Breaking my own pups in

I should have mentioned I want to build them up to 520m before I start them in a race.

Hi BAM,

Whenever a greyhound pup is put into work, to be able to understand just how much work the pup can handle, and how fast you can progress, you need be aware of the pups likely physical and mental development at a certain age.

The simplest way that I can explain it is to set a definitive relationship between the age of a human and a greyhound. Now you can forget all about the well know saying that one year in a dog age equals seven years in a human when it comes to greyhounds.

The closest you will ever come, is to compare one month in a greyhound, to one year in a human.

In other words an eleven month old greyhound pup is like an eleven year old child, or a fifteen month old pup is like a fifteen year old.

As most parents well know by the time your child is fifteen year old they generally know it all, and so it is with a greyhound. They are most receptive to learning between the age of twelve months to around fifteen months of age.

So this is the window of opportunity when its best to break a pup in and teach them the basics of what they need to know. However it needs to be clearly kept in mind that there is a huge difference between a twelve year old and a fifteen year old in the type of physical and mental stress they are able to handle.

The same as there is a huge difference between a fifteen year old and an eighteen year old, or an eighteen year old and a twenty one year old, so don’t push them too hard at an early age no matter how keen to work they may be.

Like most human athletes who’s best efforts are over by the time they are thirty six years of age, so most greyhounds are starting to show more injuries and can find it more difficult to compete at an elite level by the time they are thirty six months (three years) of age.

But then of course there are exceptions to every rule and there are rare examples of greyhounds that competed extremely well at five years of age, unfortunately they are far and few in between.

BAM
While I would like to be able to give you a work schedule for your pups it is impossible to do so, simply because every greyhound is different in what it can handle without stressing or breaking down, and what works great for one will completely destroy another.

For more information so that you yourself can set a suitable schedule for your greyhounds keep the above post in mind, and have a read of the subject ” Stress what is it. What does it cause, and why” in the top section of this web site.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Audra,

I do not know of one breaker or trainer in Victoria that would be stupid enough these days to use a live lure, as the penalties in place by Greyhound Racing Victoria if caught in such an cruel act would put them out of greyhound racing for a lot of years, not to mention hefty fines and being charged by the RSPCA over such an event and finishing up in court.

Because of the national reciprocity in place for greyhound racing I would be surprised if the same Rules did not apply in every other State in Australia.

However If you do have any concerns in this regard, keep in mind that you are the owner of the greyhound and you are employing the breaker, the pre-trainer, and the trainer to do a specific job, and it is therefore your right to insist that it be carried out in a professional, legal and humane manner.

In other words it’s up to you to tell them what you expect of them, and if they don’t like it, take your business elsewhere.

Cheers,
Tom