98 COURSING 



CHAPTER V 



THE GREYHOUND IN TRAINING 



* STONEHENGE,' in his standard work on the greyhound, gives 

 very explicit directions for the reduction of fat and weight, 

 whereby a dog that was absolutely unfit may be hurriedly 

 prepared for a stake. With such we shall not deal ; but rather 

 we shall presume that both puppies and older dogs have by 

 degrees been prepared for the final touches by the regular and 

 gradual treatment that we have advocated in the preceding 

 chapters. Hurried preparations are seldom satisfactory, and 

 though in some instances a dog thus treated may see the end 

 of an important stake, it is generally more by good fortune 

 than by reason of his training; even if his first two courses 

 are brilliant, a sudden collapse is likely to occur in the third. 

 If the dogs are thoroughly well exercised and carefully fed 

 during the summer months, very little extra work is needed to 

 complete the winding-up process ; nevertheless, the trainer must 

 be very careful that he does not ' bring on ' his charges too 

 quickly ; if a dog, and especially a puppy, is prematurely 

 wound up to concert pitch, he is sure to run down and become 

 stale before he is wanted. 



In this treatise on training we shall only deal with dogs 

 that are presumably fit to begin work, that are in themselves 

 sound and well, and that will eat with relish what is given to 

 them. It may be the lot of many a trainer to have a dog to 

 prepare that is gross and fat, with soft feet and long nails, or 

 one that is so upset by strong work that he goes off his feed. 



