Whippet Snippets

The Dirtiest Word

A sullied post-park Ribsy listens for it.

That one word in his vocabulary which sends shivers racing through his spine.

"Ribsy let's go take a BATH."

In a flash he is off, scurrying upstairs to the safety of the bed. There he plops his bum down, curls up into a tight ball, and summoning all his strength, renders himself so heavy that he believes he is unable to be picked up.

Got to love dog logic, Girl chuckles, as she cradles one hand around Ribsy's hindquarters, and places the second on his chest, carefully peeling him off the bed like Velcro.

Darn, thinks Ribsy, not heavy enough this time, as he's whisked away to the dreaded shower.

Mod Dog Whippet

As a discerning dog, Ribsy is delighted to have discovered Mod-Dog's fine art print & card shop, and its Mod-Dog blog featuring hip and modern finds, plus interviews with talented pet artists.

Over at the shop you can quickly and easily shop by breed - whippets, greyhounds, and Italian greyhounds are all represented.

Check out the very cool whippet silhouette:

It's available as both a notecard and an art print. Not a fan of the tangerine? No problem. Mod-Dog can customize the background color of your print. 

Pssst - mention 'whippetsnippets' to them, and they'll customize the color for free!

Logjam

Ribsy has a confession to make.

He pooped in the house yesterday.

Boy comes home from a long night at work. He lets Mirabel out of her crate, and she bolts up two flight of stairs to the third floor. Strange, because she never ever does that. Boy follows her up, shouts "Shit!" and shoos our poo-loving girl (not the human Girl!) away. A corner of the rug is discreetly flipped over like an omelette - an obvious cover up attempt by Ribsy. - and when Boy lifts it, a loose pile that more closely resembles runny eggs greets him. 

Tired and disgusted, Boy rolls up the rug, ready to toss it. Girl informs him later that it cost $100, so it is now deemed worth saving. Boy salvages it from the garbage, but clearly not in the mood nor possessing the energy to clean it, he chucks it in the garage to clean at a "later" date.  Something tells Girl that "later" will never come. But unexpectedly discovering a nasty, long forgotten, super smelly turd-ridden rug as the source of stink at the height of summer heat will.

Meanwhile, Ribsy seems to feel plenty sorry about his poopsy oopsy. He has rubbed his nose a raw red, which Girl has taken to mean that he is either stressed or guilty. Or both. But Boy and Girl aren't upset with him. How can they be? It wasn't intentional!

Everybody is entitled to have a shitty day once in a while.

Searching Snippets

Ribsy's taking a run on the techy side today. He thinks that one of the neatest things about using Typepad's blog service is the ability to find out where dogs are visiting from. Don't get him wrong. It's not as if droves and droves of dogs are hounding his blog. (He only wishes he could attain fame beyond his wildest doggy dreams.)

The ones that do manage to find themselves here on the Snippets are usually Googling one search term or another. Some of the more interesting searches that ended up bringing them to Ribsy's world today included:

• "whippet nightmare" - A whippet having a bad dream, or a person suffering from nightmares about whippets?
• "sighthound cockroach" - Yes. The famous sighthound slumber stance.
• "whippet fart" - Flatulence: Whippetese for "I'm feeling so comfortable...mmm."
• "bully whippet" - Ribsy's a lover not a fighter. Oh! Waitasec. You mean THIS. 
• "training whippet to heel" - Good luck with that.
• "whippet blog" - Hope you enjoyed your visit! Check the Roll Call on the right for more whippet blogs.

Frisbee Frolic

Sunny weather, solid running ground, and a day off = ripe conditions for a frisbee catching montage.

Whippet key: Ribsy -> green coat / Mirabel -> red coat

 

Notes on a whippet

Ribsy now has the perfect notepad to write on should the urge to jot down bloggin' thoughts strike when he's away from his laptop, on the road or at the park.

After all, Ribsy est un chien rapide.

"Mais je suis un chien rapide aussi!" said Mirabel, proudly showing off the French she acquired at, um, erm, hmm. Where did she learn to speak French? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is named after the Mirabel airport in Montreal, Quebec? Or maybe she's just a very special whippet chien rapide indeed.

Male bonding

Ribsy is not as gregarious as Mirabel, but he still actively seeks out a good cuddle from time to time. In fact, he spent a lot of his puppyhood in the arms of Boy, and he's never grown out of the habit. When he gets cold or surly at the park, he looks up at Boy, and without a word spoken Boy swoops down and picks up the Ribster, enveloping him in a protective hug. You have to a be a confident man and a confident male dog to pull off that move without feeling one bit ridiculous.

This is how Ribsy prefers to be held:

Do not attempt to pick him up, Mirabel-style. He will claw his feet into your side.

The Dirt on Whippets

The whippets Ribsy has known usually tend to hang out on the tidy side of the fence, and he himself is no exception. Ribsy is meticulous about cleaning himself. He's almost cat-like in that respect. Other than his ongoing peeing-on-oneself habit that he's trying to kick, he considers himself a neat freak. His coat is soft not greasy. His odor is not odor but rather pawfume. His paws buttery.

But from time to time, it's fun to just let it all go. Here's a shot of him post-park on a rainy day back in his puppyhood home in Victoria:

Let the house get messy. Leave the piles for sorting another day. Go ahead and have some fun. Whippets know how to let go when the time is right to run. But they also know how to be a well-groomed member of the pack. And Boy and Girl appreciate that trait sooooooooooooo very much.

Hold Request

Mirabel's not shy. From the first day she arrived here, she welcomed being picked up in human arms and carried around. She loves the heightened vantage point and the superiority she feels from looming over Ribsy.

What makes it unusual for Boy and Girl is that, unlike Ribsy, she prefers to be held this way:

Now there probably is no manual out there outlining the procedure on how to pick up a dog the right way. However, this position never fails to elicit a few chuckles or surprised exclamations at the dog park. (Yes, admits Girl, we perform this manoeuvre in public.) These reactions lead Girl to wonder if there are other whippets that love being picked up and held, and if so, do they also gravitate towards this position?

Or is Mirabel one odd duck?

Crate & Barrel Chested

Funny. Reuters photo from the Westminster Dog Show.

Mirabel wants this sign for her crate. Maybe then she will get more respect from Ribsy, who prances around the house when Boy and Girl are gone, flaunting his freedom.

Girl's not sure how Mirabel and Ribsy would behave when left alone. Certainly they have never fought with each other. After all they've had plenty of opportunities to mangle each other at the park, or in the car. Girl supposes what she really fears is that Mirabel will somehow lose her willingness to be crated. Ribsy, on the other hand, has rejected the crate since day one so he's always been a hopeless case for crating - other than his most necessary airplane adventure.

Is your whippet crate trained? Do whippets ever lose that crating feeling?