Tag: sighthound

The Day Our Tiny Whippet Chose Her Forever Dad

You know how they say you don’t choose your dog—your dog chooses you? We used to think that was just something people said to make a good story. Then we met Fuega.

It was a crisp day in Missouri when we made the drive to Dawn’s sister’s kennel, Winquest. We weren’t exactly shopping for another dog. We already had one whippet, and honestly, that felt like plenty of adventure for our household. But family is family, and when your sister breeds some of the most beautiful AKC registered whippets you’ve ever seen, well… sometimes you end up taking a “just looking” trip that changes everything.

The Smallest One Had the Biggest Plans

The litter was eight weeks old—that perfect age when whippet puppies are equal parts adorable chaos and pure potential. These weren’t just any whippets, mind you. Whippets are medium-sized sighthounds, originally bred by working folks in northern England who crossed Greyhounds with Italian Greyhounds and terriers. They wanted something with all the speed and hunting instinct of a Greyhound but small enough to feed without going broke. Smart thinking, really.

As we walked into the puppy area, several puppies tumbled around, doing that thing puppies do—being impossibly cute and making you question every responsible adult decision you’ve ever made. But one little girl, the tiniest of the bunch, had different plans entirely.

She took one look at Rex and made her decision.

When You Know, You Know

While her littermates played and explored and generally acted like normal puppies, this little fawn and white girl—who would soon become our Fuega—walked straight over to Rex with the confidence of a dog three times her size. Not to Dawn, not to the space between us, but directly to Rex. She sat down next to his feet and looked up at him as if to say, “Well, here I am. When are we going home?”

Rex, who can be pretty stoic about most things, melted immediately. You could see it in his face—this wasn’t going to be a “just looking” trip anymore.

At barely five pounds, she was small even for a whippet puppy. In fact, she’d grow up to be just 17.5 inches tall, right at the very minimum of the breed standard. But what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in sheer determination and personality.

The Decision That Wasn’t Really a Decision

“She’s the smallest of the litter,” Dawn’s sister mentioned, probably thinking we’d want to know about potential size concerns. What she didn’t realize was that we were already completely gone. This tiny girl had claimed Rex, and by extension, our whole family.

We spent another hour at the house, watching the puppies play, learning about their personalities, going through all the motions of responsible puppy evaluation. But honestly? The decision had been made in those first thirty seconds when a tiny whippet puppy looked at a grown man and decided he belonged to her.

The ride home was filled with plans and preparations, name discussions and the kind of excited energy that comes with knowing your family is about to get a little bigger and a lot more interesting. We had no idea then that we were bringing home a tiny tornado, a shop dog extraordinaire, and the smartest little con artist we’d ever meet.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. That’s a story for another day.

For now, it’s enough to say that sometimes the best decisions aren’t really decisions at all. Sometimes they’re just a tiny whippet puppy who knows exactly where she belongs.

Next time, we’ll tell you what happened when our little tornado actually made it home and discovered the full extent of her kingdom. Spoiler alert: she had opinions about pretty much everything.

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As always, we’re here if you have questions or just want to chat about wood, dogs, or the beautiful chaos that happens when the two worlds collide in our workshop!