About Us
~ Welcome to Terraway Whippets ~
Wayne and I both grew up around dogs. Our combined Terraway story began over 30 years ago due to our shared passion for working retrievers. When we first met, Wayne owned working Labrador Retrievers and I owned a showbred Flatcoated Retriever. I enjoyed showing but it wasn't long before I was bitten by the Retrieving Trial bug. We both loved the thought of our dogs excelling at what they had originally been bred to do.
Wayne and I married in 1989 and soon after registered a kennel prefix combining letters from both our first names. We were keen to breed our own competitive trialling dogs and wanted a prefix that could be identified with speed and fearlessness, qualities we valued highly in our retrievers.
And so our Terraway prefix came about...little did we know the name would prove most appropriate for Whippets one day too!
Over the ensuing years, we bred several Labrador litters and a Flatcoated litter, bringing on pups as our older dogs retired. We titled several along the way and a number went on to do extremely well for others too.
It was over 15 years ago at a Retrieving Trial that the first 'whippet seed' was planted when a fellow competitor and now dear friend Annie, brought along a rescue Whippet called Mouse. I watched that little dog give as good as she got and I was so impressed with her elegance, beauty, speed and tenacity that somehow I knew I would have a Whippet of my own one day.
As the years crept by, Wayne's focus shifted to racing his beloved pigeons, a sport he had always longed to try. He became very successful at his new interest and to this day breeds, trains and races his pigeons as best he can despite having serious health issues.
In the meantime, I continued to train and trial our Labs with some success. Still, I found myself longing for that elusive Whippet and ultimately, an different canine pastime.
In late 2008 I began my search for a Whippet I could show and in April 2009 after what seemed like an endless wait, our first whippet Biskit, Kanati Piping Hot Biskit joined our Terraway family. My sincere thanks to Vanessa Taylor for providing me with beautiful Whippets to start my own journey with this wonderful breed.
My long-term goal is to breed Whippets that will take my breath away with their beauty, elegance and sheer love of life. Breeding plans for our labs have been put on hold as I focus on my whippets.
In the meantime, all our labs and whippets are a constant source of enjoyment and we love their company. Friends, family and casual visitors alike all know that our four-legged family is our top priority in every sense of the word. If you don't like dogs, don't bother visiting Terraway - that's our motto!