How faster do puppies get after their first year

[Br113]

Hi!

I have an 11mo greyhound named Shaggy, male and intact. And even though I dont want him to race, i'd like him to be as fast as possible.

He is the fastest dog in the dog park every day. Except for two ocassions. One day he met an adult whippet who was extremely faster than him, and the other day the same happened with an adult female greyhound.

 

Im wondering if he's getting much faster from this point forward or if he is already close to his full speed?

Edited May 21, 2022 by Br113

[greysmom]

Once they reach physical maturity it's about conditioning rather than any other factor.  Just like with people, dogs get faster as they build muscle, shed fat, and increase their oxygen burning capacity.  

Some of this will happen naturally as he gets older and continues to play and run on his own.  Whippets will *always* be faster sprinters, and there will nearly always be a faster adult greyhound around - your dog likely hasn't been in any sort of formal race training regimen that most adult dogs (still) have gone through.  In a few years, with the tracks shutting down, most adopted/bought greyhounds will all be amateurs, and the talent will level out.

Though I'm unclear at your insistence that your dog be as fast as possible.    He will always be faster than 99.9% of other dogs you meet casually.  Unless you're planning on competing in AKC racing sports - LGRA, NOTRA, FCats - it's a lot of work to condition a racer and keep them in top shape.

[Br113]

Thank you for replying!

I didnt mean I want him to be THE FASTEST actually, nor the fastest he could be... You are right.

I was just curious because the gap in speed in comparisson with the other hounds was huge, and they werent racers neither. That made me question myself if my pup was getting to much couch time (we live in an appartment and go to the dog park about 1 hs per day, but maybe he needed more time in the beach or something else to proper development).

Lets see how he mature, he just started raising his leg to mark, but not everyday...

[Time4ANap]

At the other end of the spectrum:  Meet Mark. 

This is his top speed. 

[FiveRoooooers]

10 minutes ago, Time4ANap said:

At the other end of the spectrum:  Meet Mark. 

This is his top speed. 

 

[Br113]

😴😴🤩

[macoduck]

Go Mark Go! 

[Remolacha]

Now, I know I have seen pictures of him standing up! 

[Time4ANap]

1 hour ago, Remolacha said:

Now, I know I have seen pictures of him standing up! 

He must have been leaning against something. 

[EllenEveBaz]

Although it's difficult to drag my gaze from Mark's stunning condition* and blazing speed  ,  I'll point BR113's attention to another thread in this same Training and Behavior forum -- "Exercise and Training Suggestions for Young Pup," posted recently by Atomicharri.  Similar situation, with not-quite-one-year-old greyhound.  Some good ideas and cautions.  

Of course, if you really want to maintain your dog in greyt condition, you could get another hound for him to run with.   

* Mark looks exhausted from carrying that ginormous blingy collar around.  What is that thing made of, anyway?   

Edited May 22, 2022 by EllenEveBaz

[HeyRunDog]

9 hours ago, EllenEveBaz said:

* Mark looks exhausted from carrying that ginormous blingy collar around.  What is that thing made of, anyway?

It's one of those new magnetic carpet collars. Grace and Guinness have one although Guinness's seems to have an intermittent fault

[racindog]

On 5/21/2022 at 3:23 PM, FiveRoooooers said:

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by racindog

[racindog]

3 minutes ago, racindog said:

 

 

Mark knows whats important!

[Br113]

Im just curious now, do you know how much difference in speed there is between a proffesional, trained racer (like mark) and an untrained one? Im not familiar with racing so I dont know the gap between a fast gh and a "slow" one

[HeyRunDog]

Sorry Br113 we seem to have got distracted.

That is a difficult question. I suspect the top speed is probably very similar but it's the endurance that differentiates between a trained and untrained greyhound of the same size.

[Remolacha]

I am sure the training makes a difference, but have no idea how much. I do know the difference between a fast, consistently in the money racer and one who retires early because they are not quite fast enough is literally seconds.

[greysmom]

The current top speed for the fastest greyhound competing in FCat AKC competitions is a bitch named RML Jewel at 38.96 mph.  FCats measure speed at a straightline 100 yard sprint.  The "tracks" are usually somebody's field, run over grass, not a groomed 1/4 mile sand oval.  These *may* be race bred dogs who have been retired, or are dogs bred from racing/performance stock to be competitive sport dogs, but not currently in professional training programs.

The top measured speed for a racing greyhound on a track is from an Australian dog in 1994 at 41.8 mph.  

Just your average retired racing greyhound, getting up from their couch and running in the yard, will be slower - and get slower as they fall out of condition with time and age.  But even a senior greyhound will be faster than most dogs at the dog park until they are quite old.

[cleptogrey]

Felix came to us at 7 weeks, left the farm at 5 days since he was part of an orphaned littler and hand raised. at gig, when he was 8(well past his prime) he clocked in at 38mph on a recall. expect top speeds at 2-4 years of age. just playing soccer and going for balls will increase your pup's speed and dexterity. at 11 months GH are still pretty clumsy. this changes with maturity. 

my prey driven whippet clocked in at 36mph on her first fast cat when she was under 2. look into fast cat if you want to start running your pup. it's one dog at a time, pretty safe(unless the run is a mud pit) and fun. the AKC has it listed on their web site.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

Gonna make a slight derail here...bear with me.

My Pharaoh Hound was the absolute king of speed at the dog park.  He would out run and out maneuver any and every dog that ever chased him.  He had the entire dog park chasing him at times, and once a GSD set up the perfect intercept and he had nowhere to turn or he would be caught.  He jumped about 5 feet high, with about a 15-20 foot jump over top of the GSD.  All the people in the park collectively gasped.  And Xerxes had solidified his "dominance" over speed at the dog park.  Then a few weeks later a greyhound came to visit.  They ran, as sighthounds often do.  Xerxes had the lead for the first 10 or 12 strides, then the grey went full double suspension run and flew by Xerxes like he was standing still.  Xerxes gave up, and then tried again a few minutes later, only this time rather than run straight, Xerxes let the grey get up to speed and used his quick turns and was able to out turn/ out maneuver the greyhound.  (below is Xerxes lure coursing)

My point is, some doggos are content to be "pretty fast" and some want to show superiority.  Not every dog is going to run 100% all the time.  And if they did and are in mixed breed company, the other dogs will tire of the chase.  Your doggo is probably a lot faster than the whippet, but definitely not as quick.  

[Br113]

I totally agree with you, Shaggy (my gh) usually run at half speed to avoid other dogs getting discourage from chasing him. But I've also seen him getting caught by a jack russell (a pretty fast one anyway).
Something that draws my attention is that Shaggy doesn't go double suspension (if he does, is very subtle)... I think it might be because he grew up playing at the dog park with an irregular terrain, changing directions constantly, etc... not sure if that affects the way he run... maybe he start doing it later on, he's first birthday is this monday

Edited June 2, 2022 by Br113

[greysmom]

They have to learn to run full out, just like they have to learn to win.  The gait is instinctive, but they need to learn to use it.  And it takes 3-5 full strides to get up to speed - most dog parks aren't big enough for a full striding greyhound that gets 20-30 feet at a jump.  There are shorter official races, but most tracks are 1/4 mile around.  Even puppy runs at the farms are several hundred feet long.

Edited June 2, 2022 by greysmom