By Molly Haines
Robert Britton with his former star Lithgow Panther.
Leading trainer Robert Britton says knowing exactly what you are feeding your greyhounds is critical.
In addition to premium kibble, human consumption meat and supplements, Britton bulks his greyhounds’ feed with wholemeal bread, homemade vegetable soup and eggs.
“You have to be very careful because a number of breads these days contain poppy seeds which can usually be seen on the outside of the bread. There are new products like Bakers Delight’s Lo-Fo bread, which has poppy seeds inside the loaf,” Britton said.
“Poppy seeds will give you a positive swab as a contaminate… there is such a minute amount that it wouldn’t be performance-enhancing, but it would still give you a positive swab.”
As well as including two slices of wholemeal bread with each meal, Britton feeds a homemade vegetable soup made by his wife Mary.
“We use a four vegetable soup that is very watery, which Mary makes up fresh every day,”
Wholemeal bread and eggs are part of Britton’s feeding regime.
Britton feeds two cups of the watery vegetable soup with premium kibble, human consumption meat and wholemeal bread, making a liquid meal for hydration purposes because greyhounds aren’t generally great drinkers.
“A lot of greyhounds wouldn’t lap up water like Labradors do so I believe that if you feed liquid in their diet it is probably the best way to go,” he said.
For added protein Britton adds an egg to his greyhound’s main meal every two or three days.
“Some people say that the white of an egg can be a toxin, and the way to eliminate that is to put it into some fairly hot water before adding it to the feed.”
MARY BRITTON’S VEGETABLE
SOUP CAN INCLUDE:
- Carrots
- Potato
- Celery
- Silver beet
Note: Britton advises not to feed onions to greyhounds as they are a toxin to dogs.
