As you probably know, the Silken Windhound was created using what were called Longhaired Whippets (LHW for short), Borzoi and Whippets.

But this did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process.

Francie Stull, the creator of the Silken Windhound breed, originally bought LHW from Walter Wheeler of Kennel Windsprite. Walter was the creator of the LHW.

In the beginning Francie had LHW and nothing else. And there was some breeding going on. At that point they were actually still LHW.

In 1985 she crossed a Borzoi with an LHW, and the first F1 litter was born (the Kristull D-litter). But it wasn’t as if she announced to the world that she had crossed to Borzoi.

Dogs that were around on the ranch at that time were both LHW and early Silkens — LHW crossed to Borzoi.

I’m not sure what year it became clear to the wider world that Francie had done this.

I know Walter Wheeler went up in flames because she had bastardized his precious LHW. Francie went to Walter around 1986–1987 and showed Darque to him, from the first Borzoi cross litter.

But when it became known to a larger audience was probably somewhat later.

It was not as if these dogs turned from LHW into Silken Windhounds overnight. The name Silken Windhound was not even invented until 1998, by the way.

For a while Francie called her dogs Silken Windsprites, as a homage to Walter Wheeler and what he had done when he created the LHW. His kennel name was Windsprite, and when he advertised in her magazine Sighthound, the longhairs were called Silken Windsprites to differentiate them from his regular smooth Whippets. It was Francie’s idea to call them Silken Windsprites.

Francie’s magazine Sighthound later turned into Sighthound Review when it was bought by Bo Bengtsson.

Walter objected to this in 1998. His kennel name had been trademarked since 1955, and he threatened to sue Francie if she continued using the name Windsprite. Among the many names he suggested instead was Silken Windhound. Since we had called them Silkens for a long time, we chose Silken Windhounds.

This was in 1998. Silken Windsprites turned into Silken Windhounds.

The fact that LHW is now called Silken Windsprites in Europe — that is another story.

There is a certain irony in that. Francie coined the name Silken Windsprites for the LHW, and Walter, the creator of the LHW, coined the name Silken Windhounds for us 🙂

Many of you have asked what other names Walter Wheeler suggested for Francie’s dogs. The letter from Walter Wheeler, sent through the secretary of the Longhaired Whippet Association, has never been made public before.

But here goes — some of the correspondence between Francie and Walter regarding this matter.

Below are scans of the original correspondence between Francie Stull and the Longhaired Whippet Association in 1998 regarding the naming of the breed.