My mother has been recently widowed ( October) and has expressed an interest in having a whippet.  She has been to the vet and he suggested this breed.  She has been in the habit of having a dog, however, it is now some 8 years, I think, since she lost her last dog.  Mum is 75 so I am well aware that any dog she has may end up in my care also, so I have read as much as I can on whippets !  I am of the opinion , as is the vet, that a dog already housetrained and trained to walk on a leash and to heel, would be bestter for my mother.  The vet suggested a rescue dog, however, I am of the opinion, shared my my sibblings that a rescue dog may have been abused or may not be well trained.  I would imagine that any dog from around 4/5 months old up to about 4 years old may work well for her.  Do any of you have knowledge of a  Whippet currently available ?  I am posting a great deal of imformation to my mother today which I have printed off the internet on Whippets.  I would add that my grandparents did have a wee Whippet, Sean, so the family are aware of the nature of the breed and that is the main reason why we think the Whippet would be suitable, plus mother has a trndency to respiritory allergies and the Whippets fine coat is much more suitable in this circumstance.

I would welcome any feedback.    email either this works address or my home email on ireneepatterson@aol.co.uk 

many thanks

Renee Patterson

Contact the breed club and ask for details of whippet rescue.  Often they will have whippets whose owners have passed on.

Purebred whippets as oposed to whippet lurchers are less likely to ahve been uxsed for coursing these days so some of the difficulties of owning a sight hound would be less.  The breed tends to attract a fair number of older owners, so rescues are likely to be in need of a howm because of bereavemetn or illness rather than having been bought on a whim.

Try   www.k9community.co.uk

This is a whippet site and there is a few older whippet's looking for homes. They are in a rescue at the moment. Whippet Rescue have a very long waiting list for whippet's but look up Lurcher rescue's too as a few do end up there also but snapped up very quickly.
Whippet's are a good choice and I do advise an older rescue for her.
Good luck
Susan