It has been a long time since Part 1 of this post (doing masters takes up a lot of whippet mama time unfortunately) but here, as promised, is part two of the idiosyncrasies that make up the awesome whippet….
Burrowing
Whippets were once used for chasing rabbits and other unfortunate members of the animal kingdom. As a result they have skills in digging and burrowing that manifest themselves in one of two ways.
First is the literal presentation – digging in the back yard, park, beach, anywhere they feel like it.
Fortunately most whippets, unlike retrievers and other breeds, don’t tend to dig deep. Usually when they dig it is to get at some form of edible titbit (bone, worm etc), to bury treats for later consumption or to get the attention of their slave (aka whippet mama).
Second, and more notably, bed and doona burrowing. As mentioned in part one, whippets don’t have a lot of fur to keep themselves warm so they seek out comfy resting places in the home i.e. under the bed covers or under throws or other items on their couch (c’mon you know it isn’t really your couch don’t you?)
Generally this is a super cute action that results in lots of aw’s. Except when sheets or other items get ripped by burrowing paws and draw the wrath of the whippet nana! (someone has to do the disciplining)
Here is a picture of Lawson’s butt poking out from a bed burrow and evidence of previous burrowing (which Lawson totally denied being responsible for – cheeky boy!)
Slouch hats and other ear signals
As well as having very expressive eyes, whippets have the ability to communicate their mood and wishes through their soft and flexible ears. My personal favourite is the “slouch hat” which my Lawson does whenever he is super excited, usually when he realises we are going for a walk. This involves having one ear up and one down….here Lawson demonstrates the slouch hat for your education.
When whippets are little their ears are all floppy and hard for them to control (i.e. very cute indeed) but as they get older whippies become masters of ear semaphores. Here is my lurcher Millie at 5 months with her floppy ears. She now has a full range of ear expressions as in the following illustration (not sure the origin of this, sorry)
Downward Dog
Whippets are (as mentioned previously) yoga masters, able to contort their bodies into ridiculous shapes much to the glee of snap happy whippet mamas. Their favourite pose is the aptly named Downward Dog and this must be performed upon waking, whenever their human is doing yoga (show offs!!), or just willy nilly.
A second pose or just overall weird behaviour of these hounds is the “bum-up, head rub”. In this manoeuvre, whippets rub their heads into the grass or carpet with their butts sticking straight up, hence…
It is possible one of the least graceful moves a whippet can pull, but very amusing nonetheless. Millie (below) makes this whippet mama laugh every time she does it.
Airs and Graces
In total contrast to this last pose, whippets can actually display a lot of dignity and poise at times. Lawson’s specialty is the daintily crossed paws; he is also great at the “staring off into the distance” manoevour, commonly seen on The Bold and The Beautiful. Millie the lurcher has started to mimic her big brother in her own fashion
Millie has also mastered the “more human than whippet” look. Sometimes this whippet mama finds it all a bit unnerving really!
Tail tales
Whippet tails speak volumes. A whippet mama or papa can always tell if their whippy is happy, excited or scared. This involves reading the tail position – up and curled like a question mark or down between the legs as far as it can go. The former is mostly displayed while out walking or running or when food appears:
The latter is most common when going to the vet, being bathed or being sniffed by a scary looking bigger dog. For some whippets, the tucked tail is the default position, only altered in times of extreme happiness such as being left alone with unattended food! It is likely the tucked tail that has let to whippets gaining a reputation as being miserable looking so and so’s. Hence…..
OF course whippets are much more multifaceted than that and I know that there are many whippet mamas and papas out there who wish their pride and joy would take a chill pill now and then!
The final point to make about whippet tails is that sometimes they live up to their name and give their mamas and papas a jolly good whipping. It’s painful but hard to be angry about because it just means that a whippy is happy to see you – or the dog next door, or the pizza delivery guy….
So,
I could go on and on about the characteristics and weirdnesses (if that is not a word, it should be) of this amazing breed of dog. And in fact, I have! But there are many I haven’t covered. Please let me know which ones I have missed or if you have any comments on the ones mentioned so far 🙂
Whippet Mama 