Originally posted by aly

Oh yeah, one thing I do have a problem with regarding racing are these "Greyhound farms". Please inform me on these (in a nice way). Since I do shelter work every day, the term farm gets to me. Why do you have to mass-produce these racing pups? Couldn't you adopt young Greyhounds from shelters or rescues to race them? Dogs are dying every single day while these farms are bringing more and more dogs into this world. These pups will need a home someday soon if their racing person doesn't keep them or euthanize them. If they are rehomed, then that means another dog in a shelter won't get a home and will die.
I will do my best to try and explain the greyhound farms. Farms being used for lack of a better word.

This may be long, so sit back, get a cup of coffee, and prop your feet up. I will try to cover from birth up until the point when they go to the race tracks.

Broods are normally kept in an area called a brood house. Just like a boarding kennel they have inside and outside runs. With carpet or some type of bedding to lay on inside with a doggie dog to go out.

The brood is bred, normally AI (artifical insemintion) she is then moved to the welping area of the kennel when she is due.
This area is similar to the brood house but it has a whelping box inside for the momma to have her pups. Most broods are monitered with video cameras or humans to make sure that there are no complications when she's read to give birth. Most owners are there when she gives birth.

The pups are normally moved from the mother when the mother deceides that the times is right.

The pups are then moved to a "puppy" area. Sometimes it's similar to the brood house and other times its to an outside run area that has a large dog hut, house, shelter which again is normally filled with some type of bedding. Hay, straw, something to that effect. During this time the pups play and romp with one another. Work out the pack order and all and all just be puppys.

Once they are around 6months old there moved to what is called long runs. Where there are normally 3 hounds per run. This is where the pups start learning to streatch there legs, build up muscle, the compete with one another by running up and down the fence line with the pups on the other sides. When they get tired they lay down and sleep, soak up the sun, or whatever they chose to do. These runs also have the huts,houses, shelters with bedding also.

At 12 months of age the pups are moved into the "racing/training" kennel which is where they learn about crating, collars, muzzles, turn outs, this is where the real training starts.

They are normally taken to sprint paths with other hounds from different litters. Most training consist of a whirly gig. Which is a long arm that has a stuffy, animal pelt, or something fun with which the pups will want to chase. I teaches them to run turns, because they have only really been in runs that they really don't make a full sweaping turn.

They then go on to the tracks where they learn to chase the mechanical lure. They start out with normally one or two other hounds. Again the compitition between the pups and also chasing that cool thing at the end of a pole. When they finish up the race most farmers give them a squeak toy or something fluffy to play with so they are rewarded for doing good. All the dogs get these not just the winner.

This track training normally goes on about 5 months. When they know what there doing is when the head to the real race tracks.

As far as feeding, worming, and vaccinations there all on set scheduals. Most feeding programs consist of meat, dry dog food, veggies, pasta, plus some type of vitamin supplement. Young pups are not fed raw meat.

Interesting point most farms and kennels will worm there dogs with Ivomec every month or every two months. So by doing this the greyhounds from these farms or from a race track will never have heartworms.

Hope I covered some of the questions you had. Why they are called farms I don't know. Maybe for a lack of better term>