# Skinny Whippet



## scourge (Dec 18, 2012)

Hi

First time poster and dog owner.

We have had Bertie our 1 year old rescue whippet for about 3 months and I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with.

He has really settled in well and is full of quirks and character and great with the children. He is about 21 inches to the shoulder and weighs 13kg. I have heard that a healthy whippet should have 3 ribs showing but all of Berties ribs show all the time , as do the knobs of his spine. Does this mean he is under weight. We tried giving hime more but he just leaves what he doesnt want in his bowl. Any tips of putting some weight on him.

Also as the weather is cold we bought him a coat but when we put it on him he refuses point blank to go to the toilet whilst out on his walks. To the point where he will literally be dancing on his toes till you take it off him. He shivers like a mad thing without it though but will still happily go for his walks even though his teath actually chatter with the cold. Really think he would be better in a coat if anyone has some tips.



Many thanks


----------



## Stellabelly (Jul 11, 2009)

Mine is around 21/22 inches to the shoulder and weighs 15.5 kgs. Vet says he's in good shape. You can see 3/4 ribs and a few knobs of his spine but he was much skinnier at a year old and didn't really bulk out until he was around 2 years old. I know he has enough food so I think they're all a bit different. I feed him Natural Dog Food Company dry and he has a raw chicken wing each day.
A fat whippet is worse


----------



## Stellabelly (Jul 11, 2009)

Oh and as for the coat. When I get his out mine runs away upstairs. He really doesn't like it and hates wearing it so he only has it on if it's raining or snowing very heavily or extremely cold. Otherwise he goes without it. Especially if I know he's having an off lead run. He's much happier without it but does like to dry himself off by rubbing around us or the sofas:smile:


----------



## WeedySeaDragon (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi and welcome to PF :biggrin: 

We have an 18 month old whippet whose ribs are all visible, as are some of his vertebrae. He's at what I would class as a perfect weight for a whippet so I wouldn't worry too much about Bertie if he's happy and sprightly. 

As for the coat, have you been getting him used to it at home or just putting it on him for walks? If it's just been on for walks I'd start putting t on him at home and get him used to wearing it. I'd also be and not take it off him on walks, he will eventually go whilst wearing it. Our latest whippet puppy took a little while to realise he could still go even in a coat, it's just a case of them getting used to it.


----------



## AmberNero (Jun 6, 2010)

Hello, welcome to PF  Do you have any pics? You've got some good replies, but seeing photo's would make it easier to give an opinion. As for coats, my girl won't go to the loo most of the time if she is wearing hers, so I give her coat-off wee-time, and then put it back on.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

What food are you giving him? The better quality food contains less fillers, so he would get more goodness with less quantity. Maybe, put in an extra meal during the day. I am not experienced with whippets, but he does sound a bit skinny. I have a saluki x grey lurcher and when I got him all his ribs, his spine and pin bones were prominent. Now they are barely visible, apart from the last 2-3 but all can be felt when running hands along him. 

The pictures on the Whippet website don't look "ribby".

With regard to the coat, make sure the strap is not tight and not too close to his bits or hanging over his tail, restricting him. Some coats are very stiff, so try a fleece one maybe.


----------



## Guest (Jan 20, 2013)

Yes, if you could post pictures, that would help. 
Sometimes we're just not used to the sighthound body type, well, most of us are not used to a dog at a healthy weight period! 

If it is a question of weight gain, one, make sure you're feeding a good quality food. Two, I like adding coconut oil to the food for picky eaters to encourage them to eat more. I've yet to meet a dog who doesn't love the stuff, and it's great for them health-wise.


----------



## Sarahferret (Apr 25, 2012)

Some whippets are skinnier than others, and at the age Bertie is, he will still have a lot of filling out muscle-wise to do, so I wouldn't worry.

I would make sure he is eating a quality food though. Whippets can need more food to keep weight on, so if he is getting a lot of useless filler in his food, he may not be getting as much good stuff as he needs even though he's full up. I raw feed so no fillers. The guide for raw is 2-3% of body weight, yet she needs 4-5% to maintain her weight. 

As for a coat, mine doesn't like a normal style coat, she has as Equafleece jumper that she is much happier in, it doesn't slip around and fits snuggly yet allows free movement. Could be worth a go? However, they aren't so easy to whip on and off if he does insist on having it taken off to do his business.


----------



## Guest (Jan 20, 2013)

I don't know anything about whippets and what they are suppose to look like but would love to see some pictures anyway.


----------



## WeedySeaDragon (Oct 7, 2012)

I agree with Sarahferret that you might find using a food with a higher meat content helps a bit as lots of commercial dogs foods are full of useless fillers.

This is our now 18 months old when he was about 7 months old:










The picture is slightly deceptive, he was ever so slightly leaner in the flesh. I think he looks perfect for a young, growing whippet there. He certainly had no lack of energy :biggrin:


----------



## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

My grandfather kept whippets for racing. My grandmother thought they looked too thin and gave them doughnuts.

They didn't win much


----------



## mimi g (Mar 10, 2009)

I have a 2 year old whippet...she is on the lean side showing ribs and hip bones but she is pure muscle around her legs. She eats more than the recommended of a good grain free food and wainwrights trays which are high in meat. She may fill out with age but i believe its just the way she is...she can be quite highly strung and any excitement or nerves causes her to need a poop so her metabolism must be working overtime.

Ive spoken to one or 2 people who said their whippet did not fill out until after 3years...and others with podgy whippets look at Tia and say 'see thats how you should look'

Cant find the pic im looking for but this is Tia ribby yet toned.


----------



## scourge (Dec 18, 2012)

Thanks for all the very quick replies.

I will try and get a good picture of him when i get home. He is a menace when a camera is pointed at him and usually hides his head in his paws.

Looking at the pictures you have posted he looks about the same and does have a tremendous amount of muscle on his legs.

He is on Red Mills resting greyhound dry food which we supplement with mash potatoes, pasta and oily fish aswell as fresh at least twice a week.

In fairness he is full of life and really loving and playfull. We spend most of our day chasing around when he steels something. He doesnt destroy anything just likes running off with it.

One of his funnier quirks is that he will not sit on the tile floor in our kitchen and will drag over the door mat to the kitchen table and carefully arrange it so he can sit on it and stare at us eating without getting his bottom cold. My Father literally fell off his chair laughing the first time he saw him do it.

Many thanks again.


----------



## Guest (Jan 20, 2013)

mimi g said:


> Cant find the pic im looking for but this is Tia ribby yet toned.


Tia is lovely


----------



## scourge (Dec 18, 2012)

By the way Tia looks amazing with such great markings and such an expressionfull ( possibly not a real word ) face.

Its one of the reasons I love whippets is the happy look of there faces as well as there great personality.

Just a quick question ? does she shed much hair. Bertie is brown with white markings and we find alt of little white hairs around the place.


----------



## Dober (Jan 2, 2012)

He sounds like a fantastic personality


----------



## mimi g (Mar 10, 2009)

scourge said:


> By the way Tia looks amazing with such great markings and such an expressionfull ( possibly not a real word ) face.
> 
> Its one of the reasons I love whippets is the happy look of there faces as well as there great personality.
> 
> Just a quick question ? does she shed much hair. Bertie is brown with white markings and we find alt of little white hairs around the place.


He sounds lovely...whippets ooze personality. Tia is a little minx, she is always overly happy and silly. She can be abit of a bully with my other dog to. The sitting on cold surfaces things sounds very familiar...Tia will hover her bum over the floor when i ask her to sit for her meals.

To me it sounds like he is happy,healthy & active. If he has good muscle he is probs just burning alot of his food off and turning it into muscle. A lean whippet is much better than a fat one. Tia came to me on Red Mills & raw from Freyja a member on here who bred her, she has lots of whippets. I changed it so that she was feeding the same as Bailey who needs a grain free diet due to allergies but Freyja has good results with Red Mills.

Tia moults twice a year...loads of spikey white hairs. It doesnt last long and i can normally speed the process with a rubber grooming glove. The rest of the time she bareky looses any hair but ive heard other people say their whippet moults all year round?!


----------



## WeedySeaDragon (Oct 7, 2012)

He sounds brilliant :biggrin:

Our Fitz is a complete kleptomaniac, he'll steal _anything_. He's never bothered about doing anything with it once he's got it, it's the very act of stealing he enjoys :lol:

Whippets are wonderful little dogs, I struggle to imagine us owning anything else now we've had them :biggrin:


----------



## Sarahferret (Apr 25, 2012)

WeedySeaDragon said:


> He sounds brilliant :biggrin:
> 
> Our Fitz is a complete kleptomaniac, he'll steal _anything_. He's never bothered about doing anything with it once he's got it, it's the very act of stealing he enjoys :lol:
> 
> Whippets are wonderful little dogs, I struggle to imagine us owning anything else now we've had them :biggrin:


Why would you _want_ to imagine owning anything else?! Whippets are unbeatable in every way!


----------



## moonviolet (Aug 11, 2011)

WeedySeaDragon said:


> This is our now 18 months old when he was about 7 months old:


What incredible markings , he looks like he's made of marble.


----------



## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

mimi g said:


> He sounds lovely...whippets ooze personality. Tia is a little minx, she is always overly happy and silly. She can be abit of a bully with my other dog to. The sitting on cold surfaces things sounds very familiar...Tia will hover her bum over the floor when i ask her to sit for her meals.
> 
> To me it sounds like he is happy,healthy & active. If he has good muscle he is probs just burning alot of his food off and turning it into muscle. A lean whippet is much better than a fat one. Tia came to me on Red Mills & raw from Freyja a member on here who bred her, she has lots of whippets. I changed it so that she was feeding the same as Bailey who needs a grain free diet due to allergies but Freyja has good results with Red Mills.
> 
> Tia moults twice a year...loads of spikey white hairs. It doesnt last long and i can normally speed the process with a rubber grooming glove. The rest of the time she bareky looses any hair but ive heard other people say their whippet moults all year round?!


Mimi g is correct all my show whippets are fed red mills tracker for resting greyhounds and I have always had good results.

Whippets at 12 months old onwards can look leggy and skinny I own Tia's dad Simba he is nearly 5 and didn't start to mature and look half decent until he was 4 years old his dad was the same. some breeding lines are slower maturing than others with Bertie being a rescue you'll not know his breeding.


----------

