Shellie had the great experience of growing up with whippets. One of my mothers good friends Holly Haynes of Fire-x whippets offered me a puppy when I was nine years old. There were two puppies to choose from. Holly was trying to persuade me to pick a fancy brindle and white with a split face. "Breeders and judges prefer the fancy party colors," she explained to me. But the other sister was a pretty little solid fawn with the largest big black round eyes you ever saw. That is the puppy I chose to take home.
How could anyone say no to that face?! We named her Fire-x Shellie's Flicka. She grew up to resemble a deer with smooth curves. I did a fair amount of lure coursing with her. As time went on we bred her and I kept Fire-x Firefly. I did a small amount of confirmation showing of her and lure coursing. When I was 16, I saw Jason, Ch Saxon Shore Amber Waves. He was still in the classes, not a finished Champion yet, but I contacted Daniel for permission to breed him to Firefly. I kept a beautiful girl we named Fire-x Splendors Coquette.
During this time with high school and college I didn't have time for many extra activities, but I did my homework on the breed. I studied the whippet standard. I couldn't wait for Holly to give me her old whippet magazines. I can remember going through them and studying the dogs in the Whippet News, The Whippet, The Sighthound Review and the Whippet Annual. They were a real treat! I developed an eye for breed type. I was allowed to attend the shows with Holly. This instilled in me how important soundness and movement are, along with breed type, but most importantly, how important temperament is.
Most all of our whippets here at Elidas are descended from my first whippet, Flicka.
Page last updated February 2010.