Hound Medium adult scale

Whippet.

Graceful, gentle and affectionate, Whippets combine impressive speed outdoors with a reputation for being calm and comfortable at home. They enjoy warm resting places and safe chances to stretch their legs. Their sensitivity responds well to kind training, while secure spaces help manage a natural instinct to chase.

At a glance

Typical adult pet: Roughly 10–18 kg · Exercise: Around 1 hour. These are broad planning ranges, not targets or guarantees.

What living together may involve.

Often calm indoors, sensitive to cold and happiest with safe chances to run.

Grooming

Light coat care; protect thin skin and check nails.

Activity

Around 1 hour. Age, fitness, health, weather and the quality of enrichment can change what an individual dog needs.

Planning

Plan particularly for secure running space and a warm coat.

Training

Use kind, reward-based training and build skills gradually. Breed can suggest inherited tendencies; it cannot determine a dog’s personality.

Real-world size

Pet range first.
Show standard second.

Roughly 10–18 kg is a rounded planning range for ordinary adult pets. RKC show standard: 44–51 cm at the shoulder. Neither figure decides whether an individual dog is healthy or proves pedigree. A veterinary body-condition assessment is more useful than aiming for a number alone.

Choose health and function.

Ask for the health tests relevant to both parents and verify results independently. Avoid exaggerated features that compromise breathing, movement, eyes, skin or ordinary activity. A responsible breeder or rescue should welcome careful questions.

Children, other animals, time alone and first-time ownership cannot be decided by breed label alone. Temperament, early experience, health, training, management and the household all matter.

Evidence & next steps

Check the current information.

Royal Kennel Club: Breed A–Z
Royal Kennel Club: Health Standard
PDSA: Dog-care guidance
Next: buying or adopting responsibly · Next: prepare for arrival

This page provides general planning information, not a veterinary assessment or a promise about an individual dog. Seek veterinary and appropriately qualified behaviour advice where needed.

Reviewed 18 September 2026 · Review sooner if evidence changes

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