TRAINING GREYHOUNDS 



experience and good judgment are of course necessary 

 when a high-class greyhound is being trained for an im- 

 portant stake. It is, however, quite within the power of 

 most people who are fond of sport to get their dogs fit 

 enough to run at any local private meeting, and many 

 winners at these most enjoyable little fixtures are trained 

 by their owners. As is the case in almost everything that 

 is connected with the health and well-being of dogs, the 

 questions of food and exercise are matters of paramount 

 importance in connection with the preparation of a grey- 

 hound, as there is no chance whatsoever of his laying on 

 muscle and getting into proper condition unless he has 

 good food and possesses a good appetite to eat it. The 

 exercise should mainly consist of daily long, slow walks — 

 it being the custom for a trainer to take his dogs out well 

 clothed, in leather leads, in batches of five or six, each 

 batch being entrusted to the care of a separate attendant, 

 as no man can look after more than the above number 

 at most ; and besides this, different animals may require 

 different exercise, so each batch has its own daily course 

 of work, and it is possible to keep apart any members of 

 the kennel which may bear animosity towards each other. 

 The daily exercise should take the form of long walks, 

 in the course of which the greyhounds may be loosed 

 from their leads and allowed a gallop in a meadow or 

 on a common, but they should not be encouraged to 

 cover long distances at top speed, but merely to frolic 

 about. 



In the case of an owner who is only training one or 

 two dogs, and who cannot personally superintend all their 

 requirements, the question of proper exercise is not an 

 easy one, as the animals have to be entrusted to the charge 

 of a man who may not care to walk the distances along 

 the road which are regarded as necessary for their well- 

 being. This difficulty can, however, be surmounted by 

 giving the man a letter to deliver to a friend of the owner's 

 who lives some miles away, and if a reply is sent stating 



iq6 



