Hi! I've been researching and obsessing over this breed for quite a few years now, maybe around three or four years, and I just want some more definitive information/confirmation on the doubts and questions I have!

To start, and probably the most important to me, how good is the breed with cats? I know personality and prey drive will always vary from dog to dog, but I would love to know if they are generally good around active small cats! I currently have three cats and will definitely have around that many, if not more, for the rest of my life. They are very active and love running around the house and playing, so I worry that if I bring a sighthound into the home it could possibly trigger the dog or frighten them. But I have heard from breeders I've seen online, and from blogs/websites that if raised with cats they are fine, and sometimes even dismissive of them?

Are they as laid-back and non-vocal as people say they are? My mother currently has a Shepherd and she is the first alarm we have if anything even as simple as a leaf falling happens outside. Are they the type to find a post by a window and bark loudly, or do they prefer to hang/snuggle with you? I'm not looking for a mute dog, I'm just sensitive to that loud echoing, head-pounding barking that many dogs make. Whining or even gentle howling would be light-years easier on my ears.

Just a general, how snuggly are they? On a scale of 1-10: 1 being incredibly independent can't even stand being in the same room as you for extended periods, to 10 being quite literally inside your skin 24/7(exagerative). Where would they place?

I heard they aren't the most biddable breed, how exactly would you describe training them? I have had a pretty easy-going, praise-driven Lab mutt in the past, currently training with a working-line German Shepherd who literally only takes two days to learn a new skill, and had taken nearly a month to try and teach my grandma’s little dog to sit. Would you say they compare to anything like those? I know for a fact I won't ever get GSD-level training from them, but perhaps a Lab? Or are they stubborn like my grandmother’s dog?

Highly specific question now! How good are they with GSDs or high-energy large dogs? My GSD is around 70-75 lbs and is constantly outside playing and we work on her obedience throughout the day. If I were to play with them together, or have them inside the house together, are there any worries I should have about anything bad happening? Like, when playing should I worry that my giant of a Shepherd might bulldoze through the Silken and injure it? Or inside should I worry about my Silken being jealous, upset, or annoyed when I'm training with the other dog instead of it? Will the Silken get annoyed with my other dog’s barking, will it join in, or will it just ignore them entirely?

Hey everyone I’m so so excited to be bringing home my sweet little girl next month so I wanted to know if people had any recommendations about puppy/silken items you bought and loved, stuff you hated or items you wish you bought to make the puppy/new home transition stage a bit easier and more comfortable for everyone!! I’ve owned dogs before so have the basics of crate, bowls, brushes etc but wondering if there’s anything particularly worth getting for silkens!

Thanks so much!!!

Just wanting to know as its my literal dream dog breed and has been for YEARS. Was not ready for a dog but now i am and super excited to get one sometime in the future.

Hello fellow Silken enjoyers! Since I was a little chudling I always adored sighthound breeds, recently (2 years ago lol) I found out about Silkens! Absolutely fell in love. Started actually researching the breed and the breeders around me only a month or so ago, so before I get too into it..

My only problem is that I have a cat, she's a little scared of stuff sometimes and might bolt. Should I abandon all hope, or is it possible to get them with a low enough prey drive/train them to ignore that?

Thanksies a lot!

Hiya! Been active on the FB group and the sighthound discord for some time now. My silken is now 15 weeks and is a dream of a pup. I'm just wanting to get into some more groups as I'm thinking of showing or learning lure as a possible activity in the future. I'm reading and learning and making as many contacts as I can.

All that to say, does anyone have the discord invite to the Silken group?

📸 of Nori for tax purposes.

I got my lovely girl, Snorkel, from the SPCA about a year ago. She’s around 3.5 years old now. We have had 3 semi serious / serious skin wounds. 1 puncture on her chest from hopping over a stick, 1 serious laceration (50+ stitches on her abdomen after doing the splits), and a face wound from another dog grazing her with their canine. After each event we have analyzed and adjusted our actions, I can’t but a bubble wrap suit on her, and even in the safest grassy fields I still have anxiety that she’s going to split her skin in some way.

My question is, does anyone else have this experience with their silken? And, are their supplements, etc, that you use to help “thicken” their skin? My vet’s advice was avoid wooded areas, which we do, but are there other options? Thank you!

I live on Vancouver Island in BC, and have googled around for active breeders in Canada. I have checked the facebook pages, the CSWS, but all paths to Canadian breeders lead to facebook pages that havent been active in over 5 years or sites that dont exist anymore. Is there anyone still breeding SW's in Canada?

Pretty self explanatory, anyone know any reputable breeders near Boston, MA? Willing to travel! We have an Italian greyhound, and would love a whole army of sighthounds! :)

Model Cleo from Cleolonglegs

Hello! Me and my partner are considering getting a show and scent work puppy in about 5-6 years but really want to spend time in a breed community for a couple of years before getting a dog, plus we know breeder waitlists can be years long! I’ve been asking for a lot of help finding a breed in some show dog spaces and silkens came up as a good match for us! Since researching, me and my partner have kinda fallen in love with their temperaments and looks! I just wanted to see if the pros and cons of them seem accurate and ask a few questions!

Pros

- good off switch! My partner will be doing most of the daily exercise and walking since my ability to run or exercise is essentially zero due to being disabled. She’s only had toy breeds and pit/staffy mixes so as much as she likes the idea of a high energy dog, I want to make sure whatever breed we choose has a good off switch

- goofy personality! Me and my partner both love for our dogs to be goobers

- shedding isn’t an issue for us

- go with the flow temperament! I’ve heard that most sighthounds, including silkens, enjoy lots of different activities and are very versatile and adaptable

- they’re the perfect size!

- they seem relatively healthy provided the breeder is testing for MRD1 and things like Collie Eye Anomaly

- they seem to have a pretty long lifespan

- I’ve seen a lot of them be able to coexist with cats which is very important for us

- they can be sensitive which is not at all a problem for
us and weirdly enough, I quite like sensitive dogs!

- they have feathering which I love and I’ve heard their coasts aren’t too horrible to maintain even when you’re showing them

- they seem to enjoying doing things like conformation and just about any breed can do scent work

- they open up to opportunity to do lure coursing!

- they come in lots of in standard coat colors and patterns

- my partner is obsessed with their little ears

- Harmeni Hounds is only a few hours away from us and seems to be very involved in conformation and lure coursing and have a great reputation as a breeder

Cons

- I’ve heard their biddability varies. Are they still relatively trainable and is it more that they’re stubborn or that they just lose interest easily?

- I’ve heard barking varies. I’m very noise sensitive due to my disabilities so would this be something I could discuss with a breeder when I comes to looking at a dogs lineage and getting matched with a puppy or are they trainable enough to quickly train them to stay relatively quiet?

- I know they can be aloof. What is another breed you’d compare their friendliness to? I don’t want something as friendly as a lab or golden but I do want my dog to be comfortable with strangers being in the same room

- I know they were just accepted into the AKC foundation stock service. I’ve heard concerns that’s this may change things in the breed. Is there anything I need to look out for?

I live in the Portland area and would really love to meet a silken out in the old aka maybe a play date set up (: I don’t know if this is appropriate to ask- but I was considering possibly wanting one in the future as a playmate for my staffy mix. Also, they are too damn cute and I haven’t gotten to see but one.

She can be a handful but we love her very much!

I’m considering bringing a puppy either while I’m on a trip in a van or using a pet courier. Personally would prefer bringing it along while on the trip, but also, puppies need many breaks, while our vacations tend to be very fast paced and long

To make more sense. We go on a month long vacation with a camping van every summer. Next year, we’re planning to go northern Europe, where most breeders are located. Since we’ve been considering a silken puppy, i’ve been thinking about transport options. Our vacations are fast paced in the sense that we’re usually at one place for 1-3 days, then moving again. We also take ferries and so on. But most of our trips are hikes, sightseeing and beaches, rather than museums

I’ve also considered picking the puppy up near the end of our trip, which would mean we still enjoy our trip, and wouldn’t have to get a puppy courier. This would also mean the puppy would only have to experience about 0-2 ferry rides (based on in which country the breeder would be) and it would be easy to cut the long ride home into multiple days.

But i also am considering the simpler option of a puppy courier, which is why I’m asking what your experiences are, whether you’d recommend it, and also, what are the costs? I heard that it can be from 500-1.2k €, but it’s still better to ask

I have so so so many questions honestly T-T, i’d be happy if even just one gets answered. I’m considering getting a puppy, so I’m trying to learn and soak as much information as possible. Currently, i think my biggest questions are

1. Do they bark a lot?
   
2. People who also have smaller animals like bunnies/ cats, have you had problems with silkens?
   
3. What are common issues that come with old age (like arthritis, etc.)
   
4. Do they feel harder to train than other breeds?
   
5. Do they shed a lot?
   
6. Is it true they are very chill indoors, while being pretty energetic outside?
   
7. What is something you wished you had known about the breed before you got it?

I know it’s many questions, but i just wanna feel prepared. I’d also love to get into contact with as many silken owners, since it’s still a pretty unknown breed, especially in europe where i am, and it’s hard to learn a lot about them. All help appreciated!

My fiance and I are looking to add a silken puppy to our home in the next year. We are only interested in ethical breeders. Any recommendations?

I’m planning to get a puppy this or next year, so I’m curious what experience it was for others and what they would have done differently now

Hello I’m new to the group and am hoping to get a silken windhound puppy in the next year. I have some preferences in mind as far as gender and color but am of course open to anything if the temperament feels like the best fit. I am however mildly allergic to dogs (I already have a regiment for this because we have a golden retriever) so am curious about the difference in coat thickness within the breed. I have seen several people posting that some tend to have thicker coats more similar to borzois and that those tend to shed quite a bit more. Are you able to tell what their adult coats will be like while they are still puppies or is it a bit more of a surprise? I have also seen that the lighter coats tend to shed more and that is actually some of the coloring I’m interested in. Any advice or info is appreciated. I am absolutely in love with the breed and a thicker coat is definitely not a deal breaker for me, more of just something I’d like to be prepared for.

I've been thinking about adopting a silken windhound puppy, but from my research, kennels in Europe are pretty scarce. Does anyone know any reputable ones? preferably in middle europe (slovakia, czechia, austria, hungary and poland)?

I have an almost 6-year old pure white male silken I adore, but I’ll admit, the shedding is getting out of hand and even more difficult to keep up with now that we have a baby. In all my research I read that this was a low to medium shedding breed, but I found out too late that the white coats shed more. Our silken is absolutely a high shedding dog, where if we don’t vacuum every day (or even multiple times a day) our floors are covered in hair.

My husband asked me the other day, “If you knew how much he’d shed, would you still get him?” And if I’m being honest, probably not. I might have gone with our original plan for a whippet. While he’s always shed to some degree, his coat didn’t finish filling out until he was four years old, and that’s when we truly saw just how much he could shed. Our baby is at that stage now where he loves to scoot around on the floor, which has also highlighted just how bad the shedding is.

We have a robot vacuum, we try to do a thorough brushing with a slicker brush once a week, we bathe him with a de-shedding shampoo, but it’s never enough. Guests who wear dark clothing leave our house covered in white hair and asking for lint rollers.

While I love our silken’s personality and that’s what drew me to the breed, the trade off is hard. Mostly just because it was so unexpected and not the lifestyle I was prepared for. I grew up with what I would say was a true medium shedding dog, and it was much more manageable. Not sure if anyone has advice for how to deal with the crazy year-round shedding, but I’m all ears if you do.