Savannah morning news., 1885-06-27
WHPPETs AS RACERS.
a Growing Pastime-Teaching and
Breeding Dogs to Race.
&c., ~ Cuarst,, Wo-LT

/ From The Sporting World.
/ Among sports Of a recent Introduction
I in this country which have become pOpu-
lar is dog racing. Running dogs were
/ first brought from England in 1881, and
since that time they have been bred in
large numbers. James Dawson, one OF
the most expert trainers III America, who
has spent some years among the dog
trainers and fancIers OF the old country,
gave the benefit Of bis experience to "A re-
porter whom be met few days ago while
Visiting New York. zone can scarcely
imagine" be says. "the tremendous as
pect Of the traffic in running dogs in some
portions of England. In Lancashire and
Yorkshire, alone there are over 5000.
Nearly every young man there
has a rnnniBg dog. and races are an every
daY occurrence. Ia 1881 | brought over
several dogs just for an experiment.
They attracted attention in sporting
circles. especially among Englishmen. 1t
was then decided 10 breed the animals on
an extensive scale. An ordinary dog
won't do for running. Running dogs are
bred to be small by crossing "A bulldog
with a greyhound. In sporting nOmeucla-
ture the dogs are called whippets. They
have 1.-THE, agile forms aud long, slender
sinews protrude like whipcords. A whip
pet combines the gameness and tenacity
OF purpose OF bulldog and the tleetness
OF greyhound"
at is difficult TO train them, is it nOt?"
NO; at least not so difficult as one
would naturally suppose. When the
animal is one month old he Is trained 10
run after a rag or any other article which
may be selected. He is run and jumped
4
10 capture the object. When he is about
three months old he is put on his mettle
on track 200 yards long. The man who
starts the dog is called "a slipper He holds
the dog by the nape Of the neck and the
stub of the tail. A man with an object starts
from the other end of the track and runs
toward the dog, calling him and urging
him on. The animal leaps with impa-
thence, but he is restrained by the slip
per- The man with the object approaches
within l75 yards Of the dog and then runs
back. When he reaches the 200-yard
stretch pistol is fired and the dog is re-
leased. Away he goes. He leaps rod af-
ter rod, and il sometimes seems as if he
touches the ground with his body. His
legs are spread out at full length, and he
leaps on until he reaches the object. The
fastest time on record was made by dog
weighing "a pounds. 1t made 200 yards In
111l seconds. Taylor's Maggie Of Phila-
delphia, weighing l51z pounds, ran 200
yards in 1216 seconds"
Chow are dogs handicapped
"a dog coDeedesa made opponent two
yards and 2 haf ~ the pound. A male
dog cOncellea = fet1ale dog three yards to
the pound, and al lei iaaie comedies one OF
her own seXtWo yards TO the pound. The
animals can 1be handicapped so that they
will finish by neck every time.
''The training ist1e most tedious part
Of the whole BUSINESS Before race a
dog is treated just like pugilist before
fight. theANGatheT DO warm the dog is
walked froma4 % . b clock in the morning
and wor ked by brisk tfotting. Ate O'Clock
he is returned to thekennel and fed. His
breakfast consists of toasted bread soaked
in tea and brOiled chops. The meat is
cut up into small pieces 10 aid digestion.
The animal is neither fed nor worked
until evening After the sun goes down
bhe is worked as in the morning, and fed
on the same diet with the exception Of
beeisteak for mutton chops occasionally,
by way of variety. During the last week
the springing is done. De is worked by
trottiDg and fed on calls foot jelly"
"Why cannot all dogs be used for rae
ingf0
Common dogs win not run Estraight;'
that is, they viii not run so fast at the
finish as they do at the start. A whippet
will keep up the same speed from the start
to the finish. / only knew one common
dog that would run Straight! He was a
cross between a Newfoundland and a
shepherd,p T .css
"What do whippets cOst?"
can the way from $50 to $500, accord
ing TO speed and pedigree There will be
a fortune in breeding whippets in a few
years, as soon as the sport becomes uni
yersally popular"