Heavy breathing

Hugging and sleeping together
Photo by Lana Joos

If you've never owned a whippet, you have no idea how funny they are. They can be very active, racing around the backyard until you have this scary idea they might drop dead. And then they crash on the couch, sticking their long noses behind the cushions. They make it so difficult for themselves to breathe. That's when the snoring begins.. First you hear their heavy breathing. It almost sounds like panting. Do you remember those cartoons, where some character is sound asleep and they let you hear those surreal sleeping sounds? That's a sound you might hear when you have a sleeping whippet in the house.

Once they are sound asleep, they start making those funny sounds, like "wreet-wreet". One of their lips goes up and down, whenever the sound is being released. You can see the rapid eye movement and sometimes it's like they are having convulsions: their legs move back and forth, like they are still racing on the track.

Whippets love blankets. It doesn't matter what color they are, as long as they are comfortable and soft. We have tons of doggy blankets in the house and in their outside kennel. They love to wrap themselves in a blanket. It's not that they are cold - they just love the cosy feeling of laying under a fleece blanky. I don't blame them.. Another favorite spot is the hind of your knees. They would fight over that spot! You'll never have cold feet if you have a whippet in the house. And if you have more than one (like most whippet fanatics do), you won't be surprised to find a bundle of whippets on the couch. They love to climb on top of each other. At a certain point, you have to unfold them, because all of their spider-like legs have emerged and you can no longer tell the difference. So it's good to have different colored whippets, like ours..