# Whippet Advice



## Sonybear (Feb 1, 2011)

Hello All,

Hopefully I have managed to attach a picture of my Whippet puppy who I have now had for 4 weeks so he is 14 weeks old.

I need some advice around walking a whippet, he can be very different when walking, he is either very stubborn plants all four feet on the ground and wont budge, or he will walk beautifully to heel, or he will jump try to tear ahead and basically go nuts!

Now we have tried a Harness with a static lead and the harness rubbed him under the armpits so we binned that idea, we have tried a collar with a static lead but when he is stubborn we end up trying to pull him by the neck trying to tempt with treats until he starts to walk again, this set up is perfect for when he walks to heel but when he wants to pull and jump he nearly throttles himself, so we then tried a collar with an extendable lead and when he is stubborn same situation as above, when he walks to heel its great and when he wants to charge ahead over the fields it gives him so much more freedom but when he charges ahead too fast (like Whippets do!) and the line runs out of course he gets thrown into the air but the neck and I worry it may damage him.

Ideally I would like a harness and extendable lead because he cant go off leash yet but how do I find a harness that wont rub under his arms as he doesn't have alot of fur to protect his skin,,any ideas?

Also has anyone had a Whippet and can give me some pointers on how to get him walking nicely? I know I need to start working on recall so he can be let off leash.


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## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

have a look at the cosydogs harness, with fleece that goes under the legs, so there is no rubbing...

he is beautiful by the way


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## flyballcrazy (Oct 6, 2010)

For my Greyhound and Lurcher i use the dog games harnesses they are great as fleece lined and come in some great colours 

Please don't use the ex-tenable lead with a normal collar, as you could really hurt your Whippet  

As with the walking nicely on lead, place a treat by his nose and ever so often give him the treat as you are walking. Whippets are very bright so he/she will get what you want in no time

Every time i get a new puppy i always let them off the lead as soon as, as i find that they will normally stay close, as they are scared. I also have my other dogs around with good recalls and the pup normally follows the older ones around. oh And lots of treats help, nice tasty ones  You can practice recall in your home and in the garden

Your pup is loverly by the way, I would love a Whippet but I would be scared my dogs would be to much for one, so I ended up with a JR instead
Good luck with your bundle of fun:001_tt1:


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## mimi g (Mar 10, 2009)

He is totally gorgeous....Im hoping to get a whippet pup soon, I already have a 12mth old cross breed. 

Collars R Us website do harnesses made for the whippet shape.


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

I would def recommend a fleece harness, we went through a couple of shop bought non-fleece ones before finding Dog Games Welcome to the Dog-Games Shop

They are really helpful and great customer service if you need to swap a harness for a different size or even try a perfect fit and a fleece lined on the understanding you will send one back.

Beau looks like his fur is thick but in reality it is thin and like cotton wool, other harnesses rubbed him under the arms and across his chest but we have had no probs with the fleece harness, he even wears it on the beach and it has done well with sand, sea and mud, I just chuck it in the washing machine every so often


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## PinkEars (Jun 4, 2010)

Sonybear said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Hopefully I have managed to attach a picture of my Whippet puppy who I have now had for 4 weeks so he is 14 weeks old.
> 
> ...


He's beautiful! I think it would be a close call on the cuteness of our two whippet pups! lol both adorable!

I see some of the traits in Walter that you describe he has only just started going for walks and we have been getting him used to the lead in the garden previously. He stops sometimes but usually is encouraged by a treat ok. He also does the thing where he kind of bolts and spins on the lead when he's excited. It is worrying that he will hurt is neck so far i have just stayed calm and called him back for a treat. I am trying to avoid all harness/ haltis with him i really want to master that walking on lead as Lola's training was such a disaster when it came to this. She now hates the halti and harness, still pulls with them and even though i have a soft harness it still rubs! Soon as i take it off she pulls me over ( she is only little but pulls hard).

Are you taking your pup to training classes? My first is this saturday so thats something will be top of my list to sort out!

enjoy your pup he is lovely!


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## Phoenix&Charlie'sMum (Oct 12, 2009)

FlyballCrazy has given some good advise there! 

Phoenix we had as a pup and was hardly ever on lead, he still doesnt go on lead unless necessary.

I have charlie on a fleece harness as it is padded and soft under his pits 

Im also with Fly with the "please dont use an extendy lead" these can be quite dangerous for any sighthound, as they can reach 0-60mph in about 3 seconds  and if they were to reach the end of the extender lead and it were to yank them back, this can cause them to break a neck - or at least twist their spine. 

If you dont feel confident to let him off lead or the area isnt enclosed etc. then I would fully recommend a training lead. I have a 30ft one for Charlie as he is a bugger for running off - Saluki hearing 

Cheese cheese and more cheese when out walking - they love it!!


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## Sonybear (Feb 1, 2011)

Just a quick note to say thank you for all the great advice, I will definitely not walk him on an extendable lead. We took him out today for a walk and took a 10 meter training lead and practised recall with him using chicken as treats and he was fantastic, we did let him off lead but I got nervous after 2 minutes so he swiftly went back on but I can see that progress will be made on his walks.

Yes he did go to a puppy training class and he was really good for the first 15 minutes and then he just wanted to play with all the other puppies, he loves to play!


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

I had one of these: Fleece Harnesses - Harnesses

It was great as it had a front clip too, but Kilo outgrew it and I gave it away. You will get loads of different harness recommendations - just have to do loads of research to find the best one for your pup! .

He looks lovely .


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## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

These harnesses

Welcome to Collars'R' Us

are made by people who have whippets so they are specially designed for them. I'm sure if you ask them they could maybe line them with fleece too.

I have quite a few whippets and mine all go out on extending leads with no problems at all. They quickly learn how far away from you they can go and mine tend to run in circles round me. My italian greyhounds also use them too. The only thing I would say is never attack a flexi lead to a normal collar always to a harness. A whippet can get to top speed before it hit the end of the lead and could easily seriously hurt their necks when they suddenly find they can go no further. I use martingale collars for my older whippets also from the collars r us site but they have been using extending leads for a lot of years and to be honest the older ones don't really run round much anyway.

For teaching them to walk on a lead I take them out at first on a normal lead with plenty of treats and encouragement.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2011)

looks good get him on the rabbits


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