o'cockaigne

An interesting article published by the American Kennel Club written by Susi Szeremy called ‘Behold the perfect canine running machine, the Greyhound’. The article sets out a number of reasons why the greyhound can be regarded as the ultimate athlete.

     “First of all the greyhound has an ‘s-shaped body’ that allows it to master the double suspension rotary gallop, a four-time gait (and the only gait) in which a dog is unsupported by legs when fully extended. As they prepare to run, weight is shifted to both rear legs for push off, launching them forward, front legs fully extended and reaching for ground still well ahead. As a greyhound’s rear feet prepare to grab more land, their flexible back folds into the shape of the letter ‘c’ enabling knees to ‘say hello’ to their ribs. Rear paws overtake the front ones pulling even more ground beneath them. Outstretched front paws are ready to absorb the weight of landing before the contracted and extended phases of the running motion is repeated. In the moments before ‘touch down’, all four feet are off the ground. Metaphorically speaking, the Greyhound is a bird, airborne and unsupported by planet Earth. Their feet will touch the ground only 25 percent of the time they are running; at the 45 miles per hour a Greyhound is capable of reaching in a few strides. Long narrow, hare-like feet give maximum leverage, and because they are well knuckled and compact, gets better traction and requires less energy to lift them. As their weight shifts forward, the ball of the foot becomes a fulcrum and pasterns (knees) and toes become a lever, while thickly padded paws act as shock absorbers. A skinny ‘waistline’ allows the Greyhound to flex their back from an outstretched position to an arched one that brings the southern half of their body into their northern hemisphere. The Greyhound would be unable do this if the most flexible point on their back wasn’t over the loin area called the ‘tuck-up’. It’s what helps our leggy breed be breathtakingly fast, but still be able to curl up and sleep in a small bed.

“The greyhound has a narrow, aerodynamic head set on a long, muscular neck that blends smoothly into the withers, and this gives the Greyhound their balance. At the other end is a long, thin tail used like a rudder while running, and (some experts believe), to create drag when cornering so they can slow down without breaking stride and still accelerate onto the straight. The Greyhound ‘model’ includes extra features: light bones and a bodyweight that is approximately 16 per cent fat, less than half the amount of other dogs of their size, and yet with powerful muscles have the highest percentage of fast-twitch muscle of any breed. Wide nostrils allow them to take in as much air as possible, and small rose ears can be aerodynamically folded over so as to reduce drag. Stereoscopic eyes can track prey from a mile away – but wait, there’s more – lift the ‘hood’ and prepare to be dazzled. The greyhound’s deep chest houses extraordinarily efficient lungs and the largest heart of any breed. When running, their heart can beat five times a second enabling blood volume to be circulated around four to five times during the course of a 30-second sprint.

“The Greyhound has approximately four per cent more blood than other dogs, and if racing, has the highest-packed cell volume of any dog, some 60 percent compared to 35 percent for other breeds. They have significantly more oxygen-carrying red blood cells so they can move blood quickly from lungs to muscles – all of which, incidentally, makes a majority of the breed highly valued as canine universal blood donors. Around 70 per cent of the time the Greyhound is running is spent in the air, and this makes the Greyhound the second fastest animal on earth. With a constant stride frequency of 3.5 strides-per-second across all speeds, only the cheetah is faster. The Greyhound is a speed demon, but with their owner, they are quiet, loving, and gentle. This is why they describe the Greyhound as a ‘45 mile-per-hour couch potato”.