Ruth and Robert Beall of Summit City Whippets were first introduced to the Whippet Breed with the European Whippet in 1997. We were living in the foothills of the Alps at the time, about 90 miles away from Augsburg, Germany. My husband had taken our two Italian Greyhound pups, Erik and Mesmeri, to the veterinarian on the U.S. Army post in Augsburg, for their first annual check-up and preparation for our move back to the States two months later. While he was walking the dogs on post, a man stopped Robert and started to ask Robert why he had the man's wife's Whippet. When he looked more closely , the man realized that Erik was a little bit smaller than his Whippet. It turned out that the man's wife owned a show Whippet with markings and colorings exactly like Erik's. Lucky had been stolen once before, but they were fortunate enough to get him back. When the man saw Erik, he naturally thought that it had happened again, because he knew there was no other Whippet like Lucky in the area. Robert and the man talked for a while, exchanged names and phone numbers, so we could talk to his wife about getting our dogs together to play. We drove back to Augsburg a month later with Erik and Mesi, to the USO, where we met Elke, the Director of the USO on post, and Lucky, her beautiful little blue faun Whippet male. … And yes - they are smaller than our American Whippets! We had a wonderful visit, and fell in love with the Whippet breed. We had already been smitten by our two Italian Greyhounds, and had considered that once we got back to the States and settled down, we would like to have at least one of each size - the IG, the Whippet, and the Greyhound. After meeting Lucky, there was no doubt that we would at least get a Whippet.

Felicia Kuebler (Kari-On Kennels) has been my best friend and mentor since we met her in October, 1998 at the Northeast Indiana Kennel Club's dog show in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We had finally bought a home, and decided it was time to find our Whippet. While I was looking at all the sighthound collectibles and cute dog things at the vendor booths, my husband, the taller one, had already spotted the ring where the Whippets were getting ready to show, and made a bee-line to that area. The only thing on his mind was finding someone who would talk to him about Whippets, and maybe point him in the direction of a breeder. Fate took him right to Felicia, who was getting ready to show her 7-month-old (now CH) Kari-On Traffic Stopper (Traveler). Felicia talked with us while waiting to go into the ring, and then came back and talked more when they were finished. It just turned out that Felicia had TWO girls she was looking to place, and wanted to place them together. One of the girls, Jill, had been severely abused by a man who had leased her for breeding, and Felicia thought that keeping the two bonded females together would lessen the trauma for Jill of going to strangers again. Of course, two is always better than one, so… We arranged to travel on November 14, 1998, to Columbus, Ohio, for the next dog show in our area, to meet Jill (Echoes of Jillybrook Farms), and Mocha (Blackmoor's Mocha Crème De-Lite). We instantly fell in love with both girls. We visited with Felicia in her RV, met all her Whippets, and watched Traveler show his stuff in the ring. We instantly fell in love with both Jill and Mocha, and after visiting for a couple hours, we passed Felicia's inspection, and she was willing to let the girls go with us that day instead of waiting for a home visit. We have since spent many hours on the phone, and visit when Felicia is at dog shows within driving distance. I have learned most of what I know about Whippets from Felicia and from the dogs themselves.

I love every one of our dogs, and it's hard to call one a favorite over another, but if I have to pick one, it would be Jill. Jilly was one of our first two Whippets, and has been my constant companion since we got her as a Rescue. She is the sweetest, gentlest, most beautiful yellow faun little girl, and the queen of our growing pack of 8 dogs. Jilly follows me everywhere, sleeps in the queen's place with her head on my pillow at night, and keeps all the other dogs in line. When she thinks I need to be put in my place, she gets up on her hind feet, puts both front paws on my shoulders, and looks me straight in the eye. We have staring contests to see who is queen over our household. So far, I've out-stared her… There's no doubt in my mind that she could have earned a championship in any venue, if given the opportunity. After being leased for breeding and being abused, left in a cage for four days with no food and water, and then, after her recovery, being given to total strangers (us), Felicia decided her show days were over. With both American and Canadian champions all the way up her lines on both sides for several generations, she would also have been a wonderful mother, but that is not to be, since she is spayed now. Jilly and I have been through several obedience training classes at the Fort Wayne Obedience Training Club (FWOTC), and she has been tested and certified for our local Visiting Dog Program, going to hospitals and nursing homes in the area. She has a wonderful internal clock, and starts nudging the leashes that hang on the door into the garage when she knows it's time to go.

I hope to start Agility training this fall with Jill at the FWOTC, so that we can start to enjoy more of the fun things in life. We had an opportunity last weekend to try lure coursing when a new friend and former co-worker, Gail Selsmeyer, set up her lure coursing equipment for the last (and our first) time for a photo-shoot for a British book about Irish Wolfhounds. Gail invited me to bring some of our dogs along, to see how they would do, and to provide some contrast to the Wolfhounds in the photographs. What great fun! Only one of Gail's dogs, Dugan the Irish Wolfhound, knew anything about what was going on, and charged ahead after the lures. For the rest of the dogs, … we two-legged types got points for running around the course with our dogs on leashes, trying to encourage them to "go get the bunny!" while the dogs were more interested in checking out the horse patties or the invisible things moving in the bushes! Jill took one look at the lures, took a sniff, and looked at me as if to say, BUT MOM, THAT'S A TRASH BAG, AND I'M NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE THOSE!! Time to get a fishing pole and start practicing in the back yard! I have seen Jill chasing after squirrels in the yard, and she goes full-tilt all the way to the base of the tree, then tries to climb up the tree after the squirrel. After they tree the squirrel, Jilly and Mocha will sit at the base of the tree or have their front paws on the tree, staring up into the tree, for as long as 30 to 45 minutes at a time.

Snow's Gone Left
Dawn Squirrel Check right

I believe very strongly in development of the full Whippet, testing and challenging them in every way possible. Currently, I work with AWC Whippet Rescue, and am not breeding Whippets because I feel I still need to learn lots more about them. Once I retire from my day job (maybe another 15 or more years), I will have the time to devote to raising puppies, but will not engage in that activity just for the sake of doing it. If I do, it will be because I have a Whippet at that time that I believe will pass on the best qualities of the Whippet breed. These characteristics would have to include not only the standards measured in the conformation ring, but what the dog can show in its hunting instincts, agility, running style, racing and/or lure coursing. Meanwhile, I will learn all I can from the many Whippets that will pass through the doors of our Whippet Rescue home.

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