About 10 years ago I became interested in Silken Windhounds, however there weren't any in the country at the time and I couldn't afford to import one. Over the years I've occasionally went back to their websites and drooled over these delightful little dogs. I love borzois but have made my mind up that when my old boy goes there will be no more. I've had 14 borzois over the years but my last boys temperament has put me off, I've realised that if you do get one with a 'less than ideal' temperament then they are just too big to handle! So...a silken windhound might be the way forward, a mini version of my precious borzois with the same looks and nature but in a smaller, easier to handle size. I never actually thought I would own one though, or at least not for a very long time. Then about 4 weeks ago I got the chance of a Silken Windhound puppy - of course I jumped at it and Milly has been here for almost 3 weeks. Milly is everything I hoped for and more, she is a delight, entertaining, fast and mischievous yet cuddly and appears to be easily trained. Here she is, trying the patience of my eldest collie Meg.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsOiNLFCmUg and on the day she arrived, saying hello to Tchi and some random piccies of her...just because she is gorgeous
Lucky you - I am really envious. She is utterly gorgeous and I wish you all the luck in the world with her.
Have to confess to never having heard of her breed before, but what a sweeheart "she is a delight, entertaining, fast and mischievous yet cuddly and appears to be easily trained" Sounds like just my kind of girl Can't wait to see more photos, please do post regularly as she grows so that we can all see her progress
like hali, I have never heard of them untill this thread came up..lol Im also looking forward to seeing more photos, she looks like a lovely pup x
Hi She is absolutely gorgeous and looking forward to hearing more about her breed. Please keep us updated.
She is stunning, how big will she grow ? I have this image in my mind of her running round on widy days chasing nothing lolll, I haven't heard of the breed either, and agree with the name it is lovely x
Like you it's a breed I've been interested in for quite a long time. Certainly an object lesson in how to go about creating a proper breed (unlike all the various doodles and poos!!!). How many are there in this country now? Any chance of AKC/KC recognition in the near future - or don't you want to go down that route?
I agree, the Silken Windhound Club are very proactive about health testing abd registration, every Silken is DNA tested before it is registered by the parent club. After DNA testing, pups are given 1st tier registration, they cannot be bred from till they are adult and have been assessed by a breeder as being good examples of the breed. If they pass this assessment they are granted 2nd tier registration. They found that some Silkens carry the mutant MDR1 gene (like many collies do) so now all breeding stock is tested and a strong effort made to eradicate it. There are now 11 Silkens in the UK, Milly being the only one in Scotland. They haven't applied yet for either AKC or KC recognition but were invited by the AKC to be part of the 'AKC Canine Experience' this year, which I think is a bit like discover dogs and also a show. When they do go for recognition I think they will achieve it. They have records of every member of the breed including DNA tests for them all for the last 24 years. I wouldn't want KC recognition for a few years anyway. There are so few silkens in the UK that to breed you would either have to go overseas or import semen. As our KC won't register pups born through AI unless the bitch has had one natural litter first it would be quite a drawback.
Thanks everyone for your lovely comments, perhaps if there is another Central Scotland Dogsey walk you may meet her
Aww I've never heard of this breed before, but she is gorgeous, can't wait to see pics of her growing.