the toes; thick pads and strong nails..

GAIT / MOVEMENT: : Should possess great freedom of action.In profile, it should move with a long, easy stride while holding the topline. The forelegs should be thrown forward and low over the ground; the hindlegs should come well under the body, giving great propelling power.

General movement should not look stilted, high-stepping, short or mincing. True coming and going.

COAT

Hair: Fine, short, close in texture.

Colour: Any colour or mixture of colours, except merle..

SIZE

: Desirable height at the withers ::

Dogs: 47-51 cm (18.5 to 20 inches).

Bitches: 44-47 cm (17.5 to 18.5 inches).

FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault, and the seriousness with which it is regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS

: Aggressive or overly shy dogs.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities.

N.B.:

• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed-typical conformation, should be used for breeding.

Our dogs

OUR HISTORY WITH WHIPPETS

Our first whippet came by chance, at a time when we were just getting into the world of dog shows with Afghan Hounds. Our mentor, John Hansen, also received — as a gesture of friendship — bitches from the Do Vale Negro affix of Carla Molinari (Portugal), and he gave us a dog from his first litter in '95, Jahrog All In One (aka Hugo). Hugo was everything the owner of a show dog could hope for, with great wins in the beauty rings, and the dog that introduced the breed into our home. From then on (and until the end) there will always be whippets at home. Back then it was a practically unknown breed in our country; today they are far more popular. Everyone who comes close to the breed ends up enchanted by its beauty and character. For me it is the best breed in the world because it has all the advantages and none of the drawbacks inherent to each breed. Outgoing, elegant, clean, healthy, sporty, easy in every way. Since the passing of Stephen Mason (Broadacres whippets), we are the oldest kennel of the breed in Spain.

Our breeding base starts from dogs with American and English blood, the kind of pedigree that Jackie Bourdin (Du Manoir de la Grenouillère) bred in France, with the addition of a somewhat higher percentage of Canadian and American blood. Today that is the type of whippet we mostly see at the continental level. For me the challenge is to breed a dog with American type and movement in a slightly smaller frame. For many years we avoided the coarseness of the English whippet, but it has recently evolved very favourably towards the elegance of the American type thanks to crosses with imported dogs, so that today we can enjoy a consistent type almost worldwide.