SKIRMISHER

Wendy the Whippet might look like the kind of stuff you normally see in a Wes Craven-induced nightmare, but she’s actually a very gentle cute thing whose favorite past time is walking around the house wearing a tiny pink dog thong while singing an Elton John song.

Wendy is a 27-kilogram rippling mass of muscle. Forget the so-called six-pack stomach: Wendy has a 24-pack. And the muscles around her neck are so thick, they look like a lion’s ruff.

“People have referred to her as Arnold Schwarzenegger,” says doting owner Ingrid Hansen, stroking Wendy’s sleek black coat and white chest.

Wendy was recently part of a genetics study done in the U.S. on mutation in the myostatin gene in whippets, which resemble greyhounds in appearance. The National Institute of Health study reported that whippets with one single defective copy of the gene have increased muscle mass that can enhance racing performance in the breed, known for speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour.

But whippets with two mutated copies of the gene become “double-muscled,” like Wendy. It has been seen before in one human, and also in mice, cattle and sheep, says the study.

The uber-muscled whippets are called “bullies,” not because of their nature — Wendy likes nothing better than a good back scratch and isn’t shy about sitting in your lap to ask for one — but because of their size. She’s about twice the weight of an average whippet, but with the same height and small narrow head — and the same size heart and lungs, which means she probably won’t live as long as normal whippets.

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