Greyhounds have to have less then a hours walk. Questions

Stellar (rip) could hack an afternoon out walking, Recon she used to get a 40mins to an hour walk every evening and a shorter walk in the morning.

Will say her successor the office lurcher has a lot more stamina. She'll still chase a ball at the end of a 8mile walk & the not quite JRT seems to be the duracell bunny.

Can remember taking Stellar out for an empty the evening before she was pts just to the church yard and back. With the painkillers obviously working she wanted her walk around the lake and was most put out when we turned around.

That makes me so so so!!! mad!!! greyhounds are the ultimate canine athlete, bigger hearts, more red blood cells etc etc, generations of breeding from only the cream has resulted in the greyhound. Any unfit dog needs building up but a fit grey will put most breeds to shame. These days I have lurchers but was once a permit trainer of greys so know a little of them. Build up and they will join you on your daily runs, I've had them doing around 30 miles a week with around 40% off lead so they ran around on the run increasing their mileage above mine. I still run with my lurchers and they do vey well on it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandymere/4729642627/in/set-72157620638255787

There are risks I'll post something from back along when I find it but common sense and building up are key, if a grey is retired then check there are no underlying problems prior to lots of exercise.


A Run To Far.

It’s not uncommon for a dog, or ourselves for that matter, to be a little stiff and sore for a few days after a hard run this is often described a delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS. DOMS is fairly predictable and not usually to serious a problem that is in all likelyhood due to inflammation of the muscles from damage to a small proportion of muscle fibers and the resulting pain this causes. More worrying are recently a couple of instances where owners of lurchers have noticed their dogs showing signs of severe muscle soreness and or cramps with urinating what appears to be blood the day after a hard session. This is often followed by a drop in condition for a time after wards to a greater or lesser degree. A common suggestion as to the cause of this seems to be a build up of lactic acid but in light of modern thinking, discounting lactic acid as the bad boy and high-lighting its role as an important energy source, this theory doesn’t seem to hold water. So what could be going on?
One idea is that the dark brown/red urine is not due just to blood alone but also the contents of damaged muscle cells, myoglobin and creatine kinase, that are released into the blood stream and this is known as rhabdomyolysis (RMS). When the released myoglobin is excreted by the kidneys it gives the urine a dark brown colour. The difference between DOMS and RMS is the extent of the muscle damage involved and the effect this has on the kidneys. High levels of myoglobin can cause kidney failure to the extent that long term damage or even death is a possibility.
So why does this happen? RMS was first described in the blitz when people trapped under fallen buildings suffered extensive crush type injuries which lead to major muscle damage; this led to the release of large amounts of the muscle cell contents. Since then it has been described in a variety of species with a genetic link in some breeds of both horses and dogs. But these lurchers had not suffered any such injuries and sight hounds are rarely prone to genetic faults so how had they come to cause so much damage to their bodies? A strong possibility is suggested by looking at the background. In both cases the hounds had had long hard runs at the beginning of the season when they were at less than optimum preparedness and in truth they were both weekend warriors who may lack true working fitness even when at their best. This lack of fitness may have resulted in over exertion of some off the largest muscles in the body leading to extensive damage/breakdown and so exertional rhabdomyolysis.
Conditioned muscles in both humans and dogs are usually able to cope with exercise, unless there is a genetic variance, and the body has a variety of methods to protect itself against over exertion but sight hounds have been bred for generations to push the boundaries of the possible so bringing them nearer to the red line than most breeds. This ability to push the limits may mean that, if the incentive is right, they can cross the line when unfit to the extent that DOMS is extremely likely but also doing serious harm to their own bodies is a possibility. So what can we do to recognise treat and avoids these problems.
The main symptoms are severe muscle pain, cramping and altered gait with blood/very dark urine. Early recognition is important in the long term outcome. Your vet can check for chemicals in the urine and blood to confirm the diagnosis. And the vet is the best person to lead the treatment as depending on the extent of the problem intravenous fluids with powerful pain killers may be required. Appropriate management of renal function is the major concern but also the causative muscle breakdown needs to be addressed and a regime to rehabilitation and conditioning the dog to prevent future occurrences should be instigated. Good hydration is always of great importance as dehydration may increases the risk of muscle damage and post exercise will increase the strain on the kidneys. Also concentrated urine may well be very dark in the absence of any illness so muddying the waters some what.
Any dog that seems to be suffering exercise intolerance should always have a thorough check out with your veterinary surgeon to exclude any underlying heart, lung or systemic illness and check for any structural problems. A genetic predisposition to RMS may mean an animal needs special consideration as to it’s working ability but for normally fit and healthy dogs without any underlying problems then prevention is so much better than cure. Prevention means good preparation before work after a seasonal or injury enforced lay off plus regular top ups for the weekend warriors.

Cheer sandy.

I was also advised of the 2 x 20 mins walks per day , I have built that up and mine will happily do a couple of hours at a time and run almost every day , my grey sits down when she has had enough running with my lurcher in the field and then joind in again when she is ready and he will play with a ball all day long if you just keep throwing it. I guess as most folks say its down to the dogs, Bella the grey has the same muscle definition as when I had her 18 months ago as she still works those muscles regularly, they love to run free together in the field and walks are at a quick pace , I find on the greyhound walks they are keen to get ahead because the pace is sometimes a bit slow for them but thats what they are used to. And being hounds they will happily sleep at the times in between walks and runs, I think if you the minimum and your dog is thriving then thats all ok as is the converse when you do much more. I think part of the issue is peoples perceptions about the amount of excercise dogs require and they dont all fit into the required documented breed timescales.

I agree it's dependant. I'm impressed she's still got the same muscle definition! Axel has still got a lot of definition, but I never saw him straight off the tracks, he'd been retired for a few months...but it's similar to when I first got him. I've seen more muscled Greys though (Bella included)...
Axel gets a run in the garden or on a walk most days, he gets a walk pretty much every day and some short ones...it varies. I think Axel's personality dictates his walks, if he was an active personality he'd get more...I think he'd point blank refuse to hike or anything...he likes mooching walks with the occasional sprint!

Just like us humans Mel , some happy to mooch some happy to be at 100mph all the time or a mix of both ! Most important thing is they are loved and cared for and thriving and if thats the case then all is well in hound land !

Our Greys get 1 x 30minute walk before work, a 1 hour walk after work and a 20 minute or so walk before bed, at weekends Paddy who has been retired for around a year will happily walk hours at a time and even up steep hills, pippa who has only been retired a couple of months struggles with anything over 45 minutes, she has great muscle definition but is only used to short, fast burst.

It is what you make it, I am sure in a couple of months time when Pippa gets used to the longer walks she will cope more than well and enjoy every minute of them.

I struggle for places for them to run off lead though as neither will recall if there is something interesting in the distance and would just 'go'.
At the minute they get half an hour on a saturday at the horse stables indoor arena (which is very large).

Ideally I would be able to find a field suitable to let them have more off leash sprints.

Just out of interest 'Tom The Lurcher', what do you feed Bella? How much and how regular?

Hi Bella is fed raw twice a day , and Tom , I have a real good local butcher who supplies what I need, they have lamb breast and neck , chicken, liver, kidney , ox tail , some of these include bone to help get the right balance,they also enjoy fish. wont start a debate on raw feeding but Bella has loved raw feeding from day 1 and seems to thrive on it , muscle definition is good ,she has a good shiny coat , healthy teeth which can be an issue in greys and is a happy settled hound , hope that helps !

Just wondering because recently I have noticed changes in Paddys muscle definition, of course this could be due to the lack of lead running available to him. He gets fed twice a day a cup of dried 'complete' biscuits and half a tin of low protein meat each sitting.
I'm thinking of reducing either the amount of biscuit or tinned meat in each of the meals.

Nancy would walk... but that would require removing her nose from the patch of leaves she's trying to dig through by the power of sheer pointyness - meaning we get utterly nowhere fast - ever!

You have that problem too eh?!! Our lot love their walks but I have never know such a bunch of sniffers!! Noses stuck to lamp posts, leaves, walls, rocks!!
We call them the "Noo Noos" after the hoover in the Teletubbies!

Quick question, how long has it been away from the racing kennels? There will often be a marked drop in condition after they leave the racing trainer. There are many causes ranging from simple stress of a move to changes in diet etc, etc but there are others less well known such a thyroid medications. There is a broad range of “normal values” for this hormone and Greyhounds often show around the lower end. Trainers will often supplement to increase the blood values; this reduces that naturally produced by the dog. On retirement, after perhaps a couple of years of treatment, it takes time for the body to re adapt to producing its own, if it ever does. It’s a complex issue but basically can lead hypothyroidism giving lethargy, weight gain, loss of muscle mass etc. In most cases the dog will begin to produce the hormone itself and will revert to its own natural levels but it can take time.

He finished racing exactly one year ago and has been with us for around 8 months.

One would expect it to have settled in that time. It was a bit of a shot in the dark but something I've come across recently with a friends dog, it ended on medication from one vet then another stopped it and all settled a couple of months later. Greyhounds tend to have various blood values a little out of skew to other breeds.

He's not that bad, just getting a little flabby underneath - A small change in diet is underway and a short jog incorporated into his normal walks should make the difference. It's not at a stage where I would worry yet, but I don't want his weight to get out of hand. Prevention is better than cure.

Older Greys that have weight problems seem to develop a lot more health problems, being the reason I don't want him to flab out in his retirement.

He jogs very well on the lead and seems to enjoy it.