While most pet owners no doubt think their beloved companion is a champion, Bancroft resident Erin McCorkell’s dog Fleet has the credit to prove it. Fleet is a whippet who won the crown for Best Bait Cursing Dog in All of Canada for 2019. Also this year Fleet took part in flat races with the Canadian Kennel Club and was the combined overall place in this organization.
McCorkell has long been a dog owner but says she fully embraced the Whippet breed. Your family now has three of them. She got Fleet from Hyflyte Performance Whippets in Brampton and the breeder’s name is Helen Ferguson.
Fleet turns five in July and is not only the top female in lure coursing in Canada, but also ranks eighth overall in lure coursing with the American Sighthound Field Association.
McCorkell explains the races that Fleet has participated in. Flat racing is different from either a 200-yard straight course sponsored by the North American Whippet Racing Association or a 350-yard oval course sponsored by the National Oval Track Racing Association. Developed back in the early 1970s by Lyle Gillette and other California greyhound breeders, bait coursing takes place in an area of at least five acres, and the dogs follow a fake bait and run after it. McCorkell says it mimics what whippets were originally bred for, which is to hunt small game such as rabbits.
Often described as greyhounds, but smaller, Whippets were bred by coal miners in the north of the country in Victorian England. While they enjoyed dog racing and rabbit hunting in their spare time, these miners couldn’t afford to feed and force large dogs like the greyhound. So they started breeding a smaller version of the greyhound for these purposes. According to the AKC, the name Whippet appears to come from the ancient word “whappet,” which means a yapping dog.
Whippets came to North America around the turn of the century when English workers came to New England and brought their dogs with them. As a result, Whippet racing became all the rage in the New World, just as it was in England.
McCorkell began competing with Fleet in 2019 and describes how it all began.
“She got Best of Breed on the very first try and we were hooked and we promoted her because she was so good all summer. At the end of the season she got a handily 277 points and the next dog, I think, had 200 points, ”she says.
Of course, there have been no personal competitions since the emergence of COVID-19 last year. But McCorkell says the American Kennel Club really got into it and put together a virtual competition that is focused on rally obedience.
“It’s a more fun form of competitive obedience. All you have to do is choose a routine they have set up for you and have someone film you through it. You send it to the jury, they mark it, and they give you your score. We took that and Fleet got their novice trick dog, novice rally title, and rally subtitle with an average score of 97.7 percent. She was the second highest whippet to qualify, ”she says.
This impressive score qualified the fleet for the AKC National Rally Championships, but unfortunately they were unable to participate due to COVID-19.
In terms of preparation for the events, McCorkell says whippets require very little exercise and can sleep up to 23 hours a day.
“However, they have to run away from the lead and have those bursts of speed and really be able to run. That’s the good thing about Bancroft because there are so many open spaces. She can run in the woods where the ground is uneven, like trail running. It’s better for people than walking on the street. Because of all the different muscles you use, you need to balance and use your core more and be more agile, so it’s the same with dogs, ”she says.
McCorkell says she will definitely compete with Fleet. In fact, there is a trial in Ancaster on the weekend of June 19th and 20th.
“The only downside to living here is that none of the events are nearby, so we have to walk a distance to get there,” she says.
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Fleet could also face stiff competition within their family soon. McCorkell says Fleet’s sister Zelda is also developing into a good racing driver. In fact, at her age, she does better than Fleet for speed and obedience so far.
“I think people just think whippets are townspeople or rich people. And guess what, she just belongs to a pet household in Bancroft and has done some spectacular things, ”she says. “I was very lucky to find this breeder and let her offer me Fleet!”
