Dogs and All about Them

The training of Whippets is by no means easy work, and is more expensive than most people imagine. The very choicest food is deemed absolutely necessary, in fact a Whippet undergoing preparation for an important race is provided with the most wholesome fare. Choice mutton-chops, beef-steaks and similar dainties comprise their daily portion. Of course exercise is a necessity, but it is not considered good policy to allow a dog in training to gambol about either on the roads or in the fields. Indeed, all dogs which are undergoing preparation for a race are practically deprived of their freedom, in lieu of which they are walked along hard roads secured by a lead; and for fear of their picking up the least bit of refuse each is securely muzzled by a box-like leather arrangement which completely envelops the jaws, but which is freely perforated to permit proper breathing. Any distance between six and a dozen miles a day, according to the stamina and condition of the dog, is supposed to be the proper amount of exercise, and scales are brought into use every few days to gauge the effect which is being produced. In addition to this private trials are necessary in the presence of someone who is accustomed to timing races by the aid of a stop-watch--a by no means easy task, considering that a slight particle of a second means so many yards, and the average speed working out at about 16 yards per second--nearly twice as fast as the fastest pedestrian sprinter, and altogether beyond the power of the fleetest race-horse.