I HAVE a couple of sayings that I always relate to newcomers into greyhound racing, and even those who have been in the game for many, many years.

They are:

 I don’t want a dog that will win two races in 12 months, I’d rather a dog that will win 12 races in two months.

 Slow dogs … no dogs.

This is the advice I give to newcomers, be they those who want to train or owners wanting to come into our industry.

Slow dogs will send me broke and will not be worth having for owners.

My entry into greyhound racing came about walking dogs for a local trainer down here in Tassie when I was 15. It was Billy Brown and he was an absolute legend of training.

By the time I was 17, I had bought my first dog, named it Painted Black, yes, after the Rolling Stones’ hit Paint It Black. He started racing when I was 18 and had 35 starts won 14 and was in the money 28 times.

In those days, you had to be 21 to have a trainer’s licence in Tassie so I put the dog in my mum Jean’s name.

It was in the old TCA Grounds where racing was held and that was where legends like Zoom Top and Benjamin John came to chase the Hobart 1000. I remember ‘Chicka’ Morris coming to that carnival from NSW every year with 30 dogs.

It was the only entertainment in Hobart of a Saturday night and 5000 people were there every week. There were 36 bookies.

It was also a time when I latched onto Jack Green, another legend of training in Tassie, who had gallopers, trotters and greyhounds. I was mates with Jack’s son Chris who eventually went and worked for a time with Stan Cleverly in Sydney.

I got the basics of training greyhounds from Jack Green and you know what, I’ve never changed it much since. The only thing I changed was walking. I gave that away for free galloping. A Victorian trainer brought a hurdler called Wineberg to Tassie to race. He was the champion hurdler of his time. He told me the day they start having walking races would be the day he started walking greyhounds.

I knocked out walking dogs that day. I used to live near the Brighton horse track and would take my dogs there every second day for a slip along the back straight, 350 metres.

My feeding routine has never changed either. I feed horse meat, kibble and vegies.

Whenever newcomers ask me what I feed, I always tell them to go out and buy KMV. When they ask what that it, it is simple … kibble, meat and vegies.

I feed very few vitamins, an egg a couple of times a week, potassium, Livermol and a magnesium tablet two or three times a week.

When I won the trainer’s premiership a few years ago, I cut out kibble and fed wholemeal bread, six slices.

So, whenever a newcomer approaches me about getting into greyhounds I tell them about the history of my involvement, how I feed my dogs and work them.

I remember clearly Brendan Pursell coming to myself and Ted Medhurst a few years ago wanting to get some advice. Brendan was a trot trainer and driver and he wanted to switch to greyhounds. History now shows he and his son Blake won the Million Dollar Chase with McInerney last year.

Brendan picked our brains and he is now one of the leading trainers in Victoria.

That’s my advice. Find someone with a good reputation in training and even offer your help. Pick their brains, but only ask the better trainers, the ones winning races.

That’s the best way to get knowledge.

It would be my suggestion to initially get a tried dog to start on. It’s better to get a dog that has had a few starts. They will teach you the basics.

Feel your way through those early days of training.

Yes, by all means, listen to everyone who will give you advice, but if you have any common sense, you will filter out only the best bits and use those to suit you.

But don’t overdo it with dogs.

So many newcomers try to do too much with dogs.

I have made it a point in my kennel to get to know every single dog that comes into the property. If that dog likes you and his surroundings he will perform for you.

In fact, overcomplicating things is the one thing most newcomers do wrong. Pulling and prodding dogs is a big “no no”. Injuries will find you is my motto. I don’t even have an ultrasound or laser … nothing.

But what I do best is pre-training. I learnt that from the great Bart Cummings. I had the privilege of meeting Bart at Moonee Valley one day and it was an honour.

Bart is the greatest horse trainer ever and he always gave his horses a longer prep than anyone else. That’s what I always do with my young dogs. Spend more time getting them fully prepared for their early races.

Doing that has them sound and fit, and they will fend off injuries as a result. We always did this when I played senior footy as a young bloke. We got very fit in the pre-season and by doing that we lasted the year and rarely got injured.

I remember Bart Cummings saying, “We have a good system, we know it works, and we stick to it”.

A final word of advice. I see some trainers doing their absolute best for their dogs, everything they can to get them to win. And that is admirable. But at the end of the day if the dog can’t run, it can’t run.