Breed Page

Whippet — BetterBred Breed Page – BetterBred.com
BetterBred Breed Profile

Whippet

Temperament: Gentle, quiet and intelligent, Whippets were bred to be house dogs that could occasionally hunt up a rabbit. They are very attached to their owners and like all sight hounds, tend to have a lot of prey drive.
Height: Female: 18–21 inches (45–53 cm), Male: 19–22 inches (48–56 cm)
Weight: 15 – 31 lbs
Life Span: 12 – 15 years
Outlier Index ?
0.34
Born before 2016: 0.43 Born after 2024: —
Avg Genetic Rel. ?
0.02
Born before 2016: -0.04 Born after 2024: —
Internal Relatedness ?
0.00
Born before 2016: -0.01 Born after 2024: —
Whippet
#NameGender OIAGRIR
1 Ashsinhalt Akuma O Atsukau M 0.24 -0.06 0.20
2 Byerley Tilly Rose at Merci Isle F 0.21 -0.07 0.37
3 Alarves My Drama Queen F 0.28 -0.10 0.27
4 Sugar Rush Sneaky Little Houseguest SC TFE BID SSB DS ETD CGC M 0.50 -0.09 0.07
5 Domino Dynamometer M 0.11 0.13 -0.01
6 Domino Stihl The One M 0.32 0.03 0.00
7 Domino Dremel Without A Cause M 0.24 0.08 -0.11
8 Domino The Highest Caliper F 0.26 0.04 0.01
9 Domino Ryobi Runner M 0.22 0.09 -0.09
10 Domino Beskar Steel Armor M 0.22 0.07 -0.08
The Whippet is a sighthound, one of a number of breeds with similar elegant type, structure and drive that range across the Middle East and Europe. Known for their speed and prey drive, sighthounds vary in size to meet their fuction. Said to have originated in England, and bred down from greyhounds, the Whippet was said to have working class roots. Their smaller size made them an ideal one-dog family pet who could help hunt but still be affordable and easy to keep - unlike some of their larger cousins found only in the large kennels of the rich. Whether used for hunting hares for dinner or dog racing and accompanying gambling, the Whippet grew in popularity in the late 19th century, dwindled to a very small breed during the World Wars, and then became one of the most popular breeds in England in the beginning of the 21st century, and had spread to all the continents.
View Official Breed Standard →
Late onset PRA and congenital deafness, more rarely: hypothyroidism, epilepsy, Addison's, other autoimmune diseases. Learn more and report cases at www.whippethealth.org

Average metrics by birth year for dogs with recorded birthdates in the BetterBred database.

A 3D genetic map of enrolled Whippet dogs in the BetterBred database, based on allele-sharing distance across 33 STR loci. This is not a complete picture of the breed — it reflects only dogs whose owners have enrolled them. Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · hover for dog names (public profiles only).

Historical founders — oldest 25% of enrolled dogs     Current gene pool — most recent 50% of enrolled dogs
Building plot… this may take a minute for larger breeds.

The Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) region controls immune function and is the most polymorphic portion of the canine genome. Every dog carries two sets of DLA haplotypes — one from each parent — which almost never recombine across generations. Frequency percentages reflect how often each haplotype appears across all allele copies in the breed, not the percentage of dogs carrying it.

Class I Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
1066
26.8%
1104
15.2%
1016
14.5%
1040
11.6%
1002
9.4%
1208
8.0%
1008
5.1%
1058
2.9%
1056
1.5%
1209
0.7%
1249
0.7%
1248
0.7%
1162
0.7%
1142
0.7%
1045
0.7%
1033
0.7%

Class II Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
2048
26.8%
2017
18.8%
2031
14.5%
2028
11.6%
2001
10.1%
2006
7.3%
2003
5.8%
2033
2.9%
2018
0.7%
2037
0.7%
2062
0.7%

Class I & II Combinations

Class IClass IIFrequency
1066 2048
26.8%
1104 2017
15.2%
1016 2031
14.5%
1040 2028
11.6%
1002 2001
9.4%
1208 2006
6.5%
1008 2003
5.1%
1058 2033
2.9%
1056 2017
1.5%
1208 2017
1.5%
1045 2062
0.7%
1142 2018
0.7%
1162 2006
0.7%
1033 2037
0.7%
1209 2017
0.7%
1248 2001
0.7%
1249 2003
0.7%

The Canine Diversity Test from UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is the foundation of BetterBred’s breed management tools. Testing your dog adds to the breed database and gives you access to the full suite of breeding analysis tools.

Order from UC Davis VGL →
OI
Outlier Index

The Outlier Index (OI) measures how unusual a dog’s allele combination is relative to the tested population of its breed. A higher OI means the dog carries alleles at lower frequencies across the breed — genetic variants that are underrepresented in the population as a whole.

Dogs with high OI are genetically valuable because they carry diversity that most other tested dogs don’t share. Breeding them thoughtfully into the broader population helps redistribute lower-frequency alleles rather than allowing them to become even rarer over generations.

The breed average shown here reflects all dogs tested in the BetterBred database. The senior and youngster comparisons show whether diversity is trending up or down in recent generations.
AGR
Average Genetic Relatedness

Average Genetic Relatedness (AGR) measures how similar a dog’s DNA is, on average, to every other tested dog in the breed. It reflects the dog’s mean kinship — how closely related it is to the population as a whole.

A lower AGR means the dog is more genetically distinct from the majority of the breed. Dogs with low AGR carry alleles at lower frequencies across the tested population, making them higher-priority candidates for inclusion in a well-managed breeding program.

AGR is conceptually related to mean kinship used in conservation genetics for managed species populations. A declining AGR average in younger dogs suggests the breed is successfully redistributing genetic diversity across generations.
IR
Internal Relatedness

Internal Relatedness (IR) measures how much identical genetic material an individual dog inherited from both parents. IR is a useful indicator of inbreeding: lower IR generally reflects lower inbreeding, and it is widely used and reported in the scientific literature.

A high IR is not the cause for alarm it might appear. Elevated IR can often be resolved in a single generation by pairing with a dog whose ancestry is less represented in the breed. It is a signpost, not a sentence.

BetterBred reports IR for reference, but it is not our primary breeding guidance tool. OI and AGR together give a more complete and actionable picture of a dog’s genetic value to the population.

AGR tells you which dogs are genetically unusual relative to the population. OI tells you which dogs are most valuable to preserve. OI specifically weights mid-frequency alleles, identifying dogs whose ancestry is underrepresented in a way most likely to benefit the breed.