Page 18 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021
P. 18
been raised for good causes and attendees will
travel great distances just for the pleasure of
running their dogs in support of this. The annual
racing calendar starts with one such event at my
own club, Andover & District Pedigree Whippet
Racing Club on Easter weekend.
It’s important to note that pedigree whippet
racing is an amateur sporting hobby with no
financial gain – just rosettes, trophies and
bragging rights. This means that racing be said that when a Championship meeting is
whippets are very much pets first and canine just around the corner it can be as much about
athletes second. They can race as Elite Racers weight management and adjusting their daily
from 1 year old up to 6 years of age (sometimes intake up or down by as little as 5 grams a
5 years at Club level), at which point they day to ensure they make their optimum racing
become Veteran Racers until they are 8 years weight.
old. From this point they can still trial with other
dogs to keep them fit, or be used to help school Should you wish to know more about Pedigree
the next generation of puppies. Whippet Racing, there are many groups and
pages on social media. Both Andover and the
Injuries occasionally do occur but serious ones, NPWRA have their own websites which you
thankfully, are pretty rare and often as simple as can easily find via a simple search on Google.
a strained or torn muscle or maybe a stubbed The best way to learn is to become involved in
toe. A greyhound/sighthound specialist vet is your nearest club which can be found via ‘UK
definitely worth travelling for as they understand Pedigree Whippet Racing’ on Facebook, which
the athletic physiology of a canine athlete better is possibly the biggest and most helpful group
than most pet vets. Sighthounds additionally although if you contact any club direct, someone
have small physical differences to other dogs will enthusiastically help you. Many people new
which is partly what contributes towards their to the sport have a show or pet bred dog to
athletic abilities. start with until the bug bites then they are on
the lookout for a race bred pup as their speed
When it comes to feeding it really is each to generally out strips the former.
their own. As much as each owner will profess
that one diet over the other is better, there are David Smith:
race winners across the food spectrum – some Treasurer at Andover & District WRC
people use tinned food, some greyhound & NPWRA News magazine editor
kibbles and some raw diets. Although it must
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021
