Uk Versus Us Whippets

[DeiConsorti]

I am a new K9 member and although I have IGs, I have an interest in whippets. I am wondering what the difference is between whippets in the US and the UK. I am in Canada and some of the whippets here are completely different looking from each other. (And no, I haven't read either standard so I am admittedly taking the lazy man's route).

Thanks,

Daria

 

[tlewis]

The first thing you would notice is size. N.American dogs are usually bigger because the standard allows for a bigger dog. Males in the USA can be up to 22 1/2" and in Canada there is no limit.

You would notice too that they tend to be more muscular and heavier boned than in the UK because racing in N.America is all from scratch. There is no handicaping by size as in the UK. This is partly because of numbers, there being many more racing whippets in the UK. which makes handicap or racing in weight groups possible.

There isn't much cross over in the racing lines between the US and N.America because nearly all N.American race lines have dogs in their pedigrees that are not acceptable to the WCRA. I don't know of any UK racing lines that have come to the USA and were successful during the last twenty years or so.

 

[bardmand]

I think you will find that ideals and type have changed in both the UK, the US and elsewhere over the years, and that the differences are less pronounced now than they used to be.

My impression is that, these days, the main difference between top winning show whippets in the UK and the US is that US whippets tend to be ever so slightly longer in all proportions - head, neck, back, loin, and to some extent, legs, with a correspondingly "smoother," less curvy outline (even in a dog with sufficient depth of chest and arch over loin).

The difference is much more marked when comparing photos than in real life, however, as both the style of showing and the differing techniques of photographers can affect greatly how the dogs look in pictures.