Does anyone know about Whippet's?

[momto6tails]

Hey

We have a 2 yr old dalamation mix. We took him to vet when we first got him and our vet said he is a whippet. My husband and I both agree he is diffently dalmation but also we know he has some type of mix. He has all the features of a dalmation as far as his face, spots, and tail go but around his rib area its more like a grey hound. Just wondering if anyone here has a whippet?

Also how do you post pictures to threads?

[tiffers]

We had Whippet puppy in on Saturday for a broken leg, the owner had only had him for five minutes...this Saturday, the owners called and said he's broken the other leg...so now, the poor little dog has two broken legs...and a good $6 to $7 thousand in vet bills. Expensive little whippet, I tell you...but, that's not uncommon for them. 8]

If you look at the top of the Pet Portraits Central, there are two tutorials on how to add pictures to posts.

[momto6tails]

have you ever heard of a dalmation whippet?

[tiffers]

I suppose it's possible. I'd imagine them to be a lot smaller than a greyhound or dalmation, as Whippets are VERY small. Hardly ever over 20 pounds...a 20 pounder is severely obese, I would think.

[Yogi]

These links may help. Actually a Whippet at 20lbs would not necessarily be obese, though an Italian Greyhound at 20lbs would be considered obese.
The Whippet can be up to 22 inches so 20lbs would not be really obese where the IG can be only up to 15 inches per standard therefore 13 to 14 lbs would be ideal anymore would make the dog appear to be obese. Many confuse the smaller one (IG) with the Whippet which was created by breeding a Greyhound and Miniature Greyhound (Italian Greyhound as they are now referred to as) along with possible one other sight hound. All three breeds share similar shape as would be expected.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/whippet/index.cfm
http://www.akc.org/breeds/italian_greyhound/index.cfm
AKC breed standards for both breeds ironically do not mention weight but height at withers.

[special]

We had Whippet puppy in on Saturday for a broken leg, the owner had only had him for five minutes...this Saturday, the owners called and said he's broken the other leg...so now, the poor little dog has two broken legs...and a good $6 to $7 thousand in vet bills. Expensive little whippet, I tell you...but, that's not uncommon for them. 8]

If you look at the top of the Pet Portraits Central, there are two tutorials on how to add pictures to posts.

how on earth could a dog get two broken legs like that? I'd be calling the ASPCA.

[tiffers]

how on earth could a dog get two broken legs like that?

Whippet and Italian Greyhounds have junk for bones. The bones are soooo small and so weak, that any wrong step will break them. We see a lot of broken bones in these little guys. Simply jumping off the couch or out of the car can break their little legs in a heartbeat.

[special]

Whippet and Italian Greyhounds have junk for bones. The bones are soooo small and so weak, that any wrong step will break them. We see a lot of broken bones in these little guys. Simply jumping off the couch or out of the car can break their little legs in a heartbeat.

my gosh. Then how do people avoid and prevent their dogs from being injured? Is this from too much inbreeding by breeders? Aren't greyhounds bred to race?

Do these breeds have higher pain tolerances than other dogs?

This is interesting information, but horrifying all the same. thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

[tiffers]

Honestly, special...I don't know. They are all very light, so they can run fast...their bones are thin. We try to put them on Calcium when they come in because the bone density is so weak. I don't know about pain tolerances...but this little on yesterday seemed to be doing fine.

[momto6tails]

here is a picture of my moses whom the vet says is a whippet:confused:. Thanks for the replys.

[tiffers]

...really?! I don't see Whippet at all! :eek: Do you have a picture of him standing?

[MandyPug]

I see pure dalmation from that picture... If he's smaller than usual he could just be small for his breed. Besides, i don't think the gene for the spots is a dominant one; i've never seen a dalmation mix with actual spots.

[Yogi]

Whippet and Italian Greyhounds have junk for bones. The bones are soooo small and so weak, that any wrong step will break them. We see a lot of broken bones in these little guys. Simply jumping off the couch or out of the car can break their little legs in a heartbeat.
That is very true in these breeds. Breeders have for years worked to put the proper ones together to help alleviate this issue. This was also an issue with the Miniature Pinscher. Derived from crossing a smooth coated Dachshund with an Italian Greyhound. Farmers realized the issue was apparent with regards to the legs and worked to emphasize the Dachshunds naturally strong leg with emphasis on more of the IG leg length. They accomplished this but in the US too much refinement of the breed was done bringing back the fine boned leg which in turn brought back the issue of easily breaking them. The "hackneye gait" seen in the Miniature Pinscher comes from the Italian Greyhound which came back as breeders in the NA and the UK started to overly refine the breed. In Europe, the breed stayed true and rarely if at all does it have the leg action seen here.
As for the OP, the dog looks to be a purebred Dalmation. They also can have a very refined look with a high tuck and in fact there is a breeder of Dalmatins back east who breeds toy and miniature versions. He started nearly 15 years ago. http://www.miniaturedalmatians.com/ Granted I do not believe in altering existing recognized breeds as there is a reason for proper standards, though many think that the Alaskan Miniature Husky as well as the Miniature Siberian Husky is a man made breed they are in fact not. They come from a natural occurring genetic mutation in these breeds that create naturally smaller versions. Though not separate breeds as they are in fact still Alaskan Husky and Siberian Husky.

[momto6tails]

tiffers this is the only full body picture i have of him. I can try to get more pics hes so hyper its hard to calm him down lol. The reason i asked the question is because theres a dal down the street who is MUCH larger than moses.

I doubt the vet knew what she was talking about the night she said moses was part whippet. It was our first night that we had moses and we had to rush him into the vet because he had severe diarehea and could not hold his bowels what so ever. When we got him to vet she was very rude and told us since he was being uncorporative and it was hard to "take his temp" we needed to enroll him into temperment classes. My husband and I both disagreed even though we hadnt even had him for 24 hrs. Every since then Moses has been the sweetest dog never once has he shown signs of temperment issues.

Thank you all for your replys

[tiffers]

Well, if you're blowing out watery diarrhea, I can't imagine a thermometer in your butt is going to be pleasant!

I see Dalmation only...just smaller of the breed.

[momto6tails]

lamo that was my exact thought.. thanks for all your help and needless to say hes never went back to that vet.