From application to go-home day
The price is $2,800
Every puppy costs $2,800: pet or show prospect, male or female, any color. That pays, roughly, for the parents’ testing (about $1,100 per litter), the stud fee or our own stud’s upkeep, the progesterone tests and ultrasound, ten weeks of food, two vet visits, BAER and eye exams, microchips, AKC registration and the puppy pack. We do not make a living from it, and we don’t pretend that is a virtue; it is why we can breed once a year.
The deposit is $500. We take it only after we’ve approved your application and talked to you by phone or video, and only once a litter is born. It comes off the price. If we can’t match you with a puppy from that litter, it is refunded in full within seven days, or moved to the next litter if you’d rather. If you change your mind after you’ve been matched, we refund it when that puppy finds another home. The balance is due on go-home day by bank transfer, cashier’s check or card. We never take gift cards, crypto, Zelle or wires to a third party.
What the price includes
Every puppy goes home with
- First DAPPv vaccination (Nobivac, September 21, 2026) and vet exam with a signed health certificate
- Dewormed at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks (pyrantel), fenbendazole course at 6 weeks
- Microchip, enrolled with AKC Reunite and transferred into your name
- BAER hearing certificate and ACVO puppy eye exam form
- AKC registration (limited for pet homes; full for approved show homes)
- Four-generation pedigree, and both parents’ OFA results with CHIC numbers
- Written contract with our two-year health guarantee and lifetime return clause
- Martingale collar, fleece coat sized for now, scent blanket, 5 lb of the food they’re on, and our care binder
- Video of your puppy’s seven-week evaluation
- Our phone number for the life of the dog, and the owners’ group
Price and payment
$2,800 for every puppy in the litter, pet or show prospect — no price for color or sex. A $500 deposit, taken only after we have approved your application and talked by phone, holds a place and comes off the price. The balance is due on go-home day by bank transfer, cashier’s check or card. We never take gift cards, Zelle to a third party or wire transfers abroad.
Nine steps, in order
1. Read
This page, Health and Living with a sighthound. If anything there is a deal-breaker, better now than later.
2. Questionnaire
About fifteen minutes: household, home and yard, fence, your working week, past dogs, cats, what you’d like to do with a whippet, your timeline.
Apply3. Phone call
Within a week, about half an hour, usually in our call hours (Mon–Thu, 7–9 pm Eastern). We will tell you honestly if we’re not the right kennel.
4. Visit or video call
Meet the adults here, by appointment, before or during a litter. If you live far away, a video call first — but you must visit before go-home day.
5. Approval and the waitlist
We confirm approval in writing and add you to the list for a specific litter. No money changes hands.
6. Deposit
Once the litter is born and we can see we have a puppy for you: $500, refundable as above.
7. Matching at eight weeks
We match puppies to families after the seven-week evaluation, in waitlist order, against what you told us. You can say no without losing your place.
8. Go-home day
At nearly ten weeks, here. Two hours: the contract, the folder, a feeding and the drive home with your puppy in a crate.
9. For life
A call at two weeks, a yearly update request, the owners’ group, the September reunion, half the cost of a two-year echo, and our number for the life of the dog.
The contract, in plain words
We send our contract of sale before you pay a deposit so you can read it at home. It is four pages. The key clauses:
Registration: AKC limited registration for pet homes. Your dog can compete in every AKC sport except conformation, including coursing and Fast CAT; puppies it produces can’t be registered. Show homes get full registration under a co-ownership with us until the dog has its CHIC number. We lift limited registration only for a dog with complete AWC health testing and a plan we agree on.
Neutering: not required. We ask that you not spay or neuter before 12 months (girls after their first season).
Health guarantee: two years from birth, covering congenital or hereditary heart disease, deafness and inherited eye disease diagnosed by a board-certified specialist. You keep the dog; we refund up to the purchase price toward treatment, or offer a puppy from a later litter. Not covered: injuries, infections, parasites, or anything resulting from care. In the first 72 hours, if your own vet finds a problem we missed, you may return the puppy for a full refund.
Return for life: if you can no longer keep your dog, at any age, you must offer it to us first. We will collect it, and rehome it with the same care as a puppy. We never refund the price on a return, and we never charge for one.
Your duties: a fenced or leashed life near roads, a coat in the cold, a yearly vet exam, telling us if you move or the dog dies, and a yearly photo if you can bear to.
How the waitlist really works
Four approved families are waiting for Clover’s spring 2027 litter. We expect five to seven puppies and keep one, so the first four or five families on the list are likely to get a puppy in June 2027; the next families are offered a place in the following litter. Nobody on the list has paid anything, so nobody loses money by waiting or by leaving.
Visiting: anyone may meet our adult dogs by appointment. Approved families visit a litter from week 5, one family at a time, healthy and not straight from another kennel, a shelter or a dog park.
Scam notice
ashgrovewhippets.com is our only website, and our photos have been copied onto sites that “sell” whippets that don’t exist. We never ship a puppy, by air or by ground transporter, and we never sell a puppy to anyone we have not met. We never ask for gift cards, crypto, Zelle or wire transfers to a third party, and we never add crate, insurance or customs fees. If in doubt, call us on (845) 555-0142.
Questions about money and paperwork
How much is a puppy?
$2,800 for every puppy, pet or show prospect, male or female, any color. It covers the vet work, BAER and eye exams, microchip, AKC registration, the puppy pack and our support for the dog’s life. There are no other fees.
How does the deposit work?
$500, taken only after we’ve approved your application and talked by phone — never to join the list. It holds your place in a born litter and comes off the price. If we can’t match you with a puppy it is refunded in full within a week, or moved to the next litter if you prefer. If you withdraw after matching, we refund it if we can place that puppy with someone else.
What registration comes with the puppy?
AKC limited registration for pet homes: your dog is fully registered and can do every AKC sport, including coursing and Fast CAT, but offspring can’t be registered. Show homes get full registration, usually under a co-ownership. We change limited to full later only for a dog with complete health testing and an agreed plan.
Which health tests do the parents have?
Every breeding dog has an echocardiogram by a board-certified cardiologist within two years of the mating, an eye exam (CAER) within a year, a BAER hearing test, and a myostatin (MSTN) DNA test. That is the American Whippet Club’s CHIC set plus MSTN. We add thyroid and, for Rook, hips. Every result is public at ofa.org and on each dog’s page here.
What does the health guarantee cover?
For two years from birth: congenital or hereditary heart disease, deafness, and inherited eye disease, if diagnosed by a board-certified specialist. You keep the dog, and we refund up to the full purchase price toward treatment, or offer a puppy from a later litter. Injuries, infections and anything caused by care are not covered — whippets do break toes.
Will you take the dog back?
Yes, at any age, for any reason, for the life of the dog. Your contract says you must offer the dog to us before rehoming it or surrendering it to anyone. We collect it ourselves. Since 2011 we’ve had four Ashgrove dogs come back, all rehomed by us within a month.
Do we have to spay or neuter?
No. We ask you not to before 12 months (for a girl, after her first season), so the growth plates close. If you do neuter, tell us, so we can keep our records straight.