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Is There Such A Thing As A City Whippet?

Thanks everyone, you're all wonderful people :D I suppose when you work in a rescue, particularly a breed-rescue, your standards must just get higher and higher the more sad cases and failed rehomings you see, which is understandable. If I could I'd have a greyhound in a heartbeat, as they have that amazing laid-back temperament that I love and I know a fair few of the greyhound rescues are excellent at matching dog to owner, but unfortunately I haven't got a car, and they're such big chaps! You can get anywhere here with a dog by walking, train, bus or taxi, but I have to think, practically, that if I ever needed to get to the vets in an emergency (it's 10 mins walk away, but if the dog couldn't walk, say) I might not be able to find a taxi at short notice that would be willing to take a fully-grown poorly greyhound!

So anyway, yes, I'll go back to the staffies and heinz 57's, and I'll let you all know if/when I manage to find a new friend!

(T, I'll keep an eye out for your friends and their whippets! I live in Adamsdown/Splott, so might see them out and about!)
 
Hula said:
I wouldn't be worried about squirrels they tend to get up trees fairly quickly otherwise there would not be so many of them as there are :thumbsup:
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When I lived in London and exercised my dogs in Kensington gardens, they used to kill a couple each day which was a huge nuisance as I had to de-flea them before going to work. However, it made them very quick on the turn for coursing. Didn't make any difference to the squirrel population. Now it's illegal so definitely not recommended.

Gay

www.moonlake.co.uk
 
ellie_b said:
So anyway, yes, I'll go back to the staffies and heinz 57's, and I'll let you all know if/when I manage to find a new friend!
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Please, do not give up on looking for a Whippet, maybe contact some breeders in your area, somebody may know of a dog they bred who is looking for a new home. Visit some other dog forums, or facebook. There are always older dogs coming up for adoption.

It is one thing to be selective about prospective homes, and another to be totally unreasonable. Yes, dogs can run out on the road in the city, they can also run after hare in the country and end up dead on the road miles away.

By the way I am in Australia, so not much practical help :)
 
Hi Ellie, I wasnt going to post as everyone else has said just what I would have said, but have got to say.. i am horrified by some rescue placs' short sightedness in dismissing you as an adopter, you obviously have the common sense and committment and have thought about the breed requirements. In my experience.. I've had whippies for about 30 years now, and without exception, they will do... and LOVE doing just what You want to do. If you want a lazy day , they are happy to sit beside you and just enjoy your company. If you put out signals about an imminent walk, they'll spring into action. I certainly wouldnt say a run every day is eithr necessary or even desirable, . I live in a very rural area, which is almost worse for free running because of the usual problems. sheep, wild ponies cattle, not to mention barbed wire, squirrels and bunnies.!! But, whenever you can, a run in a special place, wellfenced field or best of all beach is wonderful.

I'm sure you have but just in case, have you tried Scruples Rescue ?Very best of luck.. dont give up with your search for the best 40 m.p.h. couch potato!
 
Looking back on when I first got my whippet(s) I lived in London and it was far easier exercising them there with their huge parks then it was when i moved to the Peak District where sheep abound, and you risk your dog being shot if it worries sheep, or upsetting the National Park Rangers if it so much as leaps over a bit of heather off lead in nesting season. if you find a good walking trail fenced off from livestock then cyclists take over. There are places to run the dogs in the country but in some areas it presents itself with no less problems then a town.

I agree, Rescue Organisations can be somewhat short sighted.

Good luck with finding your whippets!
 
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I also can't believe you have been turned down as you sound like you would be a fab whippet owner - definitely contact Scruples instead! It makes me mad when some breed rescues turn into judge and jury - all they do is drive people to buy pups off the internet! If people want to adopt a rescue they should be commended for that. The 'perfect home' that some rescues strive for just doesn't exist. We live on the edge of a big industrial town and have two whippets and a whippet x saluki. Every day they get a walk of at least an hour on lead ( we usually drive five-fifteen minutes to local nature reserves, walk along river estuaries, villages/ canals etc.) but sometimes just walk in our local area. We have a big enough garden for them to run but only the whipluki (!) chooses to, the boys prefer to mooch around. To me, it is more important that they get walked and have company (I work from home so they are rarely left for more than two hours.) What whippets DON'T like is being left alone for too long, and they don't like being kennelled (eg when you go on holiday) What a lot of my greyhound friends do is look after each other's dogs when they go on holiday so they never have to go back to kennels.

A pair of whippets 5 yrs up wuld be ideal but mine are three and half and are pretty settled dogs now. Rescues should be crying out for kind people who want to rehome a pair of older whippets (and remember, they can live to 15 so 5 is still a youngster.)

As others have said, often living in the country is worse because of barbed wire/ sheep etc. Two of our local parks have enclosed dog parks where it is very safe for them to run but they don't have to run every day and sometimes I will take them there and they don't run! They often prefer an on lead walk through the woods etc as there are more smells to investigate and things to see. We play in the garden with them, do some training to keep their brains occupied and combined with at least one nice long walk every day they are doing fine! And I know loads of people in my area with whippets and greyhounds, some living in two up/ two down terraces. Good Luck :luck:
 
some rescues (not Scruples though) are their own worse enemies, they have such rigid rules that they struggle to find homes and are overflowing..... please dont give up on your dream of owning a whippet, there will be the right dog out their for you, hopefully with Scruples.

I live in a terraced house in the middle of Plymouth with my 4 whippets, they get walked in the local park twice a day, off lead for the vast part.....they chase squirrels which (most of the time ;) ) run up the nearest tree without a problem, our park is full of happy dogs exercising and playing together, some of them are even rescue dogs LOL, I do take my girls to beaches and nature reserves at the weekend for a change of scenery but the vast majority of time is spent in our lovely park.

You sound like the perfect whippet owner, dont be disheartened by one narrow minded rescue ...

Best of luck :luck: :luck:
 
some rescues (not Scruples though) are their own worse enemies, they have such rigid rules that they struggle to find homes and are overflowing..... please dont give up on your dream of owning a whippet, there will be the right dog out their for you, hopefully with Scruples.

I live in a terraced house in the middle of Plymouth with my 4 whippets, they get walked in the local park twice a day, off lead for the vast part.....they chase squirrels which (most of the time ;) ) run up the nearest tree without a problem, our park is full of happy dogs exercising and playing together, some of them are even rescue dogs LOL, I do take my girls to beaches and nature reserves at the weekend for a change of scenery but the vast majority of time is spent in our lovely park.

You sound like the perfect whippet owner, dont be disheartened by one narrow minded rescue ...

Best of luck :luck: :luck:
 
Some rescue people make me so mad. Getting a dog out of Dogs Trust near me is like asking for the crown jewels. They expect people to be home all day with no children, a huge garden with huge fences and to be told what kind of dog they can have.

I would try to find some smaller rescue kennels and perhaps the type that find homes for dogs before they need to go into kennels. Many of them go on their gut instinct about an owner rather than getting all their boxes ticked.

I once heard a chap who ran Manchester Dogs Home say that he trusted his instincts with people. He homed a Great Dane to a second floor flat. He said it was a great home as the poeple walked the dog about six times a day. Much better the dog was there than in kennels.
 
hi El,

i can say yes because I have a 4 month old pup called Fintan and we live in london - smack bang in the centre. i live in an apartment on top (4th floor) of an old converted paint factory. i don't have a garden but do have a terrace/balcony which is larger than average. i bought a rascal big squirt for toiletting and fenced off the railings. i take my boy out everyday as we live on regents canal and live within 2 minutes of many parks also 30 minutes on the overground and we're at hampstead heath.

i work from home 90% of the time (probably in the office about 6-9 days a month). when i am in the office Fintan has his dog walker, who is more like a surrogate dad as he picks him up in the morning and drops him off when I'm home. i've had no problems with traffic, city noises, building works, sirens or anything remotely related to the city.
 
whitefire said:
hi El,
i can say yes because I have a 4 month old pup called Fintan and we live in london - smack bang in the centre. i live in an apartment on top (4th floor) of an old converted paint factory. i don't have a garden but do have a terrace/balcony which is larger than average. i bought a rascal big squirt for toiletting and fenced off the railings. i take my boy out everyday as we live on regents canal and live within 2 minutes of many parks also 30 minutes on the overground and we're at hampstead heath.

i work from home 90% of the time (probably in the office about 6-9 days a month). when i am in the office Fintan has his dog walker, who is more like a surrogate dad as he picks him up in the morning and drops him off when I'm home. i've had no problems with traffic, city noises, building works, sirens or anything remotely related to the city.
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That sounds good but PLEASE be careful that your pup does not jump over the balcony. They really are very athletic and can jump high.
 
TTT said:
whitefire said:
hi El,
i can say yes because I have a 4 month old pup called Fintan and we live in london - smack bang in the centre. i live in an apartment on top (4th floor) of an old converted paint factory. i don't have a garden but do have a terrace/balcony which is larger than average. i bought a rascal big squirt for toiletting and fenced off the railings. i take my boy out everyday as we live on regents canal and live within 2 minutes of many parks also 30 minutes on the overground and we're at hampstead heath.

i work from home 90% of the time (probably in the office about 6-9 days a month). when i am in the office Fintan has his dog walker, who is more like a surrogate dad as he picks him up in the morning and drops him off when I'm home. i've had no problems with traffic, city noises, building works, sirens or anything remotely related to the city.
Click to expand...

That sounds good but PLEASE be careful that your pup does not jump over the balcony. They really are very athletic and can jump high.
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hi TTT,

thanks for the warning :) Fintan isn't much of a jumper compared to his whippet girlfriend Zelda (owned by a friend). Fintan is not left unsupervised on the balcony (i go and stand next to him while he poos and sees (is that weird? LOL) and the fencing / mesh is see-through, he does have a sense of height. if he does become more jumpy on the balcony i will change the setup. so no worries.
 
whitefire said:
TTT said:
whitefire said:
hi El,
i can say yes because I have a 4 month old pup called Fintan and we live in london - smack bang in the centre. i live in an apartment on top (4th floor) of an old converted paint factory. i don't have a garden but do have a terrace/balcony which is larger than average. i bought a rascal big squirt for toiletting and fenced off the railings. i take my boy out everyday as we live on regents canal and live within 2 minutes of many parks also 30 minutes on the overground and we're at hampstead heath.

i work from home 90% of the time (probably in the office about 6-9 days a month). when i am in the office Fintan has his dog walker, who is more like a surrogate dad as he picks him up in the morning and drops him off when I'm home. i've had no problems with traffic, city noises, building works, sirens or anything remotely related to the city.
Click to expand...

That sounds good but PLEASE be careful that your pup does not jump over the balcony. They really are very athletic and can jump high.
Click to expand...
hi TTT,

thanks for the warning :) Fintan isn't much of a jumper compared to his whippet girlfriend Zelda (owned by a friend). Fintan is not left unsupervised on the balcony (i go and stand next to him while he poos and sees (is that weird? LOL) and the fencing / mesh is see-through, he does have a sense of height. if he does become more jumpy on the balcony i will change the setup. so no worries.
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I personally would have some sort of net attached from the top of the balcony reaching up, completely enclosing the balcony in. The thought of the pup skipping over the railings in the blink of an eye, no doubt injuring itself and potentially causing injury to people below or running into traffic, causing an accident, just doesn't bear thinking about. :sweating:
 
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