Hi,

Myself and my OH are thinking of adopting a whippet this time next year and are doing our research nice and early! I just wanted to know what they are like as pets etc and any advice owners have that will help us.

We haven't ever had a dog before so this is all going to be new for us so all advice is welcome!

Are whippets ok to be left for a couple of hours at a time? We both work but come home for lunch so max it will be left is 4 hours.

Thanks

There are several here, they just have to see your thread
I'm sure you will get a lot of help when they do

I am the very proud owner of my second whippet and soon my third will be arriving !!!
They are truly a fabulous breed, very affectionate/loving and excellent around even tiny children, they are particularly clean dogs and my girl will even sit and clean her feet when she comes in if they are dirty , always ready for a game or good walk but mostly calm indoors. They can be quite naughty as puppies but in a funny way, stealing things and running around like loonies but that is all part of their charm I think.
I have found mine great with other dogs and they are more then happy to play with big or small. My current girl is fabulous with all the animals here and will happily go out into the paddock with the chickens and ducks with no problems at all.
I imagine provided you exercise your whippet with a good run, etc then there would be no reason why he/she couldn't be left alone to sleep for a few hours

I have 8 whippets.

Whippets as pups can be very naughty they love to shred things and to chew. Obviously mine are worse because they live as a pack and especially the young ones tend to wind each other up. Mine range in ages from the twins who are 2 years old to the old boy Jasper who is now 10 and was our very first whippet.

There is nothing that they love more than to sit with you for a cuddle at night. I find the dogs are more loving than the bitches. My 4 boys 3 entire and 1 castrated are very laid back were as the girls can be independant. I have 3 generations of one family mum daughter and a grandaughter out of a different daughter. They are great with children my mum has a whippet I bred and she is a child minder and says she has never had a better dog with the kids.

They love to run and although people say they should not be allowed to free run they can be taught recall but they do a a prey drive so be carefull were you let one run. They can be trained but are stong willed and can be stubborn. If you want a whippet as just a pet and are not interested in racing or lur coursing with one I would reccomend a show bred whippet as they do tend to be a bit calmer.

They require very little grooming just a quick brush with a soft brush but becauseof their very short coat do need a coat in the winter when it is very cold.

One last thing whippets are very addictive people start out with one but often end up with 2 or even 3 and some like me end up with more

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Sammy you may be gone but your sprit will always live on in the sunbeams R I P Sammy

William- 6/11/03 - 24/3/10
Midge - 8/2/11 - 10-2-11

Whippets are great little family dogs.

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I'm a proud new owner of a 7 month old whippet lurcher (3/4 Whippet x 1/4 bedlington) he's very whippet like in looks and behaviour....he's NAUGHTY,NAUGHTY,NAUGHTY but and it's a very big but, he's funny, sweet, loving, cheeky, extreamly clever, very quick to learn, desperate to please and all round one of the nicest naughty dogs I've ever met!!! He loves collecting things, my garden looks like a bomb site every time I come home, but he doesn't chew just collects!!! He likes toilet rolls and newspaper to chew though, and yesterday managed to get hold of some firelighters which was nice and messy and smelly!!!!

He's extreamly affectionate with my other dogs and loves attention from people too. He's so far been extreamly good with any kids we've met and the only problem I've discovered is he's not good with sheep but I can work on that. His recall training and returning the ball has been amazingly easy to teach and I can honestly say I'm converted to whippets now!!

I exercise all my dogs twice a day, they get an hour in the morning and hour in the evening both off lead, obviously as I have a pack of 6 dogs they are happier when left but Norris does like his sleeps so I guess most whippets would be fine left once exercised.

One of my fav breeds! I do miss Mathew my Whippet pup bu sadly had to give him back to the breeder coz my cats were too scared of him.
He was a perfect puppy, no trouble at all. They do seem to think they are lap dogs though and love company so Im not sure they would be totally happy with someone who was out 8-9hrs day?

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SUMMER...JUST SAY NO!

I love my furkids.
dogs-Adam, Hannah, Heidi.
cats-Banjo, Bess, Eric, Tootsie, Blossom, Gracie.
Syrian Hamster-Inigo Montoya.
Rats-Ezri, Audrid, Emony.
Corn Snake- Kiora.
Kenyan Sand Boa- Kushti.

RIP- Winter, Autumn, Leela, Spring, Gandalf, Summer,Jet, Pip, Moo, Lilac, Wild Thing, Patrick, Frisbee, Echo.

A friend of mine has 3. She works full time and her husband works shifts.

Hers sleep all day on the couch and then get taken for major walks early morning and evening.

I'm a great believer that if your dog is walked, excercised and you spend quality time with it in the evenings and weekends, there is no reason why they cannot be left alone for few hours a day, especially if you are going to be popping back at lunch.

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Thanks for the replies so far.

We are still undecided about whether a whippet or a dog at all is right for us. I am more keen but my other half isnt sure yet. I would prefer 2 get 2 whippets for company but the OH would prefer 1.

A questions for those with whippets who work full time - how do yours cope? Do they get toilet breaks at all or are they trained to go in a certain place indoors? Would you recommend 1 or 2 dogs? If I leave him/her without returning for lunch is that too long?

Thanks