The Whippet (also English Whippet or Snap dog) is a dog breed of medium size. They are a sighthound breed that originated in England, where they descended from Greyhounds. Whippets today still strongly resemble a smaller greyhound. Part of the Hound group, Whippets have relatively few health problems other than arrhythmia. Whippets also participate in dog sports such as lure coursing, agility, dock diving and flyball. The name is derived from an early 17th-century word, now obsolete, meaning “to move briskly”.
There has been continuity in describing Greyhound-types of different sizes: large, medium and small, as recorded in hunting manuals and works on natural history from the Middle Ages. Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York confirmed in his early 15th-century translation and additions to the original late 14th century French Livre de chasse the advantage of maintaining the great, the middle, and the small size of a 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 Greyhound and excellent warren dog for catching rabbits, also recorded by the early 19th-century Scottish curator and editor Thomas Brown (naturalist). 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.
This has led to Whippets being described as “the poor man’s racehorse”. They are a popular companion breed frequently used in amateur racing, lure coursing, and dog shows; they have the highest running speed of breeds for their weight: and are possibly the fastest accelerating dog breed.
History
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 concerning 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 mastiff and the little curre, whippet, or house-dog; all the rest are for pleasure and recreation.