The term 'breaking in' refers to the first part of a young dog's education in racing.
It is where they learn about the track, chasing the lure, starting boxes and it is the first glimpse of whether a dog has any interest, skill or aptitude for racing.
Start breaking in at 15 months old once the growth plates have stopped growing and is the young dogs first exposure to an intense training. If the young greyhounds aren't broken in on their own properties they are sent away for the first time in their lives for specialist training.
Breaking in is the first step towards a racing career and in many cases the first time the dog has left the property it was born on. Depending on the dog's confidence, aptitude and desire to chase the breaking in period can be as short as several weeks or as long as six weeks.
The process has a variety of steps to help the dogs understand what is being asked of them and every trainer has their own preferred methods.
The more interaction they have had prior to breaking in the more successful
It is all about creating interest in the lure without stressing them and often starts with taking pups down to the track 'for a look' to simply let them see other dogs going around.
The next step is to hand slip them, to let them see the lure and half-heartedly chase it. Sometimes you put a teacher dog with the pup and they show the youngster what to do and the pup follows.
Some get out of the box and run to the side gate and want out
Learn how to use the box
Box with drag lure
It is all about what you do when you get to the track
Send dogs away if no facilities
They practice coming out of the boxes
Some people do box training off the track very early (10 months) “jump outs”
On tack breaking in four weeks
Some just don’t get it
All depends on the dog but things can change
Greyhounds are individuals and the breaking in period is one of the first times owners and trainers get to see how the dogs personality and desire will match up with a racing career.
Completing a full lap of the track and learning to use starting boxes are two of the main skills to be learned and this the first time that a stopwatch and times will begin to influence their future.