The modus operandi will be best illustrated by the following description of a race meeting held at Farn worth Recreation Grounds, near Bolton, when there were sixty odd heats of three dogs. The course is a perfectly level path of 12yds. in width. The dogs are stripped and put on their marks, each being held by his owner, or a man for him, and the starter goes behind them with the pistol. Meanwhile, a man the dog knows starts off in front of him, carrying a big piece of linen rag, a handkerchief, or some conspicuous object; and every now and then, as he runs up the course, the man will turn round and " Hi" to the dog, at the same time waving the cloth up and down. When these runners-up have got pretty near the finish, the pistol is fired, and the dogs are started on their journey. There is a good deal in the slipping of the dogs, and an expert man at the game will score considerably over a novice. The dogs are pushed or even thrown into their stride, and to do this work nicely and to get the best results requires plenty of skill and not a little practice. With a view to obviate any unfairness in slipping a Starting Box has been invented and has been successfully used at some meetings. The runners-up must then get over the 10yds. mark, beyond the finish line. Each dog has a piece of ribbon round his neck - according to his station, red, white, or blue - and the judge, or referee, as he is called, holds up a flag of the winning colour to show which has won. The cloth carried by the men who run before and encourage the dogs is called "bait," and "live bait" is prohibited. The accompanying diagram (Fig. 33) shows an ideal Whippet track. The following rules governing straight-running with Whippets will serve to show those interested in the sport the chief points to be observed: -

Fig. 33. - An Ideal Whippet Track.

1. No Whippet shall be qualified to run unless duly entered for the race.

2. The name of any Whippet qualified to run in a race must be notified as a starter to the Clerk of the Scales at the time appointed for weighing in.

3. In weighing the Clerk of the Scales shall allow 8ozs. over and above the weight the Whippet is entered to run at.

4. No Whippet shall run unless it has been weighed out and passed by the Clerk of the Scales.

5. The Starter shall give all orders necessary for securing a fair start. Whippets must be started with fore feet behind the mark.

6. Any slipper wilfully throwing his Whippet against another, or starting before the report of the pistol, or being guilty of any other misconduct or disobedience while under the Starter's orders, shall be reported to the Stewards of the meeting, and the Whippet shall be liable to disqualification.

7. The runners-up to be 10 yards over the trigg mark before the pistol is fired, the Judge to signal to pistol firer when the runners-up are in their place. Any runner-up moving in front of trigg mark after once having taken his place, shall cause the Whippet for which he is runner-up to be disqualified. No person shall be allowed to run with live bait.

8. Any Whippet wilfully slipped before the pistol is fired shall forfeit all claim to the handicap.

9. Each Whippet must run with the right coloured ribbon round its neck or it will be disqualified.

10. The Judge must announce his decision immediately, which decision shall be final unless an objection to the winner or the placed Whippets be made and sustained. This rule shall not prevent the Judge from correcting a mistake.

11. If a winning dog be disqualified after running, the second dog in the heat shall be placed first, and if impossible to tell the second dog, all in the heat shall run again with the exception of the disqualified dog.

12. If an objection be made to a dog, the winner in the final, such objection shall be in writing and signed by the owner of some Whippet engaged in the race or by his deputed agent, and must be made to one of the Stewards, the Judge, or the Clerk of the Scales. The objector shall, at the time of lodging same, deposit £1, which, in the event of the objection being declared to be frivolous or vexatious, shall be forfeited to the funds of the meeting ; or if otherwise, returned to the objector.

13. All disputes to be settled by the Stewards, of which there must be not less than three, whose decision shall be final, subject only to an appeal to the Committee of the Whippet Club.

The following information was contributed to the First Edition of this work by the late Mr. Angus Sutherland, of Accrington, well known as a writer on dogs, coursing, and other sports, and who had exceptional experience of this breed of dog and every phase of the sports in which it is used: -

"These dogs, which are kept in large numbers by the working classes in the northern counties of England, may be called the Poor Man's Greyhounds, being similar in form, and having to undergo the same preparation for work, by severe training and a prescribed diet, as Greyhounds, and, like them, require to be protected from the effects of severe weather by the use of thick woollen covers, both breeds being very susceptible to chills in the sudden changes of our fickle climate.

These remarks specially refer to the smooth-coated sort, which form an immense majority of those kept in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands; but amongst the pitmen of Durham and Northumberland are found a great many rough-haired ones, many of which are the result of crossing with the Bedlington Terrier, and these are naturally hardier.

The breed is kept for the sport termed straight-running, and also for rabbit-coursing. The fastest dogs have been produced by a first cross from the Greyhound; but those used for rabbit-coursing have generally an infusion of Bull-terrier, or some other game blood, calculated to give them staying powers; for to run thirty-one courses in one day is not only a trying test of condition, but also a severe trial of gameness.

The fleetness of the modern Whippet is not generally known to the outside world; but, considering their weight, these dogs may be termed the speediest four-legged animals known. As an illustration, I will adduce Mr. William Whittaker's red bitch Nettle. This bitch was not only the handsomest, but about the fastest, ever bred; her running weight was 191b. She will be known to many from her show-bench career, having, when exhibited by Messrs. William Whittaker and Abraham Boulton, won a great number of first prizes; in fact, in this line she had an unbeaten record. But it is to her extraordinary fleetness I wish particularly to refer. Upon a favourable day, and given a good course, she could traverse 200yds. in 12sec, which gives a speed of 16⅓yds. per second, her stride, when thoroughly extended, as measured from toes to toes, being a trifle over 15ft.; such cannot but be considered astounding when performed by a 191b. animal. By way of comparison, I will take the fastest celebrity in the annals of the equine race, Colonel Townley's Kettledrum, who, strange to say, sprang from the same town as the bitch Nettle - viz. Burnley, in Lancashire. He traversed the Derby course, Epsom (1½ miles in extent), in 2min. 43sec. or at the rate of 16⅓yds. per second; consequently, the rate of speed is in favour of the canine heroine."

The parallel here drawn by Mr. Sutherland is scarcely fair to the horse, as his average is taken on a distance more than thirteen times that covered by the dog.