A History of the Whippet

The Whippet is a British breed of medium-sized dog of sighthound type. It is closely related to the Greyhound and – apart from its smaller size – closely resembles it. It has sometimes been described as "the poor man's greyhound". It is kept as a companion dog, and also for showing and for amateur racing and lure coursing. It has the highest running speed of any breed of its weight, and may have the fastest acceleration of any dog. 

The name is derived from an early seventeenth-century word, now obsolete, meaning "to move briskly". There has been continuity in describing Greyhound-types of different sizes: large, medium and small, recorded in hunting manuals and works on natural history from the Middle Ages. Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York confirmed in his early fifteenth-century translation and additions to the original late fourteenth-century French Livre de chasse the advantage of maintaining the great, the middle, and the small size of greyhound for different sorts of game. The English physician and academic John Caius refers in his 16th century De Canibus Britannicus to lesser as well as greater sorts of Leporarius, Grehounde (greyhound) and notably to a type which has been connected to the Whippet, the Tumbler, a lesser sort of mungrell Greyhounde and excellent warren dog for catching rabbits, also recorded by the early 19th-century Scottish curator and editor Thomas Brown. The Victorian English writers describe the emerging modern breed of Whippet or snap-dog bred for catching rabbits, coursing competitions, straight rag-racing, and for the novel show fancy.

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Whippets were bred to hunt by sight, coursing game in open areas at high speeds. There are numerous representations of small greyhound-like hounds in art dating back to Ancient Egyptian times. In medieval England, a small Greyhound breed became popular for use as a ratting dog; the first written English use of the word Whippet with regard to a type of dog was in 1610. Whippets were commonly known as "snap dogs" for their tendency to "snap up" nearby prey. In the picture by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755) of two dogs presented to Louis XV, they are either Whippets or small Greyhounds, but are probably related to an early form of Whippet. Oudry also painted a second painting of Misse with a different, non-sighthound dog. There is a 1758 painting by Pompeo Batoni entitled Portrait of Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton which features a similar whippet-like dog.

In the 19th century, Whippet racing was a popular sport in parts of England. The Whippet was held in high regard in the northern parts of England and Wales, but was generally disregarded in the rest of the country. At the time, there were two varieties of Whippet. The first type had a smooth coat, was more popular in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, and became the modern Whippet. The other had a rough coat from crossbreeding with Bedlington Terriers. This type was more popular in Durham and Northumberland and was frequently referred to as a "rabbit dog". Early specimens were taken from the race track by the dog fanciers of the time and exported around the world. John Taylor said that "In all the shapes and forms of dogges; of all which there are but two sorts that are useful to man's profits, which two are the mastiffe and the little curre, whippet, or house-dogge; all the rest are for pleasure and recreation."

The age of the modern Whippet dawned in 1891 when The Kennel Club granted the breed official recognition, thus making the Whippet eligible for competition in dog shows, and commencing the recording of their pedigrees.

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