Greyhounds are one group of athletes in the animal world. As such, diet plays a huge part in their sporting life. Racing greyhounds have to have their food carefully monitored for each meal by weighing and calculations to determine how much should be given to them.

As an example, a bitch of 55lbs needs 1lb of mince a day. Added to this, for lunch, she gets a bowl of casco or dog feed, 2 slices of brown bread and with the mince for dinner she gets 3 leaves of cabbage, a head of broccoli, 2 tablespoons of sea weed and a multi vitamin. Every morning, for breakfast, she gets a scrambled egg with milk.

If her weight goes down, the scrambled egg is supplemented by giving porridge or weetabix. There can be very little salt or sugar given to a greyhound. This helps keep her body weight level as if she is too over or under weight she will not be allowed to race. Their weight is checked 2 hours before the race and so it is critical to keep them either 2lb above or 1lb below their body weight. Also, a week before a race they have to have a trial to see if they have the right time to enter a race, or have they got the standard.

Their diet is also helped by daily walks for an hour a day and twice a week they can be galloped. This is where they are brought to a field and one person goes to one end while the other holds the dog. Once the other person reaches the end the dog is set free and runs to the other person. The length of the gallop is usually 300 yards. This can take a lot from the dog as she is running at full strength.
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