Throughout this period the litter is registered with Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) and is not allowed to be removed from the property they were whelped on. The litter should receive their fi rst vaccinations. They will learn throughout this period to lap, take their fi rst steps, and develop within themselves.
Puppies are earbranded at approximately 15 weeks, which allows identifi cation of the litter and each puppy. At this stage the puppies are allowed to be advertised and sold, and if necessary, may be transferred off the property and relocated to a rearing complex. Once the rearing stage begins puppies are usually placed in large paddocks or runs, which enable them to develop within themselves such as learning to gallop, socialising with other greyhounds, and are often taught to wear collars.
This stage enables the puppies to continue to develop and grow whilst still at the rearing stage. The puppies receive their C3 inoculations, are on a strict diet and continuous worming schedule. Many people who rear their own litters will bring the puppies out of the runs or paddocks and place them in kennels towards the end of this period to teach them to adapt in preparation for the breaking-in stage. They usually also teach them to walk on a lead, a process which can take any amount of time. Many large complexes may not have the kennel capacity or time to be able to do this.
Some puppies that are still very immature or not yet fully developed may be given more time on the rearing property, however there is no strict rule in greyhound racing that dictates when a puppy is ready for the next step; breakingin This is determined by the owner, trainer or rearer (or a combination of the three), but should be made with a knowledgeable and experienced thought process. Breaking-in is the process of educating the puppy in preparation for the racetrack. This ranges from learning to be placed into starting boxes to learning how to run with other greyhounds. Many people have varied opinions about this stage. Some prefer to send their puppies to breakers in Western Australia whilst others prefer to send them to an interstate breaking-in complex. There is no one correct way, and usually owners will send their puppies to a breaker who either has a good reputation or with whom they have developed a trusting relationship.
Once a greyhound is broken in, it is then often given time off to re-coup from its big experience away from home. This can be any where from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the owner or trainer's thoughts. Throughout this time period, the owner can select race names for their greyhound and send them away to be selected if they think the greyhound will race. Once this has been done the racing papers will be returned and a racing name will have been allocated. At this stage the owner will need to select a trainer if they have not already. The greyhound will then be pretrained and trialled at the racetracks to ready it for a racing career. No greyhound is permitted to race prior to 16 months of age.
Once ready for racing, the trainer will nominate the greyhound for a qualifying trial. In this trial the greyhound will compete with other maiden greyhounds under full racing conditions, and must run under specifi c times to be eligible to nominate for racing. Once qualifi ed the greyhound is eligible to be nominated for a maiden race.
Once a greyhound has fi nished its racing career, which rarely exceeds the age of 4 and a half years, they can be either taken home as pets, used as sires or broodbitches (normally requires well above average on-track performances to warrant this) or placed into the GAP (Greyhound Adoption Program). The GAP program re-trains greyhounds in foster families and then adopts them out to suitable homes.
