I'm from Portugal and I race greyhounds in the north of my country.
I would like to ask for opinions on what's the best way to rear puppies to race!
At what age should they leave the mother?
At what age should they begin to run freely?
At what age should they be actually prepared to race in tracks?
Where should they be reared? In closed kennels, in open spaces/fields or in a balance between the two??!!

Hope to hear from you all.
Thanks

I would respectfully ask you to spend a few months with a breeder of Greyhounds to answer all your questions. You obviously have a very limited knowledge of breeding and rearing Greyhounds, and it would be a complete and utter waste of time and money if you decide to proceed with breeding at this moment in time.

Provided they are well fed, well wormed/flead, have a dry bed, fresh water, and plenty of exercise, they will be fine.

As they get older you will need to keep them fresh - they get bored easy - so 'exploring' is necessary to sharpen the hunting instincts etc

I don't intend to breed at the moment.
I have bought a pup and would like some wiser and experienced piece of advice on what's the best way to rear him!!
I have a good bitch that I'm not sure it is going to race again, but I still haven't tried to breed from her because I think I still have lack of experience in this area...

All the things you mention I provide my dogs!!
But I would like to know more about exercising them.
My pup is now 8 months old, I usually keep him in a medium open area where he can run during the day. At night I bring him to a close kennel where he sleeps nice and warm!!
When should I start training him at the track?
I have shown him the hare and he is very interested in it!!

The book that Lotte mentions is a must, by the way.

There is a very useful (essential maybe) article by 'Savco' on Global Greyhounds called 'Breeding, Whelping and Rearing of Greyhounds' - you should have a read.

EXTERNAL LINK

Hi Marta,
You will find strong disagreements on all the questions you have asked. So I will just respond by describing how I reared my two - others do things differently.
My pups were weaned at about 5 weeks but spent some time each day with the mother until about 10 weeks. Some people say rear them with the mother and this seems like a good idea to me except my bitch was too rough with them.

I reared mine in a 20x10 metre yard until 6 months (while they were growing fast) then I took them 3 times a week to gallop in a 40m x 70m yard for about an hour each time until 12 months old. I let them swim in a dam when they got hot from running in summer. (These trips - by car - to the galloping paddock also taught them to relax when travelling by car - they now sleep when travelling to and from the racetrack.)

I think it was very important to rear two pups together as they encourage each other to run, learn to take a bump from each other and twist and turn at high speed when playing together. All good training for racing against other dogs.

I took mine to the track when they were pups from time to time (from about 6 months old) to let them watch the lure (only for a few minutes each time so they didn't get bored) and to get used to the surroundings - they also got used to spending time in the race kennels.

I don't think it matters where they are reared as long as they have somewhere warm dry to rest, and as long as they get the chance to gallop every couple of days from 6 months old.

Mine were taught to chase the lure at 16 months old. (Well actually they didn't need teaching - they chased the lure around the track the first time they were allowed to.)
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tom

Your experience helped a lot!!

Here is an article I ran in an edition of the Queensland (Australia) Greyhound Journal.
It is about the rearing and early training routine by Helen Ivers. Helen is easily one of the best greyhound people in this country.
The article is also included in a booklet Greyhounds Queensland Ltd has for sale for $A22 called"So you want to be a Greyhound Trainer". Floyd Amphlett has copies in England or you can contact Liz Murray at GQL through her email address
[email protected]

The article is:

When Tip Top Tears downed kennelmate Gate Way with littermate Universal Tears among the other finalists in the 2001 National Distance Championship at Sandown, it highlighted just what an impact Brisbane breeder Helen Ivers has had on the industry. Ivers bred and reared all three.
XXXX
Helen Ivers has been rearing greyhounds for the past 12 years on a 38-acre property that fronts Lake Kurwongbah. It is a purpose built greyhound complex.
From the start it was a successful operation.
"In the first paddock we built, there were four pups and they turned out to be Trojan Tears and her litter sister Tango Tears, and Captain Standby and his litter sister Bay City Whisper," she said.
"We put them in the paddock at six weeks. They turned out to be pretty good."
All four were feature race winners, Trojan Tears being greyhound of the year in Queensland and New South Wales, Captain Standby winning the Vince Curry Memorial, Tango Tears winning a Lawnton Distance Championship and Bay City Whisper the Shane Taylor Memorial at Toowoomba.
Ivers said she and husband Michael approached the art of rearing greyhounds with a different approach to most who start out in the game. "We didn't talk to anyone," she said. "We didn't go out and ask people what they did. We just took it that everyone reared pups how we had planned."
The Kurwongbah property was split into several five-acre paddocks, every one with a dam.
WHELPING
Ivers whelps all her pups in the family garage just by the house.
"We have a two and a half acre paddock just by the house," she said. "The mother and her pups are moved there when the pups are four weeks old. We like to keep the pups with the mother as long as she will stay with them.
"Voodoo Lady would stay with her pups until they were 12 months old and ready to go to breaking in. But she was an exceptional mother.
"Some bitches are sick of staying with the pups by the time they are four to five months old. Terror Tears leaves them about five months. We leave the mother with them because we feel it is just following nature and as a form of protection when they are out in the paddocks.
"And besides, I've always felt it was mean to take a mother from her young ones at six or eight weeks old."
Ivers will supplement the litter if the mother does not have enough milk or the litter is a large one. "Mother's milk is the best they can get in those first few weeks."
Solid foods are introduced at about three and a half to four and a half weeks of age. These include egg yolks, mince, Pharex, cereal etc. The pups are fed four times a day, sometimes even six depending on how they are handling the move to the two and a half acre paddock.
"It is instinct," Ivers said. "Because this paddock is so close to the house, we keep a constant eye on the pups. If they are looking a little lean, we up their food. Of course every litter is different."
At this four week old mark, the pups are just starting to come out into the big wide world. Some will venture out immediately following their mother. Others have stayed in the hut in the paddock until they were seven weeks old. Ivers has seen no difference in the ultimate racing ability between the adventurous and the reluctant litters.
"I also have a golden rule on the property that all the dogs are treated as though they are champions. We never spoil one above the others," she said.
As well as constant feeding of mince etc, Ivers keeps bowls full of Hills Science Diet Puppy Growth dry food in the hut in the paddock. This is done with every litter until they are about eight months old.
"And I never leave meat out in the yards with the pups. I think this is only hygienic. The meat becomes fly blown etc and I just don't like my pups having to pick over something like that," she said.
FOUR MONTHS
From this age the pups are moved to five-acre paddocks.
"By that age they are starting to outgrow the two and a half acre paddock, specially if it is a big litter," Ivers said. "If the mother is overwhelmed by the litter we will split them up into four or five pups per yard."
Ivers believes this is a more manageable number for each yard.
By this stage the pups are being fed twice a day. In the morning they are fed meat and milk and a dry food changing from bread to wheat bix etc "whatever we might have at the time".
"In the afternoon they get meat, milk and often we will make up a pasta, rice or something similar. Of course the Hills Science Diet Puppy Growth is always in the hut in the paddock."
Ivers also feeds veges five days a week. All are fresh and cooked. Each pup gets half a cup of veges, a mixture containing whatever is available ... carrot, pumpkin, beans, cabbage etc.
Calcium is a big part of the diet. Bones are given four times a week, generally brisket or shin, only after the pups have eaten their breakfast.
"There are always variables. We have one pup who is so aggressive he cannot be put in with other pups while having bones," she said.
Numbers are restricted in the five-acre yards to between four and five. "We find they get too aggressive, too nasty and we feel a yard with four or five is enough to teach these pups to handle themselves against others in preparation for racing."
EIGHT MONTHS
From this age all Ivers pups start to be kennelled.
"We bring them in to start a routine to prepare them for breaking in and eventually racing," Ivers said.
In the morning the pups are let out into the galloping paddocks, then come in for breakfast, then go out for the rest of the day. Later they are brought in for dinner and spend the night in the kennels.
"Only a few take three or four days to settle into this routine. We find most adapt pretty quickly," Ivers said. At this time, by necessity, the pups are taught to lead. "We put collars on all our pups when they are five months but until eight months they are never taught to lead."
BREAKING IN
This is done from 12 to 14 months. Bitches can go away at 12 months but bigger dogs are kept back until 14 months. They are not worked up the straight track prior to going to education.
"I am not training these dogs to run up a straight track. I want their first education to be around a circle track and that is the job of the breaking in complex," she said. "We do get regular requests to straight work our pups, but I'm not going to do this."
After a month of breaking in, Ivers gets the pups checked out, then keeps them kennelled for a month going out into the five-acre paddocks individually each day.
"I do not put them together at this time because their sense of keenness has been heightened by this stage and they have learned to race too hard by now, so we keep them to themselves in their daily gallops during this month spell."
Ivers puts some, but not a lot, of importance on breaking in times.
PICKING STARS
Helen believes no-one can pick a potential star from a paddock full of pups.
"We have reared a lot of good dogs here and no one has stood out," she said. "If there is one characteristic that stands out, it is the fact stayers will be constantly running as they are pups. When their littermates have had enough and go and stand in the dam, these pups will be up at the side of the fence wanting the pups in the next paddock to run with them.
"I believe stayers are born with their stamina."
SECRETS
Ivers does not put her success down to rearing. She claims many people rear as well if not better than she.
"I believe the secret to our success is that we give the young racing dogs more time in their education than anyone else," she said.
After that month's spell after breaking in, Ivers will put her youngsters up their 300m straight track for three months before taking them to the circle. "People are usually too impatient. That is what gives us the most success," she said.
After three months of straight work, Ivers takes all her pups to Ipswich for a 431m solo trial.
"Usually they run about 26.30, but we've had them run 27.20 (the track record is around 25.70). That pup was Top Shelf who won four of her first eight races," she said. "These initial times don't faze us. They just continue to improve.
"Generally our dogs are ready to start racing between 22 and 24 months. If we have a dog racing at 21 months, then it is too early."
STARS
Tip Top Tears broke in around 17.40 at (now closed) Springwood. "She was a mongrel of a bitch in that she would bark all the time and come out of the kennel at 100 miles an hour. But she was always treated with kindness just like all our dogs."
Gate Way and his litter sister Top Shelf were timid types of dogs when they started trialling at racetracks, constantly sitting or laying down. "But at these times we generally did not take them back to trial again for two weeks. We let them get over the initial stress of trials. They eventually came good.
"We spoil all our dogs," she said. "They all get cuddles and pats, but you should be fair about this because we have found they can build up a resentment of other dogs in the kennel if one gets more attention than another."

i liked the part about top shelf ,

After three months of straight work, Ivers takes all her pups to Ipswich for a 431m solo trial.
"Usually they run about 26.30, but we've had them run 27.20 (the track record is around 25.70). That pup was Top Shelf who won four of her first eight races," she said. "These initial times don't faze us. They just continue to improve

top entity is a daughter of top shelf , who was also a good race bitch, and now has 8 month old pups to black enforcer ,

off topic a bit , i know lol

mick

Apart from the excellent advice given, I believe Paul and Dan's point is one of the most important, where possible, u should get two pups together, for me, a dog and a bitch is best as they tend to fight less.....both learn out to run together, take a bump, turn etc etc.....companionship .....

cheers

without knowing the inside story, it may explain why a great racebitch has produced zero in the breeding barn