Correct rearing

[ajill]

Hi, I have a lovely four and a half month old bitch that has the run of our garden with two older Whippets, up until now her front has been glorious.  I noticed today that she is looking a bit east west when standing.  The breeder is out of touch at present so I hope you can help me.  Should I be restricting her more, possibly crating her, she is a very excitable young lady and does race around a bit.  Her parents have wonderful fronts and I do not want anything to go wrong.  Help!!

Jill

 

[Karen]

Hi ajill  I wouldnt let her run loose for long with the adults at this age, she will make muscle on unmade bone and this can spoil fronts.  Having said that if she is tied in elbow I would always think this had come through the breeding somewhere.

Karen

karen.charman@ntlworld.com

 

[Florence]

(Edited by Florence at 12:11 pm on Nov. 25, 2001)

 

[dawn]

There  is a deal of variance in the thoughts of breeders, exhibitors and owners regarding free running of puppies. IMHO a pup of 4.5 months is old enough to be allowed a degree of freedom including with the adults BUT keep an eye on the pup that it doesn't get overtired nor injured.

Running is what whippets were bred for and is what they enjoy the most.

I show whippets for ME. I let the dogs run free for both the dogs and me. I really love to see a whippet at full speed jinking across the open fields. Wonderful.

Let your dog go but keep an eye on it and dont, as with any youngster, over do things.

 

[Millie]

Having attended the conformation and movement seminar held by the whippet club, we learnt a lot about the way mussles and bones grow. (a real eye opener)

First the longs bones grow, which is why most go through the leggy stage, 6mth after this the short bones grow, which is when things start to come together again, but it is not until 6mths later that the mussles finish developing. We were also told that exercise would have no effect on the way bones grow unless injured.

 

[Florence]

Thanks, some thing to think about

 

[ajill]

Thank you to those who responded to my question.  I have to say my girl is fine now, I believe my panic was a little premature!!  We have a lot of slate floors in our house and I think she was slipping on them, so the family room is now fully carpeted uhm!  As well as our small fenced garden we have an acre of fully fenced grassed area for  our dogs to run in, I do not allow her to go mad but do allow her to run there without overdoing it.  Mind you having said that I am not sure how long the grass will be there as we have strict water restrictions now and can only use the reticulation twice a week.  Our summer has not started yet but we have already had days of 36degrees and above. Phew.

Jill