More Questions On Whippets

[doglover12]

Hi everyone sorry i haven't been on lately been busy with my young golden retriever Shelley. As most of you know right now i own 3 dogs 2 golden retrievers aged 10 years old & 13 months old & 1 chihuahua aged 3. In the future i'm thinking on getting a whippet. My female golden Shelley will probably be still with me. My questions are

1, Shelley is very rough at moment she has a habit of pawing at my chihuahua most of the time a bit rough which causes Rascal the chihuahua to yelp and chase her. Most of the time Shelley seems to be pawing at Rascals head,bum,back. I know it hurts Rascal as he yelps and seems in pain abit afterward. Shelley seems to do it cause Rascal chases her which she loves. To my question would a whippet be able to handle this sort of rough housing? I know she may settle down as she gets older but if she doesn't would a whippet be ableto hand being pawed at and actually hit by Shelley? I also understand that it is a matter of training which she is getting everytime she beens to be to rough i tell her to stop but she isn't catching on and ignores it and keeps going. Shelley goes to obedience every week but i do not let her near the small dogs as i cannot trust her as she is too rough. She seems fine with staffys as there just as energetic & rough as she is.

2, Will a whippet do good at obedience? does anyone here take there whippet to obedience?

 

[eve]

I would wait untill you have Shelley under control and of an age where she calms down. Is she neutered? This would probably make her calmer if she is not already done.

Shelley would probably be your best bet for obedience training. Golden retrievers are much better for obedience than Whippets and she sounds like she needs it

It sounds like she has quite a way to go with the obedience training and personally I would advise that you concentrate on that for just now.

Whippets being sight hounds are not really suitable dogs for obedience being easily distracted by more interesting things.

I do hope that your chihuahua does not get injured. Like whippets, they are much lighter and therefore more likely to be injured or have bones broken.

There is also the risk of an eye injury as whippets and sighthounds eyes are set forward compared to other breeds.

Until you have complete control of Shelley inside and out of the home, I would not recommend another dog.

Good luck with Shelley :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[Noise]

whippets can be trained at obedience, though depends on the individual whippet and the mood their in at that time

my whippet plays with bigger dogs with no problems - he is far too fast for any of them to catch him, sometimes when he's playing with his brother (biological ) and it gets a bit rough he's very good at standing up for himself. if you would get your golden retriever under some sort of control, I'd imagine she and a whippet would get on fine.

the chihuahua on the other hand :- whippets as sighthounds loooove to chase small animals (once they're caught they'll go for their necks), of course you can train him, as sighthounds can be trained to get on with cats, at least the ones in their own household :-

 

[doglover12]

Shelley is not uncontrollable she is just very playfull which in turn causes her to play rough. She is doing good at obedience in just 4 times of being there first night she was paws 0, second time and third time paw 1 then gradulated to paws 2 so the fourth night she was in paws 2. She was spayed at 5 months old so thats not the problem. I don't plan on getting a whippet for quite a while could 3-4-5 years down the track. So hopefully Shelley has calmed down alot more and isn't to full on about playing then. Werid thing is when she is with other dogs she isn't rough she is gentle with them unless they are rough with her first. I think the problem is Shelley knows if she paws at Rascal he chases her which is what she wants him to do, I think if Rascal didn't chase her and just ignored her she would stop pawing at him.

Shelley is well behaved in all other ways she knows her sit,drop,stay,come,halt,heel,wait,ignore,sit/stay,drop/stay,leave it,drop as in drop that & has a good recall.

This is why i'm thinking its due to the fact She gets want she wants when she paws Rascal eg been chased and also her young age. I'm hoping when she is about 5 years she has settled down alot more and not as interested in playing as much as she is now. When we are out at the park and she is offlead and another dog walks past all i got to say to Shelley is come ignore she returns to me and sits down and just watches the dog walk past. Sometimes she may misbehaved and run up to the other dog if that happens shes back on lead for 5 minute timeout.

 

[Noise]

I find that dogs do act a different way around dogs they know (their doggie mates or other dogs living in the house) and dogs they randomly meet in a park and play with it.

 

[NickyVN]

Kendall is 8 months old nad has just got his bronze award at obedience. I'm not sure he will ever make top class obedience but he certainly doing really well at the moment. We have to work to keep him interested, his attention span isn't fab but if you find a good class that keeps them on their toes they can be trained!! He really enjoys it too - he couldn't wait to perform for the examiner - he loves everyone to be looking at him so will show off quite well.

 

[kentishgal]

Cant answer for golden retreivers but I do have a chihuahua and a whippet. Mathew (whippet) has no prey drive so doesnt regard Adam (chi) as prey however he does play too rough at times causing Adam to bite first and ask questions later!! They play nicely in the house but outside Adam is slightly afraid of getting squished, as has happened on occassion.

Have to say though Mathew loves playing with big dogs like labs and weimys, only difference is they tend to poke other dogs with their noses rather than feet to initiate play!!