We live near two wonderful large open spaces.  Both are "Enclosures" which are fully fenced, where the whippets enjoy lead free walking and running on good heathland with free roaming cattle and ponds.   There are also some very good local walks via the lanes and foot/bridle paths around the village, quite often with a dog-friendly pub halfway!



We got our first whippet purely by chance, through Julie's riding club President.   Julie didn't know this lady owned or bred Whippets, and this breed as our dog had not even been considered.  A bit of research later came back as affirmative!

We will never forget the first time we laid eyes on our little dog pup, on the sofa with his mum.



Julie​​

Julie is the one who handles the hounds for nearly all Open and Champ. shows but is not so mobile now and finds it a bit of a struggle.



She had been involved with Equines all her life, owning Exmoors twice and a top quality Haflinger.  Both the Haflinger and the Exmoor gelding became

Breed Champions with her, and the Haflinger was also Multi-ridden Champion under both Western and English saddles.



The Whippets are our first dogs and we love them, not wishing for any other breed.  We think Whippets are most feline in their mannerisms, and Tinka got on very well with both older kittens.  Now Tanzi also loves the remaining half Egyptian Mau (the female smoke tabby on the left).  The silver tabby was most beautiful and the sweetest home-loving cat ever, he and Tinka were best mates.  Theo was poisoned before he was even 18 months old.  Tinka was devastated, and he didn't get over it until the puppy bitch (Tanzi) arrived.



Mark​

 

Mark liked things technical and mechanical, so he was our chauffeur for any far away shows.  Being rather more mobile than Julie is now, he also tended to be the long distance dog walker. 



Mark was mad about computers and motorcycles, although did not latterly have one.  He became an Observer and later Committee member with London Advanced Motorcyclists in 2003, only one year after passing his bike test.  He had owned 5 different models and ridden around 30 others.



He also liked 35mm photography but latterly tended to just use the point and shoot Canon Ixus, much to his annoyance!



Mark wanted to be a Policeman, preferably on the bikes, but his poor eyesight failed him.  So he ended up squinting at the computer screen all day in his IT jobs instead!