Dogs Racing a female greyhound while in season

			HOME 	
			ARTICLES 				
			LIST NOW FOR FREE! 
			ABOUT US 
			CONTACT US 
			LOG IN			
		

Racing a female greyhound while in season
Should you race your female greyhound when she has just had a season. Every greyhound breeder, owner and trainer has a different opinion, and all are based on their particular involvement in the game

Go to Web Site

I was asked "Can I still give my female greyhound trials and slips while in season, can I still exercise her?"

The first question to answer is "How soon should we race a female greyhound after she has had a season?

A greyhound in season will bleed (menstruate) for around 12 to 20 days.
Every country is different, but in Australia we are not allowed to race a greyhound in season, but we are allowed to race her as soon as she stops bleeding. Every country has their own rules, so it may or may not be allowed in your country.

My personal thoughts are to not race her until after her milk (or breast thickening) has dried up. However, that being said, I know that plenty of trainers in Australia will race their females through this period, with varying degrees of success. The main reason for racing a greyhound after a season, but before her milk, is purely a financial one. Standing a greyhound down from racing for 4 months is quite costly. Champion Australian greyhound trainer Peter Giles raced his champion females through this period, though in my opinion they did not perform as well as they did before coming into season.

Your greyhound should stop bleeding about 2 weeks after coming into season. Though I've seen a season last as short as 8 days, and another as long as 30 day's. And incidently, the greyhound that bled for 30 days was bred with on the 29th day, and conceived a litter of pups. If your female is racing, you can keep her in work and after the bleeding stops, you can race her if you wish. It will do her no harm, but she will not run as fast as she did before she came into season. If she is an outstanding performer, she may drop several classes but still be a good earner. If she is only an average performer, there is probably no point in racing her at this time, as the loss in form will likely relegate her to the boon docks.

Once she comes into milk you will have to stop trialing or racing her, whether she has milk or not. That sounds like a contradiction, but you'll notice a thickening of her breast area, even if there's no milk. This happens at around 9 weeks after the start of her bleeding. You must stop working her behind a lure. It's OK for her to free gallop in a run, yard or paddock, but do not let her try to chase a lure.

The reason for this is that when a greyhound comes into milk, her thigh muscles in her back legs go soft, and over extending herself can damage them very badly.

You can resume her work or racing career as soon as the milk, or breast thickening, dries up. This will be at about 12 to 13 weeks from the start of the season). You may find it difficult to get her back to her old racing weight, and she won't perform as well as before coming into season, but she will be getting fitter, despite what you think.

All of a sudden at 16 weeks from when she came in season, the excess weight will miraculously disappear, she will find 5 - 6 lengths, and be back to her old racing self.