First win for my pup

[jcsperson]

My racer Red Coat, call name Tuff, won his final schooling race after rough trips in his first two races. Here's the video:

10/13/05 Schooling Race 7

He had a nice break and maintained enough of a lead that he still won despite tiring in the last 15 yards or so. His Maiden race will be either Sunday afternoon or Monday night.

It looks like his whole litter is going to be nice. I've known them since they were two weeks old and it's been very satisfying watching them develop into "big dogs."

[shandoggy1]

Congrads I guess I am personally not a fan of greyhound racing Plus I had heard recently that they are running out of homes to adopt them once they are done racing so more are put to sleep now than ever.

[TribalRats]

They are amazing animals. So beautiful, so graceful and so fast.
I mean no malace when I ask you this, I am just wondering....where will he go when he retires? Will he stay with you or be placed in a home or a rescue?

[Cassiepeia]

Hey Congrats! Well done Tuff. Good luck with him in his maiden race, let us know how he goes.

Cass.

[Pippinislove]

Congratulations!! Good luck with further races.

[jcsperson]

Originally Posted by shandoggy1

Congrads I guess I am personally not a fan of greyhound racing Plus I had heard recently that they are running out of homes to adopt them once they are done racing so more are put to sleep now than ever.

You've heard wrong.

In general, greyhound racing owners do a better job of placing their retirees than do the breeders of almost any popular breed of dog. 95% are either placed into adoption or come home to their owners for breeding or as pets. Look on Petfinder at all the purebred dogs.

As for running out of homes, quite the opposite is taking place: Greyhound adoptions have increased every year for 15 years and breeding has declined. Mathematically, the numbers have to meet at some point, probably as early as 2007 when there should be full adoption. What popular breed of dog will be able to claim that?

People who like racing the least tend to know the least about it. The good news about racing is that it has strengthened the breed. Unlike other breeds that suffer all kinds of congenital defects, Greyhounds have no breed-wide problems like hip dysplasia. Greyhounds are bred to a performance standard, not words written on a piece of paper.

[jcsperson]

Originally Posted by TribalRats

I mean no malace when I ask you this, I am just wondering....where will he go when he retires? Will he stay with you or be placed in a home or a rescue?

Tuff will be coming home to me unless he's stud material in which case he'll stay on my friend's breeding farm two hours from here. His litter looks terrific, so that's not outside the realm of possibility, though it's a longshot.

Just as an aside, the word "rescue" doesn't sit well with most racing people. It implies that the dog was in imminent danger of being put down, which most greyhounds are not. In fact, many owners include a donation when their retired racers go to the track's adoption kennel or to an adoption group. Project Racing Home here in North Carolina is funded by racing money. Some tracks withhold a percentage of purse money from owners to fund their adoption kennels and match it with their own funds. The American Greyhound Council has contributed millions to adoption. The Night Of Stars races, RaceForAdoption.com and PRH are a few of many racing programs that fund adoption.

There is no doubt that some greyhounds need rescuing. My late, great pet Roman did---his pet owner turned him in to the SPCA at age 10.

[EscapeTurn]

Congratulations Tuff! That's so exciting! Just by winning that race he's already accomplished more than my Echo. Awesome job, that's so exciting.

Also I've got a quick question. Is this your only racer, or do you have the whole litter? How did you decide to buy a racer? I've heard it's a gamble. You can put a whole lot of money into a dog and then he drops a muscle on his first schooling race. Not probable, but not impossible. How does it work? Feel free to PM me if you'd rather not post.

[jcsperson]

Originally Posted by EscapeTurn

I've got a quick question. Is this your only racer, or do you have the whole litter? How did you decide to buy a racer? I've heard it's a gamble. You can put a whole lot of money into a dog and then he drops a muscle on his first schooling race. Not probable, but not impossible. How does it work?

I own only one pup in this litter. A good friend of mine owns both the sire and the dam. Of the seven pups, he owns five, and I and another gentleman own the other two. I was offered the opportunity to own one of these pups when they were just a few weeks old.

I am on the staff of greyhound-data.com and am very familiar with the bloodlines of greyhounds. This damline is very obscure, but has been very productive over the years despite the fact that it has been bred in small numbers. The sire is also unknown on the national scene. Because he raced at a third-tier track he has been unsuccessful at attracting breedings to top females. This litter would've been essentially unmarketable via private sale or at auction. Based on their conformation, temperament, and desire to chase, however, we knew by the time they were six months old that this litter would be competitive at any track in the country. I was pretty lucky. I knew what I had genetically; I knew the sire and dam personally; and I knew the reputation of the farmer who would raise them. I also know the kennel owner and trainer, so I was confident that I had a reasonable chance at success.

Getting started in Greyhound racing and breeding is a very daunting task for a beginner. Without knowledge of bloodlines, contacts with breeders, kennel owners and trainers, they are really "flying blind" and operating on trial and error. There are risks associated with racing greyhound ownership. Injury, as you observed, is one of them. More often, though, breeding and raising techniques lead to mediocrity or lack of success. If there is something more specific I can address let me know.

[willowmum]

Originally Posted by jcsperson

In general, greyhound racing owners do a better job of placing their retirees than do the breeders of almost any popular breed of dog. 95% are either placed into adoption or come home to their owners for breeding or as pets. Look on Petfinder at all the purebred dogs.

.

Can you break down that stat any further? What percentage of owners actually keep the dog once its served its purpose and what percentage get adopted into homes?

95% is good but surely a dog should be for life so hopefully 90% of them are kept by their owners, I would be very interested to see the breakdown.

Things are different here. Ireland is known as the foremost greyhound breeding country in the world. The state-run organization Board na gCon (Greyhound Racing Board) is responsible for the breeding and racing of greyhounds. Approximately 20,000 greyhound puppies are registered each year in Ireland. The number actually born each year is higher, but many "unpromising" dogs are disposed of before registration time. About half of those registered are exported to the UK and the United States, and a small number to Spain and elsewhere. It is estimated that approximately 14,000 greyhounds are "disposed of" in Ireland each year, but the true number will sadly never be known. This problem is not just confined to Ireland but so many other countries.

The rescues and shelters are full of these disposable dogs in the UK and the number growing daily, and those are the lucky ones.

[EscapeTurn]

Thanks, jcsperson! Sounds like you did get lucky. what a wonderful opportunity. I'd love to do that someday. The racing industry is fascinating to me, and there really is nothing like the motivation of a greyhound.

Originally Posted by willowmum

95% is good but surely a dog should be for life so hopefully 90% of them are kept by their owners

If owners kept 90% of the dogs and the remaining 5% went out to the public or back to the farm, that wouldn't make much sense would it? I was under the impression that the large majority of that number goes to the public for adoption, and a smaller fraction is sent back to the farm or kept by the owners. I'm sure jcsperson has more accurate information, though.

[willowmum]

So going on that the vast majority of these owners dont believe that owning a dog should be for life - just while its young and fit? These dogs have been bred and owned and then dumped into rescue taking valuable places just because they can no long run.

[jcsperson]

My post about my pup has been hijacked into an anti-racing thread. I find it amazing that a responsible owner talking about his dog always seems to turn into something else.

Thanks, Escape Turn, for trying to keep it on track (pun intended).

As for the numbers, 26-27,000 are registered every year, 80% of all whelps. Of the remaining 20%, approximately 16-18% are victims of natural puppy mortality (3-5% are stillborn). Most of the remainder of unregistered puppies are placed into adoption because greyhound puppies are very rarely available and are in great demand as pets. Inexplicably, AR zealots call these "culls" as if no puppies ever die. They use these "culls" to pad their figures of the number of dogs euthanized.

Estimates of Greyhound adoption vary from 18,000 to 21,000, though the former figure has been used for five years while adoption has grown significantly. The National Greyhound Association estimates 5,000 Greyhounds, mostly females, go back to their owners either to breed or as pets. An old survey conducted by the NGA showed its members had about four pets each on average. Two of my breeder friends have seven!

The outlook is very bright for greyhound adoption. In 2005 breedings are down more than 20%. When these pups start coming off the track in 2008, the likelihood is that there will be full adoption if current adoption levels are maintained or continue to grow as they have for 15 years.

Now, can I have my topic back?

[jcsperson]

Originally Posted by EscapeTurn

Thanks, jcsperson! Sounds like you did get lucky. what a wonderful opportunity. I'd love to do that someday. The racing industry is fascinating to me, and there really is nothing like the motivation of a greyhound.

When you are ready let me know. I can steer you in the right direction.

Typically, a pup at whelp to three months will cost you $500 to $2,500 or more, depending on the breeding. The low end would be by a less well-known sire out of a maiden dam. The high end would represent a top-ranked sire out of a proven dam. Board at most farms ranges from $80 to $120 per month depending on the area. Those rates stay constant until 12 months of age. Greyhound pups are raised with their dams much longer than most pups and are with their littermates throughout this period of time. They have a very happy, playful existence at the farm and their only responsibility is to be puppies. They are kept in 300-400 foot runs so they can stretch their legs and really run. No race training occurs on these "puppy farms."

At one year of age Greyhounds go to be "finished out," actually trained in racing. The going rate at finishing farms is $125-150 a month. It usually takes four months to finish a pup, but can take up to six. At about 17 months the pups go off to the track where they are acclimated to the life of the race kennel. Track trainers start them out by unofficially schooling the pups at shorter distances, hand-slipping them and working up to longer distances and eventually the starting box. After about a month they start their official schooling races conducted by the track. This is where Tuff is. He has completed his official schooling with a nice win and runs his Maiden tomorrow (Monday). He'll be breaking from box 6 in the third race at Orange Park in Jacksonville. I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve.

A racing Greyhound will cost you anywhere from $3,000 to $4,500 from whelp to track. The record is $71,000 by Rooftop Gizmo who was sold at the NGA auction, breaking the 12 year-old record of $56,000 by Flying Train. It doesn't take a large amount of money to have a champion, however. Get Over was purchased at eight months of age for $1500 and won a number of stakes and is now a promising sire. Board is paid monthly so much of the cost of raising a pup is spread out over the approximate year and a half from whelp to track.

[TribalRats]

That is a ton of information.
I have never known any racing Grey Hounds before and while I have heard various stories (both good and bad) you just never know until you meet some one in person (or on line in this case).
I love that you know the facts for your breed and your sport. I think everyone who participates in a dog sport or specific breed should.
You have handled all of these questions very well too, i for one would like to thank you for answering mine and everyone else's for that matter.
I am sure you will run into people throughout this experience who have there minds made up and will not listen to what you have to say however I would hope that people will give you a chance as everyone is different and has there own story.
You sound like a very loving, responsible and well informed owner. I think this is important with any breed but especially with Grey Hounds and the controversy that tends to surround racing.
Kudos to you and to your pups first winning race! I hope your dog enjoys his racing career and then your spoiling when he retires.