Racing - Should We Give It A Go?

[julie123]

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Hi there

I usually go on the general whippet forum, but i thought this post would be more relevant to this one.

I have a 8 month old whippet called Louie. He's absolutely wonderful in every way. I took him for a run this afternoon, & as always, im in awe of his sheer speed. Then it sprang to mind if it would be possible to take him somewhere to race -dosent have to be the in the very formal way, just for fun perhaps.

I live in the Manchester area, is there anywhere i could make enquiries maybe?

Your help would be appreciated.

:thumbsup: Julie

 

[peppermint sue]

hi get in touch with barry jepson he runs the northern your sure to get

a lot of help and a warm welcome great bunch :thumbsup:

 

[AnnSa]

Best of luck with Louie, Julie :thumbsup:

 

I have started lure coursing with K and we

enjoy the day.

 

[controversial]

we are trialling the dogs and pups,evey other sunday over the winter,we will be there tomorrow.we are at coppull nr chorley start approx 1pm go onto the northern pedigree racing club site.

 

[julie123]

Thanks guys for your help. I'll start looking into your suggestions.

Help appreciated as always.

Julie

 

[peppermint lady]

id say get yourself to the northern :thumbsup: they will soon sort you out, PM carol jepson as her hubby runs it :thumbsup:

i can give you a contact number for them if you want it

 

[Carol Jepson]

lol Julie, just pm'd Julie

 

[Judy]

Yes, go to the Northern. You'll have a great time and it'll add a whole new dimension to you life with whippets :thumbsup:

 

[julie123]

Yes, go to the Northern. You'll have a great time and it'll add a whole new dimension to you life with whippets  :thumbsup:

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Ah, thank you for that. Im really excited to get started now, meeting new people, & their whippets - Louie's not met many of his own kind!

 

[Trish]

Yes, go to the Northern. You'll have a great time and it'll add a whole new dimension to you life with whippets  :thumbsup:

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Ah, thank you for that. Im really excited to get started now, meeting new people, & their whippets - Louie's not met many of his own kind!

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will be nice to meet you and louie,ive 7 he can get to know :teehee:

we are a very friendly club and enjoy our sundays having a chat and seeing our dogs enjoy themselves :thumbsup:

hope to see you soon :thumbsup:

 

[Rosie]

Yes, go to the Northern. You'll have a great time and it'll add a whole new dimension to you life with whippets  :thumbsup:

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Ah, thank you for that. Im really excited to get started now, meeting new people, & their whippets - Louie's not met many of his own kind!

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I couldn't agree more. Once you get into something like racing or lure coursing you'll see a whole new side to your whippie, they just love it . And you can just do it for fun, I just go when I can and it's a great different way to spend a Sunday :thumbsup:

 

[julie123]

Yes, go to the Northern. You'll have a great time and it'll add a whole new dimension to you life with whippets  :thumbsup:

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Ah, thank you for that. Im really excited to get started now, meeting new people, & their whippets - Louie's not met many of his own kind!

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will be nice to meet you and louie,ive 7 he can get to know :teehee:

we are a very friendly club and enjoy our sundays having a chat and seeing our dogs enjoy themselves :thumbsup:

hope to see you soon :thumbsup:

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Sounds fab, what better way to enjoy a Sunday. I bet its wonderful to see so many whippets altogether, ahhhh... :wub:

 

[Smiffy@VeronnaV]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one! Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc. Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'. So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

 

[peppermint lady]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one!  Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc.  Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'.  So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

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i totally disagree with you, maybe your opinions may count for some racing people but not for most, my dogs are treated the same all year around weather they are racing or not. :huggles:

if they never raced again then their life would still be as it is now, nothing different :thumbsup: pets 1st, but make a nice day out on a sunday seeing them do what they love.. :thumbsup:

my dogs are all at what i consider and my vet considers to be a healthy weight for their frame and eat the same size meals all year around, i dont change them on to anything different when they are running, i feel it is unfair to tar everyone with what seems to be your veiw of racing dogs and their owners :unsure:

 

[June Jonigk]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one!  Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc.  Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'.  So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

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Carmel my dogs live exactly the same all year round too - I don't let them put weight on in the winter either. I like to see them fit all year round, and I certainly wouldn't consider them underweight. If they do put on a little extra, and I'm talking a little, it would only be because they (and we) don't like walking in the rain, so they possibly wouldn't get quite as much exercise. I think that would be the same for the average pet too though.

I think it's only a sporting discipline if you take it to be that. Most of us think of it as a sociable get together with like minded people, and a fantastically enjoyable pastime for the dogs. Mine scream with excitement! There are those who take it deadly seriously, but I wouldn't say their dogs suffer either. They are likely to be super fit, which certainly isn't detrimental.

I think your words are very harsh, and certainly not the way I see racing at all. I'm sorry you have the views that you do - and maybe the reason that you only broached racing breifly.

 

[Bingo!]

Julie123,

Id definately give it a go.

It gets us all out of the house together on a Sunday, the dogs love it and there are plenty of nice folk offering advice and laughs :clown: . We have really enjoyed our first year or so racing and have visited many new areas of England, which we may have otherwise not seen. :thumbsup:

Have [SIZE=14pt]FUN[/SIZE] :cheers:

 

[peppermint sue]

here, here julie and june Ive raced whippets for nearly 30yrs

my dogs are first and formost PETS they get two good meals aday all year round

we enjoy the social side on a sunday with like minded people has june said

our dogs free run like all pet dogs enjoy doing running after a ball :thumbsup:

If any one of them did not enjoy or want to run then they could stay on the sofa

but they can,t wait to get in the van on a sunday they follow us round till we get

their leads on and they know they are going :thumbsup:

what a sad thing it would be if a racing dog could not do what they love to do

 

[Judy]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one!  Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc.  Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'.  So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

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I think most racing whippets are very well looked after in terms of food and exercise because they are raced. An added bonus for them is that the average racing whippet owner is likely to notice less obvious physical injuries etc. when many a "pet only" owner would not. Most racing owners consider some free running an essential part of conditioning BTW. As for having fun - racing is one of the things that they seem to find fun.

The dogs absolutely love going racing and can't wait to get in the car on a Sunday so I don't think you can say its not something to do with them. However, I do agree that's not the whole truth....... the owners have a great social time too.

 

[peppermint lady]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one!  Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc.  Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'.  So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

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I think most racing whippets are very well looked after in terms of food and exercise because they are raced. An added bonus for them is that the average racing whippet owner is likely to notice less obvious physical injuries etc. when many a "pet only" owner would not. Most racing owners consider some free running an essential part of conditioning BTW. As for having fun - racing is one of the things that they seem to find fun.

The dogs absolutely love going racing and can't wait to get in the car on a Sunday so I don't think you can say its not something to do with them. However, I do agree that's not the whole truth....... the owners have a great social time too.

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judy i keep the "whippet bag" coats/muzzles ect under my bed, i dare not even touch it in the week as they all go mental (w00t) and think we are off racing, they do seem to know when we are racing on a sunday and get very excited...so this alone tells me how much they enjoy it :thumbsup:

i have to put them in the van before i can load up everything else as maddie wont stop barking :lol: and yes i also enjoy spending time at the track with my friends, i would'nt do it if myself or the dogs did'nt enjoy it

 

[Trish]

I'm going to be the harbinger of doom here - yep, there's always one!  Racing a whippet is not for the faint hearted, neither is it for those of us who believe that our dogs should have a dog's life - ie free running, be trained, have fun, eat for their body weight etc.  Racing a whippet is a sporting DISCIPLINE, and it is not possible to ignore the fact that to keep the dogs 'racing fit' they have to be treated differently to the way one treats 'pets'.  So anyone who says its something to do with the dogs on Sundays is not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! :- "

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i too have to totally disagree with you carmel,all my 7 are fed well , free run daily,and are pampered just like any pet should be.

we race mainly for the social side of things and if our dogs do well one day thats good and if they do bad thats also good,long as they are enjoying themselves thats all that counts. :thumbsup: