CHAPTER XL VII 



THE WHIPPET 



HE ever-present desire of Englishmen to be either competing 

 personally or owning birds or animals which could take his 

 place as a competitor was the reason for the development of 

 the whippet or snap dog. The ban upon dog fighting, bull 

 baiting and, finally, upon prize fighting turned the attention 

 of the mill operatives, miners and the workmen of Lancashire, Yorkshire 

 and the North of England generally to more legitimate forms of sport in 

 which they could participate, and resulted in the introduction of the world- 

 famed Sheffield handicaps for the fast sprinters of all nations and other per- 

 sonal contests. Many of these were purely local sports, such as the bowling 

 on Newcastle Town Moor and the knur and spell of Yorkshire. In the way 

 of animal contests they took up racing dogs against each other and coursed 

 rabbits with the larger of these fast dogs. Then sport promoters introduced 

 open handicaps and as every man could keep a running dog in his house, and 

 the cost of racing was small, while the winning of a handicap meant a great 

 deal, whippet racing became the home lottery of Lancashire. 



Whippet racing is an exaggerated development of the inclination of 

 puppies to pull at anything that is held out to them. When very young the 

 puppies are induced to play at pulling a rag and, little by little, they are let 

 run at the rag across the room. When they have progressed so far as to run 

 from the liberator to the shaking rag and pull at it they are then taken out of 

 doors, to some convenient alleyway for choice, and at gradually increasing 

 distances held and then let loose to run to the enticing piece of rag or towel, 

 which their owner shakes so vigorously while he calls them with encouraging 

 shouts. Finally the training progresses until the whippet can run the full 

 course of 200 yards, the handicap distance. 



Handicaps are based mainly upon the weight of each competitor and 

 although the system might seem very complicated it is plain and simple to 

 those who are experts, and who can hardly perhaps read or write. In pro- 

 portion to weight a dog of 15 pounds is faster than either larger or smaller 



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