About us
Ellen and Tom
Ellen grew up with a lurcher in the Catskills and saw her first whippet course in 2005, at a field trial outside Saratoga. In 2008 Joan Pell of Brightwater Whippets sold her Hazel, on condition that Hazel be shown, coursed and only bred if she earned it. Ashgrove — named for the ash trees along our back field, most of which the emerald ash borer has since taken — registered its first litter in 2011.
Ellen is an AKC-approved lure coursing judge and has chaired the field committee of our regional whippet club. Tom does the whelping-night shifts, the photographs and the field days, and keeps the spreadsheets of every puppy’s weight, test result and annual update since 2011. We both work: Ellen as a high-school biology teacher, Tom as a structural engineer, which is why we breed once a year.
What we breed for, in order: sound hearts and long lives; a calm, gentle, people-loving temperament; and a whippet built to do what whippets were bred for — run — and to win in the ring because of it.
Memberships and registrations
American Kennel Club
AKC Breeder of Merit since 2015 and Bred with H.E.A.R.T. All dogs AKC-registered with DNA profiles on file.
American Whippet Club
Members since 2009; we follow the AWC Code of Ethics and its health-testing recommendations.
American Sighthound Field Association
Members and regular field-trial entrants since 2009.
New York State
We breed and sell fewer than 25 dogs a year, all born and raised in our own home, so we are exempt from New York’s pet-dealer license (Agriculture and Markets Law, Article 26-A). We follow its health-certificate and disclosure rules anyway.
Our dogs, out and about
Ashgrove Whippets
- Call hours: Mon–Thu, 7–9 pm Eastern
- We answer email within two days, and every application within a week