Holy Schneikees! My Dog just got WHIPPED! or Whippeted as it were.

Whippeted - I doubt is a word but it all happened so quick it’s all I could think of. My dog a Rhodesian Ridgeback - and I were walking along our morning desert path. We know everyone we come in contact with for the most part, as the trail we walk is heavily traveled in the mornings. Anyway, we were doing our normal routine when Griss started a low growl. He didn’t break stride, he just started to growl a bit… Then out of nowhere, a light grey flash flew inbetween me and griss. Thats when we both stopped, the hair on his back stood on edge and we watched as this light grey breeze called a Whippet streaked across the desert at mach 4. Darting this way and that…
A few seconds later a man running with a leash in his hands came up behind us. He stopped and chatted for a minute or two…I joked and said…“Your lightning bolt just ran by us…he should be up ahead somewhere…”
he laughed. I asked what breed of dog it was - knowing it wasn’t a grey hound as it was too small - he said it was a Whippet. I was impressed at the speed of the little guy…Griss not so much! He was still on edge looking around the little little bugger.
Anyone ever see one of these guys? Damn their quick!

For a moment there, I thought your sweet, innocent little Siamese had told the dog off! I’ve seen whippets. While I don’t know if they’re as smart as a whip, they’re certainly as quick as one!

CJ

Some friends of ours keep whippets. They’re similar to greyhounds in temperment and speed: 45 MPH couch potatoes. When they’re going, the go-go-go! When they’re hanging out at home, they’re very mellow. They love to sprawl across your lap and watch TV. They’re freaky skinny, too. A healthy whippet has almost no body fat.

Hehe. :smiley: Our little Westie never runs too far ahead or too fast, she’s too busy sniffing everything in sight.

Slight hijack: why is your dog called Griss?

Griss is short for Grissholm. Our favorite CSI charactor. Very articulate, calculating, and razor sharp. Just like our pooch.

They are great little dogs.

I had and Italian Greyhound http://www.italian-greyhound.net/mrsa.jpg , an even smaller version of a greyhound, that weighed about 9 pounds. He was mostly brown or fawn colored. Everywhere we went, people said “Wow, is that a deer or a dog?” Sometimes it was difficult to walk him because we got stopped so much. And I once clocked him a 22 miles per hour!

I told people he was a registered snack hound after I saw him steal a loaf of french bread and get stuck in the doggie door while trying to make his escape.

My aunt & uncle had a Whippet named Echo. He was so sweet. A bit neurotic, but sweet.

They lived right along the transit way here in Ottawa. Echo was always tied when outside, but occasionally he would back out of his collar and take off and race the busses on the bike lane of the transit way along the Ottawa River.

They always knew where to look for him when he took off. hehe