I’M a greyhound racing tragic and have been since I was 20 when I started walking dogs for Keith Schmitzer at Taree back in 1962.

I loved going greyhound racing even before then, to the old Taree racetrack that was near Cundle. I still remember the names of the seven dogs Keith had in training, the dogs I used to walk.

They were Daf Cream, Sweet Cream, Malt Cream, Extricate, Bright Result, Come Dreamer and Joy Hinton. When Bright Result whelped a litter by Deener, Keith offered me a pup … and that’s how I got started in greyhound racing.

I named her Lucky Result and she won a maiden on the old Wauchope Showgrounds track on Boxing Day 1963.

I was told at the time, “when you get your first one, you are GONE”, and how right they were. I’ve had greyhounds virtually ever since.

My training got put on hold not long after because I got the chance to play fullback for Lakes United in Newcastle. Ted Wollard took over Lucky Result.

But therein lies my first suggestion to anyone wanting to get into greyhounds … get a pup.

Start from scratch. Get it reared properly, handle it, get to know the dog itself.

People still take giveaways, but that’s no bloody good.

That initial hands-on is very important. But just as important is to ask questions.

Not just ask anyone, ask those winning the races, and ask vets. In NSW we are blessed to have Peter Yore, John Newell and Jack Sommerville in greyhound racing and their knowledge and advice is invaluable.

Put into practice what YOU think is best for your dog.

In the 42 years I have been training dogs, my methods have changed. I no longer walk dogs. Free galloping has taken over. The dogs themselves love to free gallop. It does not need to be every day.

The great Billy Northfield told me he could pick up injuries in any of his race dogs simply by watching them free gallop.

That sort of thing comes from experience and only hands-on experience.

My feeding routine has not changed much except that I moved from beef to roo and a mixture of chicken mince. I use a brand name kibble that has all the appropriate additives.

Brian McEvoy, who trained the great Acacia Ablaze, used to stay at my place at Grafton when he raced here and he would declare you could feed a good dog anything at all and it would still be a good dog.

Reg Kay was another who would stay here and few people have had race dogs as good as Reg has. One morning I asked him what he was going to feed his dogs for breakfast and he said he was about to head to the pie shop to get a pie each for them.

One certain piece of advice that should not be overlooked is to NOT hold on to slow dogs.

Very few of those top trainers will entertain keeping that sort of dog. We should take a leaf out of their book.

I moved to Grafton in 1966 and managed shops right around NSW.

I’ve been involved with the club at Grafton since arriving here and we are now thriving and becoming an important centre of breeding and racing.

My advice to people wanting to get into greyhounds is, as mentioned earlier, get the right advice.

I think this is probably the reason people fail in the industry. They keep slow dogs and they get the wrong advice.

Country racing, like that at Grafton, is unique and the backbone of our industry.

The thrill of winning a race still comes to me today many, many years after I started. And it doesn’t matter where that winner comes from.

Newcomers should NOT buy tried dogs. The failure rate among those is nine out of 10.

As an aside, my lifetime of racing greyhounds has seen me visit so many racetracks and I have to admit I’ve been to many that have been closed down over time.

Consider this for a list: Cootamundra, Queanbeyan, Forbes, Appin, Harold Park, Singleton, Wyong, Armidale, Wollongong, Toowoomba (my favourite track), Beenleigh, Lawnton, both Gold Coast tracks, the Gabba … you see what I mean.

The late Noel Pickett, a great trainer and studmaster, said to me so long, long ago “greyhound racing is like a cancer, you’ve got it for life”.