Rivarco Whippets by Mauro Perna Interviewed by Mihaela Kosic
BIS: When did you get involved in dogs and how did you first come across Whippets? Which thing about the breed was (and still is) so special for you? M.P.: I was raised in a non-dog family and for me owning a dog was simply an obsession. I first got interested and involved in Afghans, Lhasa and Poodles but when I met in 1990 Gaetano Turrini (Rivarco) that really started my involvement in the world of purebred dogs. I didn’t choose Whippets, Whippets chose me! It’s a silhouette breed with a huge variety of colours, they are medium size, short hair, clean even if you don’t want them to, minimal barking and are VERY healthy in general….just about perfect. BIS: How many years passed between your first Whippet and your first litter? M.P.: I got my first Whippet from Gaetano in 1991 and this bitch was bred a couple of years later. ALL of the litters I was involved with were born under the Rivarco prefix until recently. My involvement with the Rivarco kennel now dates 25+ years. Call me a kennel handler, an associate whatever...in Italy coownership and co-breeding is not ermitted, for no
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Best in Show Magazine
plausible reason, and so I chose to stay under this banner regardless. BIS: What goals did you set up for yourself as a beginner, and what goals are you pursuing now as a well-established breeder/exhibitor? M.P.: I come from the “old fashioned” school, no internet, no Facebook, no instant professional handling skills, just watching, learning, asking, reading books, watching as many pictures as you could and listening from those WHO KNEW about the breed, no self-proclaimed “breeders” after their first litter. Before I stepped into a ring I think I had been travelling around shows for at least 2-3 years, I was the one cleaning up after the dogs, unloading the car, bringing the dogs to the ring and eventually showing the ones that were “sacrificed” in favor of the rookies. One day I was allowed to show my first big winner, Rivarco Salomè, a multi title winner in the 90s. The Whippet is a breed with such a vast gene pool and variety in type that it is really impossible to claim which one is the perfect dog, so the goal is always to breed the next good one that will stand out from the crowd in the ring.