VietNamNet Bridge - Owning Greyhound dogs from Australia and watching their pet dogs competing with each other each week has become the hobby of those who love dog racing.

300 purebred Greyhound racing dogs of Australia at the Lam Son dog racecourse in the southern city of Vung Tau are being auctioned. These dogs have been trained for a long time and they are participating in weekly races in Vung Tau. Along with the auction, the dogs will attend the 4th dog racing cup which will be held on September 2, with a total bonus of VND300 million ($15,000).

The Greyhound is a very old European breed, a sighthound which has been historically bred for coursing game and latterly racing. It is a gentle and intelligent breed whose combination of long, powerful legs, deep chest, flexible spine, and slim build allows it to reach average race speeds in excess of 18 meters per second or 63 kilometers per hour. At maximum acceleration, a greyhound reaches a full speed of 70 kilometers per hour within 30 meters or six strides from the boxes, traveling at almost 20 meters per second for the first 250 meters of a race.

 If one pays to own a dog, he can leave the dog at the racing course and goes to the course to watch his dog to race. This is the way that dog racing developers in Vietnam believe to help increase excitement for spectators and the race.

Appearing in Vietnam in 2000, Greyhound dog racing has attracted 1.4 million visitors and it is seen as a "special entertainment" of Vung Tau, compared to other coastal cities in Southern Vietnam. This is the only place in the country that breeds racing dog and organizes dog racing. From the first imported dogs, Greyhound dogs are now born in Vietnam. The dog breeding center in Vung Tau now has 750 dogs.

 A day of racing dog begins in the early afternoon. To prepare for the evening race, each group of dogs has to do exercises. One of the exercises is swimming in a trench.

The next exercise is racing in the race tracks, with the fake prey running behind the dogs to attract them. To create elegant gaits for dogs on the racetrack, they pump water into the racetrack to increase resistance to force dogs to run at their full speed.

The dogs have to run in pairs to get used to the feeling of competition.

After training, the dogs are fed and then gathered up on the bus to move to the racetrack.

Each dog is registered, taken to the bus and put into a separate cage.

 On arrival, the dogs are put in cages to prepare for the race on Saturday evening.

 Despite heavy rain, dogs always finish their race in the cheers of the audience.

Dog racing has more than 80 years of development in the world. Now it has become a recreational sport, managed and developed by the World Greyhound Racing Federation. Greyhound, dogs up to international standards must to purebred. So every dog that participates in the racing system of the federation must have its own record to ensure the precise origin.

Vietnam is currently one of the 23 members of the World Greyhound Racing Federation. The best record of a Greyhound dog in Vietnam is 27 seconds 10 for 450m. Each race lasts just 30 seconds, with vigorous strokes of the dogs.

VNE