Does anyone still buy they RP or even watch RPGTV unless they have a dog running?

Seems a shame that the mailing list that British Breeders signed up for, to recieve news etc, was not utilised.

I have bred 2 litters with my partners now and I consider them british bred as the mating(insemination), whelping and rearing have all be done in England so would they still count? The dams are Irish and the studs are my own vials from Australian dogs as I wanted to inject something new into these pups and hopefully give a boost to british breeding.
Would people consider my pups as British?

I also did not know about such a meeting but I do know of Liz Mort at the greyhound Stud Book as she has sorted all my paperwork for pups and also for the australian vials I brought into the country and had them registered as stud dogs so it is all Legal.

In these meetings, can I ask if grants for breeding british are discussed. It's just that I do it as a hobby with friends but the pups have all turned out really well and run so it could be a business but I just don't have the money to keep breeding regular litters and you would need at least 2 a year to make it viable.

I believe the demand is there as other owners at the kennels where my pups run have remarked and inquired.

I do agree with Keith on some of his points but seeing as we now have a nice new track at Towcester as a focus point to build from I would write to the GBGB to get funding to buy a piece of land and onsite home and facilities, like the Droopys Stud or Ian Greaves has in Ireland, and do more breeding but there just doesn't seem to be the interest from GBGB.

Maybe they are afraid that people will run off with the cash.

Maybe there could be a contract drawn up and if a owner/breeder/trainer asks for 10000 then the GBGB put a clause in to say that within 2 years they need to see proof of registration and books etc for at least 2 litters at the greyhound studbook.

I say this because as we all know, litter sizes vary and a lot can happen in few months of whelping and some pups just don't make it to the track.

In my view all tracks need graders each week and my pups and dogs can fill those spaces and pay for themselves so these british bred races are a good idea but on the whole are unobtainable to small owners and breeders like me so maybe some of the prize money could be instead directed towards actually breeding instead otherwise in a few years you won't have the british dogs to run in the british races.

Sorry it's a long one but needed to get some things off my chest as tracks and GBGB don't help the situation.

Cheers

Ben

I just meant that those of us that have actually started as a hobby is all good but with a bit more encouragement those of us that are hobbyists could do a bit more and breed a few more litters. I assume you like myself, love all your dogs that you breed and whelp and love seeing them grow and get to the track and run but also like myself you must have had some dogs that don't make it and as hobby breeder/owner it is very difficult and emotional moment when deciding to let them go to either be re-homed or worse case scenario if the are severely injury, put them down and out of pain.

My point is that a little bit of financial aid and encouragement to help ease the extra cost of re-homing and vets bills or even a grant to buy a piece of land that you could rear your own pups on. I with my friends can only do 1 litter every couple of years and rear them to about 5-6 months and have to send them to a rearer in a different part of the country and don't get to see them everyday which is not what I want.

If I had more money or the promise of a bit more to help, then I could set myself up properly and in the process, save some money and take care of them more because us hobbyists are doing this on a smaller scale and so have a more hands on approach than the big breeders.

That's just my view. And also if I could breed more than 1 litter at a time I would have more dogs and a better chance of getting that 'Derby Dog' to go for some of those British Bred races and I would be more interested in them. Or if I sold a few dogs and they become the 'Derby Dog' then it is still good for me as I have the bitch and my breeding and rearing skills would be noted for the future and you would get more owners want our british dogs and thus in the process, get my owners buying british dogs instead of going to Ireland.

You can't tell me you wouldn't mind a little extra cash to help you with mating, whelping and rearing?

Anyway it is very unlikely to happen but I wanted to get the point across that if there are more british bred dogs then there is more competition in the british bred races and the class of the british breeding will go up and we can challenge the irish dogs in their own back yard.

I'd love to go to Ireland with my own home bred dog and win some of their big races.