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Breed profile · Hound Group · the Poor Man's Racehorse

Whippet

The Whippet — the ‘Poor Man’s Racehorse’ — is a sleek, sweet-faced sighthound: lightning quick, amiable, dignified, and gentle, and all business the moment something is worth chasing. The AKC recognized the breed in 1888, in the Hound Group. Its year turns on the annual Whippet specialty dog show — the 2026 national was held April 15–18, 2026, in Pasco, Washington, and the 2027 national is set for April 21–24, 2027, in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Help us improve it. This is one of ThePetAdvisor’s breed profiles, built from public sources with generous links to the people who actually own this breed’s knowledge. If something’s off or missing, the parent club can claim the page and set it straight — see the bottom of the page.

A white and fawn Whippet stacked in the show ring, with a handler's leg and ring gating behind
A white and fawn Whippet stacked in the show ring at the Atlanta dog shows, 2009. Photo: Jenmb116, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Do you have a better photo of a Whippet in the American show ring? If you have a show photo you’d let us use, email it to [email protected] — tell us the dog’s name and the show, and it may be featured here. Please only send photos you took yourself or have the photographer’s permission to share, and tell us the photographer’s name.

1. Breed at a glance

  • Group: Hound. Full AKC recognition in 1888.
  • Size: dogs 19 to 22 inches at the withers, bitches 18 to 21 inches. The AKC lists 25 to 40 pounds and a life expectancy of 12 to 15 years. The AKC ranked the breed 50th in popularity in 2024, consistently in the top 60 over the past decade.
  • Coat: short, close, smooth, and firm in texture.
  • Color: immaterial — any color or combination of colors.
  • Ears: rose, small, and fine in texture, thrown back and folded along the neck in repose.
  • Tail: long and tapering, reaching at least to the inside of the hock, carried low in motion.
  • Temperament: amiable, friendly, and gentle — in the standard’s words, capable of great intensity during sporting pursuits.
  • Speed: the fastest dog of its weight, up to about 35 miles per hour, with the fastest idle-to-running acceleration of any dog.

2. History

The Whippet was made in the north of England, in the 18th and 19th centuries, by working-class miners and mill workers who wanted a small racing and rabbit-coursing dog of their own. The breed is believed to be a Greyhound/Terrier cross, bred down in size for the snap-dog races and rag racing of the working man — hence the nickname the “Poor Man’s Racehorse,” at a time when only the wealthy owned Greyhounds. Whippets came to the United States with mill operators from England, and the first populations were established in Massachusetts.

The American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1888, three years before The Kennel Club in England did so in 1891. The modern breed dawned with that 1891 recognition, which made the Whippet eligible for competition in dog shows and began the recording of pedigrees.

In the show ring, the breed’s landmarks are Ch. Courtenay Fleetfoot of Pennyworth, who won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1964; GCHP CH Pinnacle Kentucky Bourbon, who won Best in Show at the 2020 AKC National Championship and the Hound Group at Westminster in 2025, taking Reserve Best in Show; and Miuccia, who won Best in Show at Crufts in 2025. The American Whippet Club is the AKC parent club for the breed in the United States.

3. The standard and why it's written that way

A fawn brindle Whippet stacked outdoors, showing rose ears, a long arched neck, and a smooth outline
A fawn brindle Whippet stacked outdoors. Photo: Canarian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The standard is short — two pages — and nearly all of it serves one idea: a dog built to cover a maximum of distance with a minimum of lost motion.

  • General appearance. “A medium size sighthound giving the appearance of elegance and fitness, denoting great speed, power and balance without coarseness. A true sporting hound that covers a maximum of distance with a minimum of lost motion.” Symmetry of outline, muscular development, and powerful gait are the main considerations; all forms of exaggeration should be avoided.
  • Size, proportion, substance. Ideal height: dogs 19 to 22 inches, bitches 18 to 21 inches, measured at the withers. More than one-half inch above or below the stated limits will disqualify — the only height disqualification in the breed. Length from forechest to buttocks is equal to or slightly greater than height at the withers. Moderate bone throughout.
  • Head. Keen, intelligent, alert expression. Eyes large, round to oval, dark brown to nearly black; light eyes are undesirable, yellow eyes strictly penalized, and blue eye(s), any portion of blue in the eye(s), or eyes not of the same color will disqualify. Rose ears, small and fine in texture, thrown back and folded along the neck in repose; erect ears should be severely penalized. Skull long and lean, scarcely perceptible stop; muzzle long and powerful. Scissors bite; undershot disqualifies, and overshot one-quarter inch or more disqualifies.
  • Neck, topline, body. Neck long, clean, and muscular, well arched, widening gracefully into the top of the shoulder. The back is broad, firm, and well muscled, with a graceful natural arch over the loin and carrying through over the croup. Brisket very deep, reaching as nearly as possible to the point of the elbow. There is a definite tuckup of the underline.
  • Tail. Long and tapering, reaching to at least the inside of the hock when measured down along the hind leg. In motion the tail is carried low, with only a gentle upward curve, and should not be carried higher than the top of the back.
  • Coat and color. Short, close, smooth, and firm in texture — any other coat shall be a disqualification. Color is immaterial. That coat clause is also the breed’s answer to the so-called “longhaired Whippet”: the AKC and the American Whippet Club hold that long-coated dogs called Whippets were mixed-breed in origin, and the breed now under development from those dogs is called the Windsprite.
  • Gait. Low, free moving, and smooth, with reach in the forequarters and strong drive in the hindquarters. The forelegs move forward close to the ground to give a long, low reach; the hind legs have strong propelling power. A short, hackney gait with high wrist action, or a lack of front reach or rear drive, should be strictly penalized.
  • Temperament. Amiable, friendly, gentle, but capable of great intensity during sporting pursuits.

The Official Standard of the Whippet was approved October 9, 2007, and effective January 1, 2008.

4. Temperament & living with one

The Whippet is the classic 35-mile-an-hour couch potato: explosive in a sprint and asleep on the sofa for the rest of the day. Indoors the breed is quiet, clean, and unobtrusive, happy to fold itself into whatever warm spot is nearest its people. Whippets are people dogs — they want to be where their people are, and they do best in a home that is actually lived in, not one they are left alone in all day.

Outdoors, remember what the dog was built for. A Whippet is a sighthound, and a sighthound that spots something worth chasing will outrun any recall, so a fenced yard is not optional and off-leash time belongs only in a fenced area. What the breed needs for exercise is not miles of roadwork — Whippets are sprinters, not distance runners — but a few minutes of flat-out running, a lure-coursing field, or a secure place to stretch out at full speed.

The thin coat and little body fat mean a Whippet feels the cold: a coat in winter and a warm bed are part of the bargain, and pale skin can sunburn on bright days. The breed is sensitive in every sense — gentle, positive handling works, harsh corrections do not — and sighthounds are sensitive to barbiturate anesthetics, which is worth telling the veterinarian before any procedure. With children, the Whippet is what the standard says: amiable, friendly, and gentle.

5. Grooming

Grooming a Whippet is about as easy as grooming gets. The short, close coat needs a weekly brush with a hound glove or a soft brush and an occasional bath, and shedding is low to moderate.

  • Coat: weekly brushing, occasional bath. No trimming, no clipping, no hand-stripping — the standard wants the coat short, close, smooth, and firm.
  • Nails: regular trims. Whippet feet are more hare than cat, with hard, thick pads; long nails change the way the foot lands.
  • Ears and teeth: check the ears and brush the teeth as part of the weekly routine.
  • Skin: thin skin and pale coats can sunburn, so shade matters on bright days, and a coat is needed in cold weather.

6. Health testing

Responsible Whippet breeders health-test to the OFA CHIC protocol for the breed:

  • Eye examination by a boarded ACVO ophthalmologist (CAER), done yearly.
  • Cardiac evaluation — a congenital, advanced, or basic cardiac examination by a board-certified cardiologist, which must include an echocardiogram.
  • Congenital deafness — OFA/GDC evaluation based on a BAER hearing test, done once.
  • Entry in the Whippet Health Foundation database, which tracks the breed’s health data.
  • Optional: hip evaluation for hip dysplasia, and laboratory testing for autoimmune thyroiditis.

What breeders and owners watch for: mitral valve disease, a mounting concern in the breed — and many Whippets have innocent flow murmurs unrelated to true mitral valve disease, so a murmur alone is not a diagnosis. Eye defects are rare, and there is no genetic test for hereditary eye disease in Whippets. Congenital deafness, epilepsy, and immunological problems are tracked in the breed. Two sighthound notes: Whippets are sensitive to barbiturate anesthetics, and the breed’s large, slow-beating heart is sometimes arrhythmic or intermittent at rest — normal for a Whippet, not a defect.

The Whippet Health Foundation (whippethealth.org) is an independent nonprofit that funds health research, maintains the breed’s health database, and coordinates health clinics at the national specialty.

7. The annual Whippet specialty dog show

A specialty is the breed’s All-Star show — its Super Bowl. Once a year, the best Whippets from across the country, and often from around the world, come together in one place.

The American Whippet Club’s national specialty: the annual Whippet specialty dog show. The 2026 national: April 15–18, 2026, at the Red Lion Pasco Airport & Conference Center in Pasco, Washington, judged by Ms. M Dukes. Best of Breed: GCHP CH Pinnacle Kentucky Bourbon. The 2027 national: April 21–24, 2027, at the Wichita Falls MPEC Center in Wichita Falls, Texas. The 2025 national: April 22–25, 2025, at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio, judged by Mrs. Jan Swayze-Curry, 481 dogs in the entry. The 2024 national: April 24–27, 2024, at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, judged by D L Davenport, 586 dogs in the entry.

The standard, in brief: a medium-size sighthound built for speed and work — dogs 19 to 22 inches at the withers, bitches 18 to 21 inches, length from forechest to buttocks equal to or slightly greater than height, a short, close, smooth, firm coat of any color, rose ears, and a long tapering tail carried low — amiable, friendly, and gentle, but capable of great intensity during sporting pursuits.

The 2026 National Specialty — the 39th American Whippet Club National Specialty, in a week of events Sunday, April 12 – Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Pasco, Washington. Conformation Wednesday, April 15 – Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the Red Lion Pasco Airport & Conference Center, 2525 N 20th Ave, Pasco, Washington. AKC event 2026074705, Parent Specialty (National Specialty). Conformation judge: Ms. M Dukes. Junior Showmanship judge: Mrs. C Hynes-Robinson. Obedience judge: Mr. D Rennick (AKC event 2026074704). Rally judge: Mr. C G Taylor (AKC event 2026074706). Superintendent: BaRay Event Services, Inc. Event chair (conformation): Frank Bradley Briscoe. Entries opened January 7, 2026, and closed Wednesday, March 11, 2026. The entry: 343 dogs, 388 entries. The week also held lure coursing on Sunday, April 12, obedience on Monday, April 13, Futurity, Maturity, Breeders Sweepstakes, and rally on Tuesday, April 14, Veteran Sweepstakes on Wednesday, April 15, and an Altered Competition on Thursday, April 16. (Sources: AKC event search, event 2026074705; BaRay Event Services, 2026 AWC National Specialty breed counts; American Whippet Club, National Specialty.)

Results (2026 national). Best of Breed: GCHP CH Pinnacle Kentucky Bourbon. Best Junior Handler: Fallyn Riney; Reserve Best Junior Handler: Olivia Moorby. Best of Opposite Sex, Winners Dog, and Winners Bitch not confirmed in an accessible official source. Best of Breed verified through the Westminster Kennel Club’s 2027 national-specialty-winners invitee list, which names GCHP CH Pinnacle Kentucky Bourbon as the Whippet invitee. (Sources: Westminster Kennel Club, 2027 Westminster invitees; AKC event search, event 2026074705.)

The 2027 National Specialty: a full specialty week Friday, April 17 – Saturday, April 24, 2027, with conformation Wednesday, April 21 – Saturday, April 24, 2027, at the Multi-Purpose Events Center (MPEC), 1000 5th Street, Wichita Falls, Texas. Superintendent: BaRay Event Services, Inc. Judges, AKC event number, entries, and closing date not yet published as of November 2026. (Sources: AKC Upcoming National Specialties; American Whippet Club, National Specialty.)

Past national specialties: 2025 · 2024

American Whippet Club — national specialty site

8. Regional specialties through the year: smaller regional shows

The national is the anchor, but the breed’s year also runs through regional specialties — smaller regional shows, not the national — held by the parent club around the country, usually as designated specialties with all-breed shows. These are the 2026 regionals verified from club and AKC sources so far:

Two AWC regional specialties verified for 2026 so far:

  • Pacific Northwest Regional Specialty — Friday, June 12, 2026, Hillsboro, Oregon: at the Washington County Fairgrounds / Westside Commons, 873 NE 34th Ave. AKC event 2026074709. Sweepstakes judge Guin Borstel (10:00 AM); breed judge Mike Bennett (12:15 PM). The entry: 77 Whippets, 115 total entries (sweepstakes 30, breed 73). Held with the Cascade Hound Association shows, June 12–14. (Sources: AKC event search, event 2026074709; American Whippet Club, Pacific Northwest Regional judging program.)
  • Western Regional Specialty — Sunday, October 4, 2026, Escondido, California: at the Hidden Valley Obedience Club, 3396 East Valley Parkway. AKC event 2026074717. Judges John Zolezzi and Thomas Kirstein (sweepstakes and breed roles not separately confirmed). The entry: 38 Whippets, 51 entries. Held with the Southern California Whippet Association AM and PM specialties on Saturday, October 3, 2026. (Sources: AKC event search, event 2026074717; American Whippet Club, Western Regional judging program.)

Past regional specialties: 2025 · 2024

More regional specialties will be added here as their programs are verified — this section is built from show data, not guesswork. Browse upcoming show weekends →

9. Clubs

  • American Whippet Club (AWC) (parent club) — the AKC-designated parent club for the breed in the United States. It holds the national specialty — the annual Whippet specialty dog show — and runs the breed’s national specialty site at national.americanwhippetclub.org. The club also publishes The Whippet News, its official newsletter, and runs a breeder referral program.
  • Local and regional clubs around the country include the Cascade Whippet Club, the Southern California Whippet Association, the Alamo Area Whippet Club, the Arizona Whippet Association, the Greater San Diego Whippet Association, the Northern California Whippet Fanciers Association, and the Western Washington Whippet Association.
  • National Whippet Club of Canada — the breed club for Whippets in Canada.

10. Rescue

Whippet Rescue and Placement, Inc. (WRAP) — whippet-rescue.org — is the independent 501(c)(3) rescue for the breed, recognized by the American Whippet Club, with volunteers across the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Contact: [email protected].

  • How it works: an adoption application is required before contacting a foster home. A securely fenced yard is required for fosters.
  • No shipping: WRAP does not ship dogs, and prefers placement within reasonable driving distance of the foster home.
  • At the national: the American Whippet Club holds a Parade of Rescues at the national specialty, where rescue Whippets walk the ring.
  • AKC Rescue Network: the AKC Rescue Network also lists the breed’s rescue contact for Whippets.

11. Breeder vs rescue

From a breeder: ask the American Whippet Club for its breeder referral, and expect a breeder who shows their dogs, health-tests breeding stock to the CHIC protocol (eye examination, cardiac evaluation with echocardiogram, BAER hearing test, and entry in the Whippet Health Foundation database), shares the health records, asks questions about your home, and will take the dog back at any age if things go wrong. Be wary of anyone with puppies always available, no health testing, no questions, and no take-back.

From rescue: WRAP places adult Whippets whose temperament is already known — a good fit for a home that wants a companion rather than a puppy, and for first-time Whippet owners who want a dog the foster home can describe honestly. Expect an application, a home check, and a securely fenced yard.

Either way: decide first whether you want a puppy or an adult, and a show prospect or a companion. And beware of “longhaired Whippets” offered as Whippets: the AKC and the American Whippet Club do not recognize them, and the breed under development from those dogs is now called the Windsprite.

12. Claim this page

This page belongs to the breed, and the people who know the breed best are the American Whippet Club and its members. If you are with the parent club — or you are a breeder, a judge, a handler, or a rescue volunteer who spotted something wrong, missing, or out of date — this page is yours to set straight. Tell us what needs fixing and where the correction is documented, and we will fix it and credit the source. Contact the site through the About page, and mention “Whippet breed profile.”

Sources