Wide World of Whippets: Hunt Country Hosts...
BY DAN SAYERS continued
to “fly” and Dr. Radcliffe said that this extreme locomotion creates a problem during landing. “The flying is the easy part,” he joked. “It’s amazing that any dog can race more than once.” Dr. Rad- cliffe made it clear that performance science is not an exact science and he indicated that 100% recovery does not happen. Every recovery is considered catastrophic. Dr. Radcliffe also empha- sized that when it comes to Sighthounds, the appropriate anesthesia is critical. It is the owner’s responsibility to ask ques- tions when dealing with treatment for any injury. Russell McFadden next moderated “Whippets Worldwide—International Panel Discussion.” He introduced noted breed authorities from the UK, Europe, North America and Australia who offered their opinions on the various breed standards. Britain’s Pauline Oli- ver referenced the differences between the UK, AKC, and FCI standards, noting when each was most recently revised. She said that she did not intend to criti- cize the standards, but only intended to highlight the notable differences in terms of color, height, shoulders, eyes and disqualifying faults. Pauline said that when she judges abroad, she requests a copy of the breed standard and relies heavily on her stewards, translators and scribes to be sure that she stays on point with regards to the standard. Pauline became visibly emotional when she mentioned her judging assignment at the 2015 American Whippet Club. “I’m quite American,” she said holding back tears. Pauline concluded her presenta- tion with a few photos of notable win- ners in Russia, Finland, New Zealand and America. Australian Molly Rule–Steele followed by sharing photos of dogs that she liked from Sweden and the UK. She reminded the audience that the Whip- pet was recognized in 1891 and that the first standard was approved in 1904. The original standard, she noted, men- tioned an ideal weight for the breed, but excluded height. It also did not refer- ence the breed’s overall make or color. Molly talked about breed hallmarks and mentioned that these are “purely for function” and not cosmetic. She com- pared the various standards and noted differences in the requirements for head, skull, eyes, bite and feet. “Every- body agrees on ears,” she pointed out. Next up to speak was Thomas Münch of Germany who filled–in for Swede Magnus Hagstedt. Thomas talked about how judging and showing Whippets dif- fers from other breeds, but not from the other Sighthound breeds. He pointed out that when judging Sighthounds,
“HE INTRODUCED NOTED BREED AUTHORITIES FROM THE UK, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA WHO OFFERED THEIR OPINIONS ON THE VARIOUS BREED STANDARDS.”
gentleness is a prerequisite. If this proves difficult, he suggested that judges find other breeds to evaluate. Thomas said that judging one’s own breed is a great responsibility and warned that good dogs can be shown by the “wrong” peo- ple. Regarding fault judging, he warned against judging unfavorably. “Judging is about forgiving,” he confided. About professional handlers, he noted that there are very few in Europe and in the UK. However, where they do exist the bar for the presentation of show dogs is raised considerably. Thomas questioned the degree to which the sport influences society and he reminded attendees that competitiveness should never overrule the dogs’ welfare. He also posited sev- eral questions worthy of consideration by all exhibitors. Should Whippets [in the ring] be beggars? Is it preferable to move with a lower and longer stride? Is curvier better? Thomas then mentioned dogs from the US, UK, South Africa, Aus- tralia and Sweden that were his favor- ites. Thomas suggested that based on the dogs mentioned, the clichés that exist within the breed about American- type versus English–type are unreliable. Most, he noted, have international pedi- grees based on British and American lines. The panel discussion concluded with Bo Bengtson’s review of Whippet popularity around the world. Bo pro- vided statistics on breed entries in the US noting that the largest exhibition of
Whippets at an AWC National was 597 in 2004. (He suggested the actual total of entries at the Greensboro, North Caroli- na, Specialty was likely 10–20% higher.) Entries at regionals, he said, rarely reach the 100–dog mark today. By contrast, Bo pointed out that in the UK, entries at Crufts can be among the largest for any breed. At this year’s show, 414 Whip- pets were entered. Bo also presented registration figures for the breed around the world using figures from 2016. The breed ranked #60 in the US with 1,279 AKC registrations that year. By contrast, the breed ranked #16 in the UK with 3,218 registrations. France saw 1,386 entries for the same year, and Germany’s registrations totaled 637 for the coun- try’s many breed clubs. Bo concluded by mentioning the breed’s increasing pop- ularity in Russia, Japan and Brazil. He also noted that Whippets have become popular in unexpected places such as Serbia. The next speaker at the Interna- tional Whippet Congress was Susanne Hughes, DVM who presented her team’s work on the study of deafness in the breed. Her findings from 1,853 Whip- pets tested reveals that 98.6 percent of both conformation and race–bred Whip- pets have a normal hearing function. Of those affected animals, deafness may be unilateral or bilateral and the causes can be congenital or chronic. Late– onset deafness, she noted, can be either
150 • S how S ight M agazine , M ay 2018
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