Callie, Spry & Sienna
It all started in 2004 when we decided we would like a dog to love but were undecided on which breed to get. We wanted a dog which was of manageable size with good temperament and good with children. The obvious choice for us seemed to be a whippet.
So the search began, but we were soon to find that this would be no easy task because we could not find one. Then one day we rang Dawn Mason from Aphrael Whippets and asked her if she could help us. She told us of a breeder who might have one puppy left. We kept our fingers crossed as we dialled his number and we were overjoyed when he said he did!
The fact that he lived 176 miles away didn't even matter! We were just so excited that we were getting our whippet. I set to work getting all the things we would need to make our new arrival comfortable and happy.
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Callie |
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The day came when we went to pick up our lovely new puppy. The journey was a long one but that was soon forgotten once we saw her - so tiny, so beautiful, our Callie.
She settled in almost immediately and we were soon to find out the biggest requirement of a whippet is comfort. She spent that night in our bed cuddled up to me.
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The following day the breeder rang to see how things were and just happened to mention that he had been let down by another potential buyer, so Callie's litter sister was available.
As far as I was concerned this was fate so back on that journey we went and brought home our lovely Sienna.
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Sienna |
Callie and Sienna are sisters in every sense of the word. They play together, fight together and sleep together: true twins.
Callie & Sienna
During my first phone call to Dawn, she recommended to me a forum of sighthound lovers which is K9 Community. From joining the site I was addicted - so many gorgeous dogs and friendly people!
I soon realised that whippets enjoyed many things, especially the thrill of the chase. Although Callie and Sienna had come from a Show background, that wasn't really a path we wanted to follow, but we did love to see them run. We contacted Mark Roberts of the Northwest Lure Coursing Club and asked if we could come along to watch. He welcomed us and there it began. The first time the girls had a go at chasing the lure you could see the joy and energy they had for it and it soon became not only their passion but ours too.
During this time I met lots of new friends from the K9 forum and were warned many times that whippets are addictive. I was to find out first hand that this is true! It wasn't long before we were looking to add to our whippet family and, as our passion was Lure Coursing, it seemed obvious to look for a puppy from coursing lines.
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Spry |
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I had watched a litter arrive on K9 and fell in love with a little girl, brindle with two heart shaped white marks on her back. Little did I know that the breeder was a friend of Mark's. He made a phone call for me and the breeder Chris said we could have pick of the litter. The decision was already made - it had to be "the girl with hearts".
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We watched her grow on the forum and the wait was torture but the day finally came: off we went, 200 miles this time, to bring home our beautiful Spry. Spry made herself at home straight away and Callie and Sienna took her into their lives and loved her. They are a threesome now and where you find one the other 2 won't be far away.
Lesley Smith, December 2005
