I am looking for a male Whippet, 6 month old or younger,
AKC registered and Show quality, that may be available
somewhere in Florida, preferably South Florida.

Must be from a good breeder and NOT a puppy farm,
as I WILL check this out.

Any help as to where I can locate my new best friend, will
be most appreciated, as I lost mine about two month ago,
after being with me for eleven and a half years, due to
heart valve failure.

TIA,
Info man

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 18:14:35 GMT whittled these words:
I am looking for a male Whippet, 6 month old or younger,
AKC registered and Show quality, that may be available
somewhere in Florida, preferably South Florida.

If you really want "show quality" then the best place to look is at shows.
THe way to find them is through the akc web site. GO to the events page
and search for events within a couple hours drive.

I would reconsider geographic limitations. You may have difficulty
finding a responsible breeder withing a limited geographic area (I'm not
commewnting on YOUR geographic area, for all I know you could have a top
notch breeder next door). But in general you will do better to first
focus on networking and identifying your bottom lines. For example, if
you have a choice between:

(1) a breeder who thoroughly health checks the dogs
in the pedigree, who supports the buyers long after they take the puppy
home, and who is thoroughly familiar with the dogs in the pedigree BUT has
only a pup likely to be oversized and

(2) a breeder who produces excellent results in the show ring, maintains
several dozen dogs in kennels, thinks health testing is not necessary
because it is cheaper just to replace any defective dog, and considers the
relationship over once the money and the puppy have exchanged hands, but
is well respeced for producing "winning dogs."

which will you choose?

Because for *me* if I'm looking for a companion it isn't even a close
call. Breeder number one is my choice because that breeder is more likely
to actually care about the dogs, their health, and their successful
placement. Naturally if I was planning on showing I'd want everything
breeder one has AND a dog that has no apparent disqualifying
characteristics. And such breeders definetly exist, it just takes more
work to find them.

Must be from a good breeder and NOT a puppy farm,
as I WILL check this out.


Any help as to where I can locate my new best friend, will
be most appreciated, as I lost mine about two month ago,
after being with me for eleven and a half years, due to
heart valve failure.

Mitral valve dysplasia is a problem in whipppets. Sadly many breeders,
including those of winning show dogs, aren't doing much to work toward
reducing the problem. If you want to deal with a breeder who IS working
to reducing the problem then one approach would be to start with breeders
participaing in efforts like this:
http://www.sighthoundreview.com/WHF/SURVEYRSULTS.htm
http://www.vetgo.com/cardio/concepts...conceptkey=153

The OFA web site may help you identify breeders who are educated enough
and committed enough to both test and submit the test results, although
the cardio part of the registry is still new enough that it may not be the
go-no go watermark the way it would be for hip dysplasia in other breeds.
You will notice, for example, that there are no whippets listed in the
cardio statistics. http://ofaweb.offa.org/OFA/cardiacinfo.html That
doesn't mean it isn't a problem in the breed. It is just that so many
whippet breeders are resting on the mantra of "whippets are a healthy
breed" that there are relatively fewer breeders making efforts to keep it
that way by actually keeping records and checking apparently healthy dogs.

Here is some generic information on locating good breeders:
http://dog-play.com/where.html

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/