|
Stress
and the Racing Greyhound
To be stressed is to be fatigued and close to breaking point. Stressed
and fatigued metal breaks, and in the biological sense this is also true
of the body.
However, because there are so many processes involved in normal body
function, a fatigue or breakdown in one or more of these processes, or
the excessive stimulation of others, totally throws the whole system out
of balance. And as this progresses beyond a certain point, the ability
of the body to function normally is reduced and the first thing to go
out the window is the ability to perform exercise at a high level.
All body processes are inter-related and depend on enzymes or hormones
produced by other body processes. Which in turn depend on available fuel
(food) and also on what functions they have to perform. This controls
what levels of enzymes and hormones are produced, which governs body
processes that trigger other body processes etc. etc.
Biology is an extremely involved subject, and many people have spent a
lifetime unravelling some of its complexities. Therefore, any greyhound
trainer who believes they can control and influence the way a greyhounds
body functions, by the addition of chemical additives to the diet in
various quantities or the injections of various substances are really
kidding themselves.
In the short term it may get the results they are looking for, in the
long term it causes more damage than can possibly be imagined. The same
applies to unsuitable training techniques, they simply over stress or
fatigue some body processes. This causes progressively worse imbalances,
and further reduces the ability of the body to cope with stress.
Keeping in
mind that all greyhounds are different, and have different tolerance
levels. What will be an acceptable routine for one may totally destroy
the next greyhound. Excessive protein or the wrong type of protein in
relation to the required protein-carbohydrate balance, and this depends
on the level of exercise. May cause the body to burn protein for energy
instead of carbohydrate, and so increase the quantity of waste it has to
get rid off.
Excessive quantities of vitamins and additives in the diet
may also increase the amount of waste the system has to eliminate.
It is also worth noting that the manufacturers of the huge quantities of
food additives available to the greyhound trainer are in the business of
selling products.
Many of these products are extensively advertised with, if not direct
promises, at the very least with hints of possible improvements in
performance.
If the advertising convinces the trainer, that they are giving the
greyhound something that may improve the performance. There is no doubt
that many of them will increase the dosage even further, thereby causing
the dogs system even more wastes to cope with.
It is all good and well to say that food additives are easily eliminated
from the body, however in many instances this involves the dogs kidneys,
and in many greyhounds these are already a much abused organ due to an
excessively high protein diet, and therefore not necessarily capable of
functioning at an optimum level. The daily use of alkalising agents,
chemical kidney flushes or so called acid neutralizers, cause major
problems with normal body processes by increasing the elimination of
some of the essential electrolytic ions and buffering agents from the
body.
When we start a greyhound in training, the whole program is aimed at
slowly improving the health and fitness of the greyhound. Allowing it to
cope with progressively harder runs, until it attains peak fitness.
However, if you examine this a little further, you realise that it's not
only the heart, lungs and muscle system that need to increase in
fitness, but also the system that stores energy in the body, and most
importantly the system that eliminates toxic wastes from the body.
It only stands to reason, that if you provided a large quantity of
glucose in the diet each day, and so provided the body with instant
useable energy, the part of the system that stores energy will never
attain it's full potential. The same applies to providing the greyhound
with an alkalising diuretic, or acid neutralizer after each and every
run.
It not only stops the waste removal part of system learning how to cope
with a hard run, but may also destroy the health of the dog by stopping
the kidneys from doing their job, increasing fluid loss and the likely
loss of potassium from the system.
Take the situation where you have a greyhound that plays up in the
kennels prior to a run. The barking and panting the dog does in the
kennel or dog trailer is likely to cause RESPIRATORY ALKALOSIS due to
excessive carbon dioxide removal by the lungs. On top of that, when you
have a greyhound that gets extremely excited before a race, it is also
likely that after 6 or 7 runs this dog will also be suffering from some
degree of HYPER-ADRENOCORTICISM, that is, an over stimulated ADRENAL
GLAND.
Lets examine this greyhound’s likely condition at this point in time
just prior to the run.
1. Possible RESPIRATORY ALKALOSIS due to panting and barking
2. Possible INTRA CELLULAR ACIDOSIS due to the potassium loss caused by
the HYPER-ADRENOCORTICISM
3. It is also extremely likely that the greyhound will also be anaemic
to some extend, because HAEMOGLOBIN is destroyed in the process of the
body's attempt to buffer the toxic waste that is being produced.
Now give the dog his race start or a trial, and then lock him up in a
small space, such as a racetrack kennel or a dog trailer, and let it
pant some more. Then take the dog home and give it a good dose of an
alkalising agent, which will further increase potassium and fluid loss.
You now have a greyhound where the biological system is so far out of
balance, that no matter what you give it, recovery is extremely slow,
and if the greyhound is raced or run again in 3 or 4 day's time the
problems are simply aggravated.
Or worse still, the trainer may decide that this greyhound needs resting
for 10 days and then runs the greyhound over the same distance again.
Soon you have a greyhound that starts cramping, or suffers from
increased muscle soreness and damage that is slow to repair, no matter
how hard you work on it.
Some greyhounds suffer from stress problems more than others do, and it
is the excitable over keen hard chasers, that require the most amount of
patience in race preparation.
As a general rule, for this type of greyhound it is best to consider the
time spent running rather than the distance covered. Because it is the
amount of energy the greyhound is capable of using before it becomes
stressed is the only important consideration, and this should include
the energy it wastes prior to the run by barking, panting, and shaking.
An unfit greyhound that has had only one week of solid walking and two
free runs, can handle a 14 second run behind the lure, and two 14 second
runs behind the lure improves fitness enough for an 18 second run.
However, after that it takes a minimum of three runs over each
distance/time, before increasing the next run by an extra 4 seconds.
Until such time as the greyhound starts running over two turns, this
increases the stress factor considerably. If for instance, the last two
runs of the greyhound were over the 25-second distance on a U turn
track; the run over two turns should not be more than 25 seconds, such
as a hand slip at Sandown. It may then take two or three hand slips
before the greyhound is allowed to run the full distance, depending on
how well the greyhound recovers from each run.
It is extremely important, not to increase the time spend running, until
the greyhound runs the current distance and pulls up reasonably sound
and free of stress symptoms. Many trainers run their greyhounds on
straight tracks in the belief that this is not as stressful as circle
running. If this is done as an easy hit out between circle runs, it is a
great idea.
However the overuse of a straight track brings it's own problems,
particularly in relation to increased breakdown of the muscles in the
left hind leg. Allowing the greyhounds to spin around quickly at the end
of the straight, without the benefit of soft sand in the catching pen,
may also result in injury to the lower spine, wrists or right hock.
The next factor is the time spent resting between runs behind the lure;
there again the general rule is a minimum of two clear days but not more
than five. If for any reason the time spend off is longer than five
days, you should reduce the greyhounds next run by two seconds for each
extra day’s rest. The next item to take into consideration is the
amount of energy used by the greyhound prior to running, and this may be
difficult to judge. However, as a rule of thumb for a highly excitable
dog reduce the time spend running, by 5 seconds for each half-hour the
dog has to wait.
There is a real chance of causing permanent health damage by racing or
running a dog already suffering from stress. |
Innovation