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Greyhounds (Australia) No one knows how many Greyhounds there are in an area. What is known is that there were 5352 registered as "owned" in Queensland. There were also 4591 Greyhounds registered as "trained". The difference is partially that an owner might "own" a hound in Queensland, but have it "trained" in NSW or elsewhere. Likewise, I suppose that some hounds "trained" here are "owned" somewhere else. In any case, we'll call the number of Queensland greyhounds 5,000 for 2005. Birth: To be considered a potential racing dog, a dog must be bred from a registered dam and a registered sire. Again, any racing dog must come from registered parents, and their birth must be registered. Registration of birth is listed as "registered pups". There were 2047 "registered pups" in 2005. Greyhounds have litters of between 1 and 15, but litters of 4-8 are most common. Pups registered over litters registered gives an average in 2005 of just over 6 pups per litter for Queensland. This is consistent with litter sizes in other countries. Registration of Name If a dog shows promise, their name is registered for potential racing or later breeding. In terms of tracking and stats, the registration of name is the main registration. Registration of pups simply qualifies a dog to have their name "registered" later. Registration of name gets a greyhound included in other statistics. In 2005, 1,549 pups had their names registered. The GRA state that registering as "named" does not occur at a given age. Some dogs may be "named" at a few months of age, while others may not be named until they are over a year old. Still, we should consider that the distribution of ages at "naming" probably does not change much. This means that if 15% of pups born this year will not be registered until next year, there are also 15% of pups born last year registered this year. Averaging numbers named and pups registered should give reasonably accurate percentages of how many pups born actually make it to naming. In both 2005 and 2004 the average number of pups registered was 2035. In 2005 and 2004 , about the average number of pups "named" was 1637. This indicates that about 20% of "registered pups" are not "named". This is consistent with international stats. Breeders state that this represents dogs who:
Reasons for "unsuitability" include physical problems, or lack of sufficient "attitude" towards pursuit of lures. Note that many dogs with attitude or behavioural traits that appear undesirable will change those traits as they mature. Trainers consider these elements difficult to assess until a dog is near racing age (18 months). Therefore culling for these reasons does not occur until late training. Physical defects, such as joint or eye problems can often be picked up much earlier.
Training There are many registered trainers, more than owners who are not trainers, and in most cases they are public trainers with a larger kennel. They have their own dogs, and also take in dogs of other owners. If an owner wishes to train their own dog, but not those of others, they register as an "owner-trainer", so all registered dogs are "with trainers". According to the Greyhound Racing Authority, the statistic "Greyhounds trained", refers to how many dogs are with trainers, not how many dogs are actively being trained. They say that some dogs which are no longer racing, and therefore no longer actively trained are kenneled with the trainer, and are included in the statistic "greyhounds trained". There were 4591 "greyhounds trained" in 2005. Again, this represents all "named" greyhounds in Queensland, whether or not they are actually being trained. Those "owned" but not included in the "greyhounds trained" statistic are "trained" out of state. The increase in the number of dogs "trained" from 2004 was only 127 dogs, or 2.8%. Like "registered pups" it is a fairly stable number. Since the number of dogs trained is fairly stable, and the pups named represents the input to this number, then there must be a similar number of dogs "retired" each year. Since a dog is "named" at about a year of age, and very few dogs race at 5 years of age, the period between "naming" and "no longer racing" is about 4 years. In fact, the number of dogs "in training" is only about 3 times the number of dogs coming into training each year. This must mean a fair percentage of dogs, in the order of 1500/year, leave training by the age of 4, and the "average" age at which a dog is no longer trained is 3.5. Registration must be renewed every 2 years. The implication is that for most dogs, registration is only renewed once. Information is not really collected for the lifespan of dogs, since most owners do not bother to re-register after the working life of a dog is over and information is not gathered on unregistered dogs. Racing The racing life of a greyhound starts when they enter real training at about a year of age. Before that, they are fed well and allowed to develop to a level of maturity that allows their personalities to develop. Some dogs do not develop chasing and other behaviours until they become mature. They move to the track at about 17 months, begin racing within a couple of months, and their racing career is over by their third to fifth year, generally finishing their racing career by the age of 4. During that their career they are intensively trained, living in "crates", and moving from track to track, and taken out and exercised a couple of times each day, and for excretion every 4 hours during the day. They are given a highly regulated diet, and are often given performance enhancing drugs. This has been extensive enough that it was a common practice to perform clitoridectomies on female dogs whose clitoris' have hyper-developed as a result of hormones. This practice has now mainly been stopped, having come in for a lot of criticism from vets. Their diet tends to be soft, and adopted dogs usually have heavy tartar and dental problems. They are subject to abrasions and cuts because of their short coats, and keeping them in small cages may create problems unless they are Greyhounds are naturally fairly social, and develop as indoor dogs. Their raising leads them to feel secure in small enclosed spaces. They are hunting dogs, and so although they are not aggressive, in large groups they will "pack" and attack weaker dogs. This is the reason they wear muzzles during racing, where they are in large numbers. Greyhounds as pets are friendly, non-aggressive, and may be shy. They are reasonably independent, not needing (or wanting) a lot of attention, although they do enjoy affirmations that they are loved, and they need and like contact. Since they are trained to be walked for urination and defecation, they are essentially housetrained, though the regularity of such walking means they should not be kept housebound for long periods. The close proximity of cages during their racing career means that some experience "separation anxiety" unless they are have people (or another dog) around for company. Their coat is thin, without an undercoat, which makes them more subject to heat and cold. It also means that as pets, they are good for those with allergies, and do not smell "doggy". Once their teeth are attended to, their breath is often good. Since they are bred for athletic health, they have few congenital problems relative to other highly-bred dogs. Breeding The one way greyhounds might extend their "working life" is to be used for breeding. The total number of "stud" dogs in 2005 was 62. That is about 2.5% of registered male dogs. Obviously, there is a high degree of selection, and most studs are racing champions. There are about 333 litters per year. That would indicate a maximum figure of 14% or registered female dogs that are used for breeding. Greyhound bitchs normally do not come into their first heat until after 18 months, on average, first heat is at 2-2.5 years. Because racing life starts at about 19 months, bitches are routinely treated with hormones, including testosterone, to delay fertility. The outcome is that most bitches do not come on heat for a couple of years after they stop racing. As with studs, most bitches considered valuable for breeding are champions on the track. This means that they are probably 3 or 4 when retired. The age of former breeding bitches given in adoption is generally 7-9. They rarely have more than one litter a year, and so their breeding life is generally between 2 and 4 litters. Pups are usually weaned after 8-9 weeks (2 months). Greyhounds live to be 12-16 years old. If all Greyhounds named each year lived to be 12, there would be 19,644 Greyhounds in Queensland. That's an average of about one in every 60 households. I'll state here that the only time I generally see pet greyhounds is at animal days, AWL events, and other times when the Greyhound adoption groups are promoting their adoption services. |
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