Sighthounds Afield
The Complete Guide to Sighthound Breeds & Amateur Performance Events (With a Comprehensive Chapter on Adopted Ex-Racing Greyhounds)
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Diet and the lactic acid cycle
Understanding how the body systems work
Conditioning begins with an appropriate diet. Exercise-related stress demands high quality fats and proteins. The buildup of lactic acid causes fatigue in overtaxed muscles. The lactic acid cycle, also known as the Cori cycle, is the metabolic system by which lactic acid produced in the muscles by glycolysis (the enzymatic conversion of glucose to lactase) is converted in the liver to glucose (a simple sugar in normal blood, the major source of energy for many living organisms). Lactase is an enzyme in the intestinal mucosa that hydrolyzes lactose, producing glucose and galatose (a monosaccharide – a simple sugar such as glucose, fructose and galactose – derived from lactose).
Muscle cells break down glucose for the energy needed to make the muscles contract. A hound that runs too far or too fast for its physical condition may produce too much lactic acid for the internal buffering system to handle, resulting in exertional rhabdomyolysis or metabolic acidosis. Heavy, unaccustomed exercise, especially after a lay off, often causes exertional rhabdomyolysis, also know by various other names such as tying up syndrome, azoturia, and Monday morning disease in horses. It occurs as acute recumbency (an animal lying down unable to rise) or immobility state (an animal standing still and disinclined to move), when muscle masses disrupt during exercise. The problem has been documented in various mammals including horses, sheep, cattle, wild life and (not surprisingly) racing Greyhounds.
The overabundance of lactic acid increases stress, damages cells, slows liver function, impedes heart function and diminishes energy output to the brain. Some obvious signs of severe acidosis are muscle twitching, involuntary movements, cardiac arrhythmia, disorientation and, in the most severe cases, coma and even death. The dog’s urine may be brown, which is caused by debris from the breakdown of cells – and brownish colored urine is a sign that the dog needs immediate veterinary attention!
Excepting open field coursing and free coursing (hunting), the balance of sighthound activities requires sprinting abilities. This means short, fast anaerobic workouts rather than the speed plus aerobic endurance workouts that open field competition and hunting demands. Unfit hounds or those on poor quality diets cannot perform well, and cannot recover adequately from their exertions.
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About the Book
Sighthounds or gazehounds -swift and athletic canines that have hunted by sight, rather than scent, for thousands of years - comprise a small but elite segment of known dog breeds. Few events are tailored for their particular skills, and new folks are overwhelmed by the confusion of running rules, policies, and procedures within the various organizations. In 1994
The flyer grew into a brochure, and in 1996 the brochure metamorphosed into a “how to” handbook, So, You Want to Run Your Sighthound The handbook, in turn, spawned a completely revised and greatly expanded edition in Sighthounds Afield: The Complete Guide to Sighthound Breeds and Amateur Performance Events (with a Comprehensive Chapter on Adopted Ex-Racing Greyhounds).
Sighthounds Afield includes many new photos, original cartoons, and illustrations. This manual explores diet and conditioning, training for field and track, overviews of all amateur performance events and how to attend them to your best advantage, and basic running procedures - including point requirements and titles - for field, track, and open field hunts. Included is veterinary care, where to buy good stuff, a complete library section, and pages of important resources. The author delves into the centuries-old history of sighthounds, and over 40 breeds are explored in photos and text. With the inclusion of an entire chapter devoted to ex-racing Greyhounds, this book is a complete “if you can’t find it here, you can’t find it” package. SighthoundsAfield puts everything you need to know about these exotic breeds - and how to enjoy them - at your fingertips.
About the Author
As the oldest of six children in the suburbs of northern