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My first whippet was a free puppy in the newspaper. The breeders actually made me
sign a piece of paper saying I wouldn't race him. I had him 8 weeks. He was so smart,
housebroken in 5 days with no mistakes. He routinely shoved me out of bed,
by the old pokey feet routine, at least 2 times a night. He only barked
when someone came to the door. He loved to go jogging/walking with me and riding
in the pickup by his own window was his favorite thing. I was quite niave at the time
and didn't know about such things as crates. With no breeder to mentor me,
I had problems I wasn't capable of dealing with. My roommate at the time worked
swing shift and I worked days. She complained that she had to take care of the
puppy all day and she would lock him in my bedroom where he proceeded to destroy
everything in his path, the waterbed, the bookcase and books, the carpet, the door,
etc. I had about decided he was going to have to go when I met a man at the 7-11
convenience store, he begged to know more about the dog, fell in love with him at
first site, so I sent my little whippie boy home with a stranger. A stranger who
had 5 acres, 4 grandkids and a wife who was home all day to be with him. I cried myself
to sleep that night and decided the next dog I got would be another whippet. That day came 12 years later. It began when my job took me off campus to another hospital to do some work. There I met Travis. Travis is a delightful solid blue Italian Grehound pet therapy dog. He gave me one of those goosh-eyed looks, you know the kind that give you warm fuzzies for up to 7 days. I talked with his owner for about 1/2 hour and gave her my phone number, begging her to call me if she came across anyone with whippets. One week later, I met another therapy dog at 'my' hospital. I mentioned I'd met Travis and his human at the other hospital and added I was looking for a whippet puppy. She just happened to know a whippet breeder with a liter of 10-week-old pups. |
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The next week I met Claudia Stratton of the Sunhill kennel. She introduced me to the litter of nine pups, explaining how some of the pups were spoken for. As all nine are rushing the fence to greet me, this one little blue/fawn brindle bitch just sat back and gave me "the look". Her eyes said "wow, my own human". I didn't want to say anything, as I was terrified she was spoken for. Claudia took me into the house and started brining in puppies one at a time for me to meet. The third puppy was the little bitch that had picked me. I was so glad she wasn't one of the pups that were spoken for. I couldn't take her home for almost 10 days due to competing in the Portland to Coast Relay. So after much anticipation, I hurried home after the race to pick up my new child. |  |
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The fun and trials began! I stopped by the library to pick up the book on whippets I had reserved on my way to pick up the crate I had ordered for her. When I went into the pet store to get the crate, she promptly chewed the library book to shreds. Thank goodness for crates! She was soooo cute, how could I punish her even when she really needed it? Rikki has brought unlimited joy to my life. She is so silly, as only a whippet can be. I love playing hide & seek with her and with her toys. Her favorite game is "tracking" where I put her into her crate, cover it with a blanket and proceed to hide bunches of treats all over the house, then turn her loose. Sometimes you'll do anything to keep them occupied for a while! I can't bring in a basket of laundry hot from the dryer without her climbing in. She is my constant companion and best friend. |  |
| Very keen from Day 1, when I took her to Petco, she chose a cat toy for her favorite. A plastic wand with a 4-foot piece of polar fleece attached. When she got too fast for me to keep that away from her, we moved up to a white plastic bag on the end of the lunge whip I use for my horse. Pretty soon that was too slow, and Claudia gave me the phone number of Jeff and Ramona Bradley. I was invited out to race practice--what a great group of people! The best part is after knowing them for three years, I still think they're great. Rikki did okay in her puppy races and shocked me by winning high score first time entered at the 1997 NAWRA Nationals. She goes between being a D & C grade racer. That doesn't matter to me. She loves to run and I enjoy watching her. Okay, I only have 1 whippet, I live in an apartment and the potato chip bug is biting. The search is on for a house with a yard and a pasture, and perhaps more whippets! |  |