Post by CampGreyhound on Jan 21, 2014 10:42:02 GMT -5
The Difference Between
One of the most frequently asked questions among people who are unfamiliar with the breed, has to be “what is the difference between an AKC show-bred greyhound, and an NGA racing greyhound?”
Aside from what the question itself tells us, there are many more and crucial differences.
Visually, the two can be sometimes almost indistinguishable, but more often than not, are significantly different in structure and “type”. Show-bred greyhounds tend to be larger, heavier and thicker boned. Their rear legs are usually more rearward and sharply angulated when viewed in profile. Their torsos are much deeper, and their necks are longer and more forwardly arched. Their spines are more curved, and their shoulders are usually more laid-back.
AKC show greyhounds are bred to a visual ideal that is described in the breed standard. This visual description is then interpreted by a judge, and the dog who most closely resembles the description in the eyes of that judge, is declared the show winner.
AKC people like to call a dog who comes very close to the breed standard as being “correct”.
Racing works a bit differently, and so NGA racing greyhounds are not always AKC-correct. In fact, very few, if any of them are, by today’s standards. The reason for this being, that head-to-head competition has already proven which racing greyhounds are functionally “correct”. No judges are needed. The racing greyhound who consistently defeats his competitors in actual competition, is, by definition, “correct”. For the NGA breeder, “correct” is, as correct does. It has worked like this for nearly 100 years of track racing and track breeding.
Today’s racing greyhound is the physical, mental and emotional embodiment of nearly a century of highly competitive racing, and meticulous selectivity in breeding only the most “correct” racers. That means breeding the best racers to the best racers of their respective eras, with no consideration for their resemblance to an arbitrarily interpreted, subjective breed standard.
The only breed standard the NGA greyhound strives to replicate, would be the ability to win when competing against the best of their generation.
Adaptation/evolution in the AKC show greyhound population has been impelled by subjectivity in judging greyhounds to a visual ideal. In NGA racing greyhounds, every adaptation has come about naturally, as a result of function, and nothing else. Hence, they are a more compact and straighter of limb, to attenuate the tremendous quickness, agility, power and leg speed that racing demands. They are lighter of frame, heavier of muscle and smaller of torso, so that they can literally stay airborne for longer periods of time when at a full gallop.
None of this came about by serendipity. Every aspect of the NGA racing greyhound is the result of a natural, evolutionary, adaptive process that racing has compelled.
The AKC greyhound population in the US is very small and not particularly genetically diverse. There were fewer than 200 AKC greyhounds whelped last year in our country. Some AKC breeders have chosen to breed their females to NGA sires, and vice-versa, in order to infuse their bloodlines with the functionally “correct” and diverse bloodlines of the NGA greyhound.
The NGA greyhound is an amalgamation of 46 different and extant female families of greyhounds, who emerged at the time of track racing’s introduction. These were the greyhound families who proved capable of adapting from coursing to racing. Their blood has been intermingled with the best of our domestic racing greyhounds, as well as those from Ireland, Great Britain and Australia. The result has been a contemporary racing population that possesses unparalleled racing courage, stamina, fortitude, determination, derring-do, athleticism, and speed.
Their character is that of the alpha-predator, who will race on after the “prey”, even when every fiber and sinew within them screams for them to stop. Their character is that of the velveteen playmate of children of all ages, as gentle as the hares they once coursed on emerald fields, and so swiftly, that you could not imagine their mirth.
The modern, AKC show-bred greyhound has been formed mainly by the opinions of judges and breeders, and from a verbal description. The NGA racing greyhound, on the other hand, has been forged on and by the racetrack. He is the physical and mental embodiment of fierce, demanding, head-to-head competition, and of meticulous, diverse, highly selective breeding to a specific function.
Is one “better” than the other? Of course not. But different? As different as sunrise and sunset.
Copyright, 2014
One of the most frequently asked questions among people who are unfamiliar with the breed, has to be “what is the difference between an AKC show-bred greyhound, and an NGA racing greyhound?”
Aside from what the question itself tells us, there are many more and crucial differences.
Visually, the two can be sometimes almost indistinguishable, but more often than not, are significantly different in structure and “type”. Show-bred greyhounds tend to be larger, heavier and thicker boned. Their rear legs are usually more rearward and sharply angulated when viewed in profile. Their torsos are much deeper, and their necks are longer and more forwardly arched. Their spines are more curved, and their shoulders are usually more laid-back.
AKC show greyhounds are bred to a visual ideal that is described in the breed standard. This visual description is then interpreted by a judge, and the dog who most closely resembles the description in the eyes of that judge, is declared the show winner.
AKC people like to call a dog who comes very close to the breed standard as being “correct”.
Racing works a bit differently, and so NGA racing greyhounds are not always AKC-correct. In fact, very few, if any of them are, by today’s standards. The reason for this being, that head-to-head competition has already proven which racing greyhounds are functionally “correct”. No judges are needed. The racing greyhound who consistently defeats his competitors in actual competition, is, by definition, “correct”. For the NGA breeder, “correct” is, as correct does. It has worked like this for nearly 100 years of track racing and track breeding.
Today’s racing greyhound is the physical, mental and emotional embodiment of nearly a century of highly competitive racing, and meticulous selectivity in breeding only the most “correct” racers. That means breeding the best racers to the best racers of their respective eras, with no consideration for their resemblance to an arbitrarily interpreted, subjective breed standard.
The only breed standard the NGA greyhound strives to replicate, would be the ability to win when competing against the best of their generation.
Adaptation/evolution in the AKC show greyhound population has been impelled by subjectivity in judging greyhounds to a visual ideal. In NGA racing greyhounds, every adaptation has come about naturally, as a result of function, and nothing else. Hence, they are a more compact and straighter of limb, to attenuate the tremendous quickness, agility, power and leg speed that racing demands. They are lighter of frame, heavier of muscle and smaller of torso, so that they can literally stay airborne for longer periods of time when at a full gallop.
None of this came about by serendipity. Every aspect of the NGA racing greyhound is the result of a natural, evolutionary, adaptive process that racing has compelled.
The AKC greyhound population in the US is very small and not particularly genetically diverse. There were fewer than 200 AKC greyhounds whelped last year in our country. Some AKC breeders have chosen to breed their females to NGA sires, and vice-versa, in order to infuse their bloodlines with the functionally “correct” and diverse bloodlines of the NGA greyhound.
The NGA greyhound is an amalgamation of 46 different and extant female families of greyhounds, who emerged at the time of track racing’s introduction. These were the greyhound families who proved capable of adapting from coursing to racing. Their blood has been intermingled with the best of our domestic racing greyhounds, as well as those from Ireland, Great Britain and Australia. The result has been a contemporary racing population that possesses unparalleled racing courage, stamina, fortitude, determination, derring-do, athleticism, and speed.
Their character is that of the alpha-predator, who will race on after the “prey”, even when every fiber and sinew within them screams for them to stop. Their character is that of the velveteen playmate of children of all ages, as gentle as the hares they once coursed on emerald fields, and so swiftly, that you could not imagine their mirth.
The modern, AKC show-bred greyhound has been formed mainly by the opinions of judges and breeders, and from a verbal description. The NGA racing greyhound, on the other hand, has been forged on and by the racetrack. He is the physical and mental embodiment of fierce, demanding, head-to-head competition, and of meticulous, diverse, highly selective breeding to a specific function.
Is one “better” than the other? Of course not. But different? As different as sunrise and sunset.
Copyright, 2014