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Dog Articles
Past and Present: Whippet
A small and very swift breed of Greyhound called the
Whippet has been developed in England, and Whippet racing is an old
and favorite sport among English workingmen, particularly in the
northern and northwestern counties. The dogs are raced over a
20O-yard straightaway course, and are usually handicapped according
to weight and previous performance. There are two men to each dog -
the handler, who holds the animal's fore paws on the mark, and the
'runner-up', usually the owner or some other person of whom the dog
is fond and toward whom he runs. The starter, pistol in hand, stands
behind the ‘scratch’
The owners now run away from the dogs, each waving a
rag and shouting, ‘Hi! Hi!’ to attract his favorite's attention,
and, still urging the dogs, take their position behind the
‘over-mark’, which is 10 yards beyond the winning post. Each handler
holds his dog's neck with the left hand, and with the right grasps
the root of the tail. At a word from the starter, the handler gets
ready by lifting his whippet's hind feet well off the ground, while
its fore feet remain on the mark.
At the crack of the pistol the dog is literally
thrown into its stride, and with the other competitors flashes down
the track, crosses the winning mark at top speed, slowing up only as
it approaches its owner, who is still frantically calling and
waving, the rag.
Each dog wears, a
colored ribbon about his neck - red, white, blue, yellow, green, or
black - and at the finish of each heat a flag the color of the
winner's ribbon is hoisted by the judges to announce the result. The
distance has been covered in 4 seconds, or an average of 52 feet 2
inches per second for the 200 yards.
Color is not a point in whippets, their sole purpose
being to go as fast as possible. They come in all colors, like
Greyhounds; indeed, they are judged along exactly parallel lines. If
anything, they are even more extreme in their peculiarities of form,
being very reached up in the back and clear of limb. The ideal
weight is about 15 pounds for males and 13 for females. The head
shows usually some Manchester Terrier tendencies, and the tail has
generally longer hair along its under side than covers the rest of
the dog.
In spite of the fact that these slight little dogs
are rather delicate and trembly, they are staunchly declared by
those who own them to be very bright, affectionate, and loyal.
As is generally the case, when ‘the fancy’ takes hold
of a utility breed an artificial standard, based almost entirely on
looks, supersedes the more erratic standard, based upon
performance. The English foundryman would pay more for a snipy,
knobly little dog that could run like a scared spirit than for the
most graceful and cleanly silhouetted beauty at the bench show,
should it lack in speed and racing courage.
Source:
National Geographic 1919
Recommended Reading
Dog Training
Mastery - An Owners' Manual
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