Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0002595, Tue, 2 Dec 1997 07:36:11 -0800

Subject
Whippets/Italian Grehounds clarification (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Andy Shaindlin <shain@umich.edu>

Juan writes, in reference to Emma B's Italian Greyhound bitch and VN's
transformation of the animal into a completely different breed (Whippet):

> But is VN zoologically correct?
>
to which Rahat Glass-Husain responds (in part):
>
> Whippets and Italian greyhounds are... part of a sort of general
>greyhound family and both breeds are derived from greyhounds.

By way of clarification, Miles Kurland's whippet web site describes
whippets as having "originated from mixes of Greyhounds with (depending
upon the account) Bedlington Terriers, and/or Manchester Terriers, and/or
Italian Greyhounds, and/or Old English White Terriers as recently as the
19th Century." I believe that the Italian Greyhound was derived from
breeding the smallest greyhounds with one another. The average whippet is
approximately double the weight of the average Italian Greyhound, and about
80% taller.

Andy Shaindlin
shain@umich.edu