IVA KIMMELMAN, MERCI ISLE WHIPPETS
Please comment positively on your breed’s present condition and what trends might bear watching. There are so many gorgeous Whippets all over the world. Our breed is SO strong right now and has been for a while. However, seeking perfection cannot ever be satisfied completely, can it? The breed has gotten so much sounder and better in front and they have better side gait, although too much sometimes. I have been sharing Whippet photos of the past from old magazines and books on a Facebook thread. I started to do this in October of 2020 to bring some happiness to my family of Whippet fanciers during a difficult time for all of us. We have many fine, talented breeders in the US. I do think that dogs in England, Sweden, and Austra- lia are so strong, even with the different standards. I especially LOVE Whippets from Australia, the UK, Sweden, and Finland. I am concerned about Whippets from some breeding programs being too extreme. They are “Greyhoundy” Whippets with flat backs, narrow skulls with no stop at all, and small eyes, set oblique- ly on the head. Fads come and go, but if breeders remember that this is a galloping, sprinting breed, they should remember that the trot is just to check for soundness. Our AKC standard wants width between the ears, and these dogs are wide between the eyes, as asked for in other standards around the world. These dogs may have gorgeous bodies, but they lack type. If you cannot tell the breed by the head, something is wrong. I dislike the wording “barely perceptible stop” in our standard. It has allowed bizarre- looking heads to seep in. The successful breeders are doing fine, with just a few outliers not caring about heads and breeding only for side gait in the show ring. They usually do not course or race their Whippets. If they did, they would see the weakness they perpetuate. We want balance of proportions, NO exaggera- tions, and moderation all-around. Whippets can- not move fast while dragging a lot of excess baggage with them. Alas, racing is the real bottom line with Whip- pets. If they are not fast, they do not do well—and extremes do not have speed. The finish line is the bottom line. I do not use racing as a litmus test for my own program, preferring lure coursing or even open field coursing, which I did in my past in California. How- ever, for those who feel strongly about the subjectiv- ity of the show ring or lure coursing, the bottom line at a race meet is the finish line. The dogs decide. The sport has changed greatly since you first began participating. What are your thoughts on the state of the fancy and the declining number of breeders? How do we encourage newcomers to join us and remain in the sport? This is the million-dollar question. We have no control over time, change, and the future. My moth- er used to respond to my childhood yearnings about
Am. Eng. Ch. Merci Isle Magnolia
I have so many great bitches that I am indebted to, but if I must choose just a few, these most certainly are significant: Ch. Merci Isle Hot Flowers, FCH, ROM; Ch. Merci Isle A Distant Mirror; her daughter, Ch. Merci Isle Dreamy Draw, FCH; her granddaughter, Ch. Merci Isle Velvet Hammer, FCH, ROM; her great-granddaughter, Ch. Merci Isle Dove Feather, FCH; her daughter Ch. Merci Isle Jacaranda, LCM; her daughter, Ch. Merci Isle Jona Gold, LCM; and currently, her daughter, Ch. Merci Isle I Could Watch You 4Ever, who is as close to my ideal as I will most likely ever own. I was able to import a wonderful English Ch. bitch, Ch. Barnesmore Red Rose at Palmik, and have her daughter, Ch. Merci Isle Paradise Garden, LCM, and granddaughter, Merci Isle Antipodes (just a few singles away from her show title). Let me say that each dog that I’ve mentioned has a pedigree that means as much to me as the dogs themselves. If I go back to my very beginnings, those dogs matter as much as what I’ve created, even if I did not create them. We are all in this game together, this familial hunt to carry on. I am so grate- ful to the breeders who made these dogs so that I could include them in the Merci Isle recipe. Then there are the dogs I did not breed myself, but was able to obtain due to the incredible generosity of others who were willing to share. Ch. Tangen’s The Maverick Cosmonaut, FCh, CRX, ROM; Am./Aus. Ch. Byerley Savile Row, ROMX; and Byerley Jay Dillon At Merci Isle, the latest Aus- tralian import. I also brought his stunning litter sister to the States to incorporate with my lines, but I need to find a young upstart to lease her from me for a litter.
74 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2021
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