The difference between racing and coursing dogs is their weight. The sport itself is carried out using live hares who almost always get away as the sport is carried out in an open field, whereas racing is done on a track similar to a horse track, but smaller, the hare isn’t real and the length of a race varies.
The track has sets of 6 traps or boxes in different areas surrounding the track. These are some Irish race lengths: 300, 375, 500, 525, 575, 600, 700, 730 yards, but there can be different lengths in other countries. Starting off greyhounds usually just race the shorter lengths and further down the line can race in the longer races as their hearts can withstand the pace. In Ireland and Great Britain, the hare is always black but in America the hare is always white.
There are spectator stands around the track and as the dogs can go so fast the race is timed in seconds. A good time for a 525 yard race is 29.80 seconds. Our greyhound ‘Jenny’ did this time before Christmas and came first.
Sadly, as with all sport, injury is very common in greyhounds. As they are allergic to general anastethic, surgery is almost impossible. So, if they have the misfortune of breaking a limb they may have to be put to sleep. Scratches and bruises heal in their own time, but special care is needed to make sure cuts don’t develop into infections, which can be nasty and costly to get rid of.
The dogs have to be massaged regularly, to make sure they
don’t get stiff muscles or drag muscles and ligaments prior to a race.
This keeps the joints supple and relaxes a nervous greyhound. They also
need to be brushed with a soft brush to develop their coat.
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