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Whippet
The Whippet is a British breed of dog of sighthound type. It closely resembles the Greyhound and the smaller Italian Greyhound, and is intermediate between them in size. In the nineteenth century it was sometimes called "the poor man's racehorse". It is commonly kept as a companion dog, for competitive showing or for amateur racing, and may participate in various dog sports, including lure coursing, agility, and flyball. It has the fastest running speed within its weight and size range, and is believed to have the fastest idle-to-running acceleration of any dog.
Whippets are characterized by their gentle, affectionate, and calm temperament. While typically relaxed and serene at home, they exhibit high energy and excitement when outdoors. Originally bred as hunting and racing dogs, Whippets have a strong prey drive, which may lead them to chase small animals.
Whippets have a minimal-shedding coat that is easy to manage due to its short, smooth texture and lack of an undercoat. However, their short coat and low body fat make them particularly sensitive to cold temperatures, so they may require extra protection, such as a dog jacket, in cooler weather. The breed is generally healthy, benefiting from a strong, athletic constitution, and is free from many hereditary issues seen in other breeds.
The concept of greyhound-type dogs of various sizes—large, medium, and small—has been well-documented in hunting manuals and natural history works dating back to the Middle Ages. In the early 15th century, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, translated and expanded the late 14th-century French Livre de chasse, a comprehensive manual on instructions for hunting with dogs. In his work, he highlighted the benefits of keeping ‘great,’ ‘middle,’ and ‘small-sized Greyhounds’ for hunting different kinds of game. Later, in the 16th century, English physician and academic John Caius referenced both greater and lesser types of Leporarius, Grehounde (Greyhound) in his book De Canibus Britannicis. Notably, he described a type connected to the Whippet: the tumbler, a 'lesser sort of mungrell greyhounde' that was an excellent warren dog used for catching rabbits. The tumbler was also recorded by Thomas Brown, a Scottish curator and editor, in the early 19th century.
The name "Whippet" is derived from an early seventeenth-century term, now obsolete, meaning "to move briskly."
In the Victorian era, English writers began describing an emerging modern breed of Whippet, also known as the snap-dog, a term derived from their tendency to readily 'snap up' nearby prey due to their naturally high prey drive. This breed was primarily developed for catching rabbits, coursing competitions, straight racing, and the growing trend of show fancy.
Whippets, like all other sighthounds, were bred to hunt using their sight-driven prey instinct, coursing game in open areas at high speeds. Numerous representations of small, sighthound-like hunting dogs can be found in Ancient Egyptian artworks dating back thousands of years, possibly depicting ancient forms of the Greyhound, Basenji, Pharaoh Hound, or Saluki. In medieval England, a small greyhound-type breed became popular as a ratting dog. The first written use of the word 'whippet' in English, referring to a type of dog, was in 1610. In a painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755) of two dogs named ‘Misse’ and ‘Turlu’, presented to Louis XV, the dogs depicted were either Whippets or another small, smooth-coated sighthound, but they were likely an early form of the Whippet. Oudry also completed a second painting of Misse with a different, non-sighthound breed of dog. A 1758 painting by Pompeo Batoni, Portrait of Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, also features a similar, whippet-like dog.
In the 19th century, Whippet racing was a popular sport in parts of England. The breed was highly regarded in the northern parts of England, as well as in Wales, but was generally disregarded in the rest of the country. At the time, there were two varieties of Whippet: one type had a smoother coat and was more popular in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, later becoming the modern Whippet. The second form had a rougher coat due to crossbreeding with Bedlington Terriers. This type was more popular in Durham and Northumberland, and was frequently referred to as a 'rabbit dog'. Early specimens were taken from the racetrack by dog fanciers of the time and later exported around the world. John Taylor, an English writer, noted that "In all the shapes and forms of dogges; of all which there are but two sorts that are useful to man's profits, which two are the mastiffe and the little curre, whippet, or house-dogge; all the rest are for pleasure and recreation."
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Whippet
The Whippet is a British breed of dog of sighthound type. It closely resembles the Greyhound and the smaller Italian Greyhound, and is intermediate between them in size. In the nineteenth century it was sometimes called "the poor man's racehorse". It is commonly kept as a companion dog, for competitive showing or for amateur racing, and may participate in various dog sports, including lure coursing, agility, and flyball. It has the fastest running speed within its weight and size range, and is believed to have the fastest idle-to-running acceleration of any dog.
Whippets are characterized by their gentle, affectionate, and calm temperament. While typically relaxed and serene at home, they exhibit high energy and excitement when outdoors. Originally bred as hunting and racing dogs, Whippets have a strong prey drive, which may lead them to chase small animals.
Whippets have a minimal-shedding coat that is easy to manage due to its short, smooth texture and lack of an undercoat. However, their short coat and low body fat make them particularly sensitive to cold temperatures, so they may require extra protection, such as a dog jacket, in cooler weather. The breed is generally healthy, benefiting from a strong, athletic constitution, and is free from many hereditary issues seen in other breeds.
The concept of greyhound-type dogs of various sizes—large, medium, and small—has been well-documented in hunting manuals and natural history works dating back to the Middle Ages. In the early 15th century, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, translated and expanded the late 14th-century French Livre de chasse, a comprehensive manual on instructions for hunting with dogs. In his work, he highlighted the benefits of keeping ‘great,’ ‘middle,’ and ‘small-sized Greyhounds’ for hunting different kinds of game. Later, in the 16th century, English physician and academic John Caius referenced both greater and lesser types of Leporarius, Grehounde (Greyhound) in his book De Canibus Britannicis. Notably, he described a type connected to the Whippet: the tumbler, a 'lesser sort of mungrell greyhounde' that was an excellent warren dog used for catching rabbits. The tumbler was also recorded by Thomas Brown, a Scottish curator and editor, in the early 19th century.
The name "Whippet" is derived from an early seventeenth-century term, now obsolete, meaning "to move briskly."
In the Victorian era, English writers began describing an emerging modern breed of Whippet, also known as the snap-dog, a term derived from their tendency to readily 'snap up' nearby prey due to their naturally high prey drive. This breed was primarily developed for catching rabbits, coursing competitions, straight racing, and the growing trend of show fancy.
Whippets, like all other sighthounds, were bred to hunt using their sight-driven prey instinct, coursing game in open areas at high speeds. Numerous representations of small, sighthound-like hunting dogs can be found in Ancient Egyptian artworks dating back thousands of years, possibly depicting ancient forms of the Greyhound, Basenji, Pharaoh Hound, or Saluki. In medieval England, a small greyhound-type breed became popular as a ratting dog. The first written use of the word 'whippet' in English, referring to a type of dog, was in 1610. In a painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755) of two dogs named ‘Misse’ and ‘Turlu’, presented to Louis XV, the dogs depicted were either Whippets or another small, smooth-coated sighthound, but they were likely an early form of the Whippet. Oudry also completed a second painting of Misse with a different, non-sighthound breed of dog. A 1758 painting by Pompeo Batoni, Portrait of Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, also features a similar, whippet-like dog.
In the 19th century, Whippet racing was a popular sport in parts of England. The breed was highly regarded in the northern parts of England, as well as in Wales, but was generally disregarded in the rest of the country. At the time, there were two varieties of Whippet: one type had a smoother coat and was more popular in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, later becoming the modern Whippet. The second form had a rougher coat due to crossbreeding with Bedlington Terriers. This type was more popular in Durham and Northumberland, and was frequently referred to as a 'rabbit dog'. Early specimens were taken from the racetrack by dog fanciers of the time and later exported around the world. John Taylor, an English writer, noted that "In all the shapes and forms of dogges; of all which there are but two sorts that are useful to man's profits, which two are the mastiffe and the little curre, whippet, or house-dogge; all the rest are for pleasure and recreation."
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