# What the??? Bully Whippet



## Augustus McCrae's Mom (Aug 14, 2007)

I was reading Snopes and came across this article with a picture of a Bully Whippet: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/strongestdog.asp#photo

Apparently it is a genetic mutation. Anyone ever heard of this? Jenna? 

CRAZY!


----------



## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I think I'll stick to my beautiful cuddly Goldens!!!!

That's kind of gross.............


----------



## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I hope he doesn't pull on the leash! :doh:


----------



## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

I saw a whippet with this condition on an Animal Planet show about extreme animals.
It had 3x the muscle mass of a normal whippet.


----------



## janine (Aug 8, 2009)

I saw that animal planet show too...kind of gross.


----------



## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

I dont think thats a real picture..I think its photoshopped...or whatever its called..UGH!


----------



## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Think that dog would fail the steroid tests! lol


----------



## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Snopes is fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I've seen pictures and read descriptions from owners of bully whippets but I've never actually seen it in person.

For some reason, I also thought they had a shortened life span?


----------



## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

So that is a REAL dog???? OH MY


----------



## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

A bully whippet has two mutated genes that are responsible for the enlarged muscling. They can mass 2X more than a standard whippet, but the heart and lungs are not any larger so they generally have a shorter life span.

Hmm..... I think I got that right. Check them out on Snopes jsut for fun.


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I saw a dog like that on the Today Show a few years ago.


----------



## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

I hate to say this about any dog, but that is just downright gross.


----------



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

I have to agree about "eww". Thanks for sharing...I wouldn't have believed it was true!

But I suppose I should, there are a couple cow breeds like that with "doubled muscling".


----------



## zephyr (Sep 29, 2009)

Here's a link (I hope) to a New York Times article on dog genetics, with a side-by-side picture of a bully and regular whippet:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/science/12dog.html

It's a bit off-topic from the bully whippet issues, but it is itself an interesting read about the ethics of dog genetics! That is potentially pretty big business... but there are obviously a lot of issues to consider from every side: what are the issues in testing, breeding, engineering, etc!

I am an anthropologist & geneticist, so I am sort of used to hearing about this stuff from the side of human genetics, but IMO there are just as many ethical considerations to be made for dogs. Considering we have only gotten to the state of dog breeds today with some serious "artificial selection" on our part (i.e. breeding for a certain type), genetics issues are often just the explicit (or patentable!) manifestation of an ethics scenario that we're already deep into.

Hmm sorry that was a bit off topic  ... but back on topic YUP those bully whippets totally creep me out...!! Yikes.


----------



## Goldenmomma (Oct 15, 2009)

I hope this is a joke. It reminds me of a scary movie.


----------



## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

RedDogs said:


> But I suppose I should, there are a couple *cow* breeds like that with "doubled muscling".



Mmmmm, bully filet mignon...I'll have 2


----------

