Somehow the conversation of dogs came up today at work and any time it does I absolutely have to tell people how awesome my whippets are. I figured if I need to tell people who don’t ask I may as well post it somewhere, so steemit!
Whippets are simply put the best dogs ever. Feel free to tell me why you think your dogs are better and I will feel free to “object to your reality and substitute my own” (Adam Savage) because I really like my dogs.
First off and most importantly they don’t bark. And by that I mean in a normal day with normal activities they don’t bark. Someone knocks on the door and they tell me with a bark or two or sometimes just excitedly running to the door or looking out the windows. If they want to play with other dogs sometimes they bark a handful of times but that’s it.
Secondly they are absolutely beautiful animals, I mean they are like the pinnacle of speed and power built similarly to a cheetah they are going fast even while standing in the classic Whippet stance.
Third, they are smart smart dogs, they are easily trained with positive reinforcement and corporal cuddles to show them your the boss. They are so smart however they may begin to outsmart you so watch out for that, they will train you to give them treats I promise. We crate trained our dogs and had great success with very very minimal potty training accidents usually from us being lazy, one rings the bell by the door to be let out. Our dogs currently sleep in their crates where they often go during the day to relax and nap it is their safe place or in a bed at the end of our bed, we have boundaries and they are ok with this, if noisy a simple sshhh and they quiet down. The puppy’s always don’t like the first few nights of solo crate sleeping but quickly get used to it, just let them cry even though they sound like sad dinosaurs when they cry it’s both the cutest and saddest thing ever. We also taught them not to beg for food, our dinner time is not their dinner time, they go in the living room and rest while we eat no table scraps for their sensitive tummy’s because that’s what’s best for them and they don’t mind. I can’t stand a dog who begs whines or barks for my food, so they happily relax or quietly play while we eat.
Fourth, these dogs are adaptable, some will say they absolutely must have enormous space to run however some say they don’t need much and do well on a leash or in apartment living. Having started from experience in an apartment with my first whippet never being off the leash while outside I can say that they won’t drive you crazy from how “high strung / high energy” they are. They are great because when you want them calm they will be calm and when you want them to play and run they play and run. Most people say that the whippet has 2 modes, either sleeping or running, I say they are more like 0-25% and 75-100% they either want to run full blast or they want to scurry around the house to find a bed or cuddle up in a blanket next to or behind you or even between your legs. Put a harness or collar on them and a leash and they do amazing in any situation where they could get away from you if you are concerned about open areas or near roadways, they are sighthounds and when their interest is locked on to something other than you they will run quite a bit before they lose interest and listen and return to you.
Fifth and final thoughts they are unique animals that not everyone has and frankly I feel bad for people who have yet to meet one, even my non dog loving friends like them because they are unobtrusive, they won’t jump on you unless requested and they don’t drive you nuts, if you ask them to leave you alone they go play with someone else because they are so cute someone else will want to play with them and they will eat up that attention. They are great with children because they are super gentle and non aggressive towards humans, if they are exposed to cats and other animals young they are curious and cautious towards them and non aggressive, I can’t say from experience about if they were adult and saw a cat run away for the first time they may be incited to chase because they were hunting dogs for rabbits in Europe so just test the waters first before you remove the leash if you aren’t certain. But I have never seen aggression from ours to any animal other than moles or rabbits or squirrels. They are not particularly scared of sounds from the environment like guns or storms but if a person makes loud noises and acts crazy they will likely run away cautiously watching, one of our dogs does not like the sound of popping trash bags for whatever reason. They can get cold in the winter or cold rain so we put jackets on them in those situations and they do great.
TLDR: whippets are the dogs you wish you had, refer to the above for why
Seriously I could go on but I’ll stop for now if you made it this far thank you for skipping ahead and feel free to go back and read what I wrote, I know I do it too, but really thanks for reading and joining in the conversation,
Cheers,
raguhmuffin