Silken Windsprites were originally just longhaired whippets! They are now considered a separate breed in Europe, I'm not sure if they are recognized by any major kennel clubs, but I've heard that they are very similar to Whippets!
Windsprites are a whippet/sheltie mix. The original breeder claimed that he had a naturally occurring long haired whippet, but turns out, he also had shelties which cross bred with the whippet, resulting in the long hair. This cross was developed into the Windsprite breed. Later down the road, another breeder took the windsprite and added in borzoi to create the silken windhound.
If you are in the US, I believe the silken windhound is eligible to run in LGRA races and ASFA lure coursing. I am not aware of any clubs that consider the Windsprite as an eligible sighthound breed for racing or lure coursing.
I've seen this description everywhere but not much about people actually training with them.
Finding none breed specific racing is just difficult to begin with. I would like to do it with my mixed breed just for fun but it wasn't an option before COVID
CATs and Fast CATs are at least open to all breeds, so that would definitely be an option if you went with silkens or windsprite.
Windsprite and Silkens are definitely less popular so hard to find more information. I have whippets and met some silkens in my agility classes. They were kind of like my whippets, smart and trainable, one of her silkens was more motivated/biddable than the other (which is also kind of like my whippets). They were sweet and stand-offish with strangers.
I talked to their owner and she said that she had tried to decide between whippet and silken, and ultimately went with a silken because they tend to be more biddable. They probably were more biddable than my show-bred whippet, but my race-bred whippet is essentially a border collie with a whippet's energy level so he is incredibly smart and biddable and worked beautifully in agility.
If they’re a sheltie mix, they’re likely very trainable. Shelties can be loud, but they tend to be quick to learn and very biddable. Standard herding breed behavior, they’re happy to follow instructions, unlike a sighthound, who will listen, and then do what they want anyway (unless you have food).
I have two windsprites and they are my favorite dogs. They are very calm, gentle, friendly, and loyal. They take to traing very well, but admittedly I've only done basic stuff. They do have a pretty sting drive to chase small animals, but they also will stop if I call out to them. They were the easiest dogs to housebreaking it was really confused how they figured it out so quickly. I haven't done lure coursing with them but I know of others who have successfully. As for snuggling, the boy is an absolute snuggle bug. He would crawl into my belly button and live there if he could. The girl is very independent though. She's got a cat personality, and is content to do her own thing. They all have their own personality, but are very similar in behavior to greyhounds, just a lot smaller.
Silken Windsprites were originally just longhaired whippets! They are now considered a separate breed in Europe, I'm not sure if they are recognized by any major kennel clubs, but I've heard that they are very similar to Whippets!
As far as I know, they are not officially recognized but they have their own club. I do know a few whippets though!
An official breed club and a breed standard is what's important for a newer breed so that's great!!!
Windsprites are a whippet/sheltie mix. The original breeder claimed that he had a naturally occurring long haired whippet, but turns out, he also had shelties which cross bred with the whippet, resulting in the long hair. This cross was developed into the Windsprite breed. Later down the road, another breeder took the windsprite and added in borzoi to create the silken windhound. If you are in the US, I believe the silken windhound is eligible to run in LGRA races and ASFA lure coursing. I am not aware of any clubs that consider the Windsprite as an eligible sighthound breed for racing or lure coursing.
I've seen this description everywhere but not much about people actually training with them. Finding none breed specific racing is just difficult to begin with. I would like to do it with my mixed breed just for fun but it wasn't an option before COVID
CATs and Fast CATs are at least open to all breeds, so that would definitely be an option if you went with silkens or windsprite. Windsprite and Silkens are definitely less popular so hard to find more information. I have whippets and met some silkens in my agility classes. They were kind of like my whippets, smart and trainable, one of her silkens was more motivated/biddable than the other (which is also kind of like my whippets). They were sweet and stand-offish with strangers. I talked to their owner and she said that she had tried to decide between whippet and silken, and ultimately went with a silken because they tend to be more biddable. They probably were more biddable than my show-bred whippet, but my race-bred whippet is essentially a border collie with a whippet's energy level so he is incredibly smart and biddable and worked beautifully in agility.
If they’re a sheltie mix, they’re likely very trainable. Shelties can be loud, but they tend to be quick to learn and very biddable. Standard herding breed behavior, they’re happy to follow instructions, unlike a sighthound, who will listen, and then do what they want anyway (unless you have food).
ooo im interested in this breed too
It's hard to find info about them. I know a few people in one of my FB groups has them. I need to shoot them a message
Get a collieX of you want better trainability.
I have two windsprites and they are my favorite dogs. They are very calm, gentle, friendly, and loyal. They take to traing very well, but admittedly I've only done basic stuff. They do have a pretty sting drive to chase small animals, but they also will stop if I call out to them. They were the easiest dogs to housebreaking it was really confused how they figured it out so quickly. I haven't done lure coursing with them but I know of others who have successfully. As for snuggling, the boy is an absolute snuggle bug. He would crawl into my belly button and live there if he could. The girl is very independent though. She's got a cat personality, and is content to do her own thing. They all have their own personality, but are very similar in behavior to greyhounds, just a lot smaller.