History

Kipipiri is a town in Kenya where Stephen’s relatives lived in the 1960s and 1970s, and the kennel name Kipipiriking was first registered with the East Africa Kennel Club. On leaving Kenya and settling in Jersey (Channel Islands) in 1973, Stephen registered the kennel name with the (then) Jersey Dog Club, now the Kennel Club of Jersey, and it is also registered with the Kennel Club in UK.

Stephen has been involved with breeding and rearing a number of breeds of dogs since a young age in Kenya, and was persuaded by his daughter to buy her a whippet puppy for her 13th birthday in August 1983. He quickly fell in love with the breed and has remained true to it ever since. Initially breeding and training whippets for fun sport racing in Jersey, England and France, he became known locally as the “whippetman” and many of Jersey’s whippet lovers have had two or more generations of his puppies over the years.

His wife, Jennifer, had her first whippet from one of Stephen’s litters born in February 2000 and has been smitten with whippets ever since. Following Stephen’s and Jenny’s retirement from racing, Jenny has taken training courses in dog show handling, and has had notable successes in shows on Jersey and Guernsey, in England and in France; with Ranveli Blue Breeze at Kipipiriking at the remarkably young age of 17 months, gaining the top distinction of the Dog Challenge Certificate (CC) as Best Male Whippet at Crufts in March 2018, and gaining his Stud Book Number and life-time entry to Crufts.  Only the more mature Best Female Whippet marginally beat him in a runoff – and she went on to become overall Cruft Champion 2018!