I'm biased.
I'll take the sighthound over a dog like a shepherd, about any day of any year!
Full admission of bias!
I like that video with the Whippet above, but I gotta say from experience, the Whippet stopped because he wanted to, not 'cause he was made to! LOL!
Have owned Scottish Deerhounds (two of which rather beat up a Shepherd that was supposedly a bad-ass, via sighthound teamwork), Italian Greyhounds (ten feet tall and bulletproof, as they speak their opinions out through the front window, though barely ankle biter high in real life!), and am on my second Whippet, and regretting not figuring out what wonderful dogs Whippets are, earlier!
My whippets have both been able to outsleep my cats, outrun my ATV, and both have been able to eat and sleep away their lives, when it came down to not having much opportunity to exercise, without gaining any weight. (of which I am PARTICULARLY jealous!
) They LIKE a good run every day, but don't NEED it.
The downside of Italian Greyhounds, and to a lesser extent, the Whippets, is that you seldom get to sit anywhere alone. The Iggys were outright blanket thieves, who could not imagine a world where they were not in some form of charge, of where the blankets were, whether on the bed, or when sitting on the couch. The Deerhounds...it gets crowded... fast...Whippets, in my experience, are just appreciative, that you are willing to share...