Walthamstow Dogs

 

Walthamstow Dogs

 

If you’re looking for a night out with a difference then this idea has legs.  Four of them to be precise.  Horseracing may be the sport of Kings but here at Walthamstow Dog Track a greyhounds life isn’t all that bad either.

 

Training a greyhound is like training any athletes, they have got to have a natural amount of ability, we then take that ability and nurture it, finish off their schooling make sure they’re healthy and as I say work very hard with their physical physique.

 

And like all top athletes, they have to watch their figure.

 

Each dog is individually weighed, ear marks are checked by the marking stewards, the dopgs are then taken to the vetinarian to get a health check to make sure they’re okay and they’re then placed into the kennels for this evening’s racing.

 

But as the excitement mounts and the bets go down, does the pressure on the dog owners get in the way of the evening’s entertainment?

 

Oh no it’s fun, it’s definitely fun, I think in dog racing if you’re going to concentrate on the winning, you’re going to be very disappointed, most people who buy a greyhound are buying it for the love of the sport.

 

And if you’re a sports lover with an appetite there are a number of different restaurants at the track where you can pile on the pounds while you lose your shirt.

 

So how to sum it all up?

 

It’s the enjoyment, it’s the buzz, it’s different. 

 

The punters love it, the trainers love it, the dogs love it.  And when their racing days are over their twilight years begin. 

 

We have a kennel that houses 48 retired greyhounds, the idea is that we take them in when they finish racing and we sort of calm them down, de-train them, get them used to home life, and from that kennel we home about 2/3 greyhounds a week. 

 

They’re very intelligent dogs, they settle down to a home very, very quickly, and they make very beautiful pets.

 

Who said it’s a dogs life?