Whippet Dog Breed Facts and Whippet Information

The Whippet is a breed of Sighthound that descended primarily from small Greyhounds and other dog breeds like Pharaoh Hounds in particularly; some historians even believe that these canines perhaps are built with some of the genetic makeup of Terriers. It should be quite obvious that Whippets have strong ties with their Greyhound relatives just blatantly by their very similar resemblance that they share in common. Because of the many features that the Whippet shares with the Greyhound and other Sighthounds, Whippets were also used as racing dogs, especially during and before the times up until World War One.

Whippet dog racing first began with poor communities and miners using these canines as a source of entertainmentin Northern England. Then, Whippet racing spread fairly quickly across many countries and nations around the World. Today, Whippet racing is still popular in its native areas of Northern England, but this form of dog racing has become less common in other countries across the world, though it's still practiced by some today. For the past few decades, Whippets have now managed to find their ways as more of a family dog breed opposed to running across the racetracks.

Did You Know Whippets Are?

Whippets are in fact the fastest of all dog breeds. The Whippet hounddog is even faster on average than their Greyhound cousins, though many people falsely believe Greyhounds are the fastest dog breed. Whippets have been recorded to run up to speeds as high as 40 miles per hour! That's dang fast for such a little canine!

Whippet Coat & Whippet Appearance

The Whippet has a coat that is short and fine in texture and comes in color variations of black, tans, reddish coats, golds, ash dove grays, grey, liver, fawn, random spotting, mixed colored coats, tri colors, and practically most every other color a dog breed can possibly have. Thanks, to their short coats, the Whippet hounds are very easy to groom, so easy that it's not even necessary to groom these racing dogs at all in most cases.

These hounddogs have medium sized bodies that thin and built for incredible speed. Whippets have long, curved, down turned backs with semi boney spines visually running centered along their thin bodies; the Whippet dogs have skinny tails that round in the direction of their stomachs and lye between their legs when standing, as though they're frightened. When running, Whippets use their tails as a very important mechanism as a rudder to keep their balance as these hounds run at outstanding top speeds. This canine dog breed stand on tall, powerful, flexible legs connected to small delicate paws. Their faces are thin with long muzzles and ears that grow in a backwards direction giving an appearance of wind moving past them. The Whippet has large timid, adorable eyes that instantly capture just about anyone’s attention directly to them. Whippets have stunning eyes that come in usually browns and light yellowish golds, but their eyes occasionally appear in other colors and shades as well.

Whippet Withers

These Sighthound canines stand on withers with Male Whippets measuring between 18 and a half inches to 21 and a half inches in height; Female Whippets measure roughly from 17 and a half inches to 19 inches on average.

Whippet Weight

Both Male Whippets and Female Whippets should weigh at healthy weights within 23 to 30 pounds.

Whippet Temperament

Whippets have temperaments and personalities that are sweet, loving, and timid by nature. These shy hounddogs shouldn't be kenneled outside and need a nice social living space indoors. Since the Whippet is such a gentle dog breed, they suite children as canine companions incredibly well. As timid as Whippets can be and appear, surprisingly these hounds make wonderful watch dogs.

Whippet Dog Training

The Whippet dogs are highly intelligent Sighthound canines that are generally respond well to dog training. These hounddogs are natural hunters so they're a breeze when comes to training the Whippet how to hunt for small game. Whippets are racing dogs, so to no surprise these canines respond impeccably well to dog training with racing.

Whippet Exercise

Whippets require lots of exercise and space for exercise in a secure park or field where they can safely run off their leashes on open land. If you cannot supply your gentle Whippet canine companions with proper exercise, then don't even consider owning this dog breed.

Whippet Health

Whippets are generally healthy hound dogs, but they are prone to some hereditary health concerns like practically all purebred dog breeds. Some of the conditions and disorders that Whippets are at risk for developing include skin issues and cardiac problems. Like most dogs in the Sighthound family, Whippets are generally not that highly prone when it comes to developing genetic health conditions and diseases when compared to other purebred dog breeds.

Whippet Life Span

Whippets live an average life span that ranges from 12 and a half to 15 years of age. Considering if an individual Whippet is of good health, these canine companions can go on to live somewhat longer lives. The same goes for unhealthy Whippets, in that this Sighthound dog breed can live below the average life expectancy when neglected or if they develop any diseases.

Did You Know Whippets were?

Whippets were actually originally used for the purpose as hunting dogs where they captured animals and small game like rabbits, until they were bred as racing dogs in Northern England. Later on during the 19’th century Whippet Dog Racing actually became the National Sport of the Great Britain.