In 2003, the Canadian TV production company, Cineflix, filmed at the Independent PWRC as part of their series "Dogs With Jobs", shown in over  22 countries on the National Geographic Channel.

Featured on the film was club dog Bill (racing name A Few Bob Back), then aged 18 months, and club chairman, John Bishop, together with his late wife, Monica.

The Training ...

             
             Bill (A Few Bob Back) receiving a few tips before the race from his dad,
                                                   Wilf (WCRCh Costabob).
                                                Photograph: Pippa Mackenzie.
                      Photographs and TV commentary by permission of Cineflix Canada.

Hereford

On a frosty morning, John Bishop is up early to take his eighteen months old whippet, Bill, on one of his two daily walks. Bill is a racing whippet and needs constant exercise to keep him in top shape. March to October, John trains Bill. He brings him to a favourite place where there are no other dogs to distract him. John thinks Bill was born to run.

"He loves running. It was bred into him. It makes him sleep at night when he's had a good days running. He's contented as well."

John's late wife, Monica, helped with the training. She holds Bill while John shakes a furry cloth similar to the lure Bill chases when he's racing. The whippet thinks he's chasing a rabbit.

"He's not a playfull dog. he'd rather chase a cat or anything that moves in the garden, but he's not one of those whippets that like playing with a ball."

Race training can only begin once a whippet is one year old. Bill has been training for six months or so. John increases the distance, building up Bill's endurance. John hopes training will turn Bill into a National Champion like his father, Wilf, another of John's whippets.

After training, Bill heads home. John always keeps him on lead.

"Whippets have no road sense. You couldn't walk him on a road or on a  street without a lead. If they saw a cat or a small dog, they would be chasing it."

Racing, and a love of cat chasing, runs in the family. Bill gets it from his dad, Wilf. Unfortunately, brown spotted Wilf's been sidelined. He injured his leg earlier in the season. John's keeping Wilf from running so that the injury can heal properly.

"When he was injured, we were very upset, but sometimes fate has a way of coming round and it gave us more time to train-up Bill and hopefully, one day, achieve what his father achieved,"  says Monica.

John and Monica are devoted to their whippets - all five of them. Whippets are so bony, they will take over any soft surface. They make excellent pets. They are calm, affectionate and quiet.

The day before the race ...

To relax the day before the race, John and Monica take the dogs to their local pub. John Wood, who runs the Buckingham pub gets a real kick out of the whippets.

"When John and Monica bring their whippets in, my wife brings her whippets in and they have a bit of a scallywags around together. An elderly gentleman come in the evening and they know he's got food for them".

The day of the race ...

Worcester

It's race day in Worcester. Bill and John join  about ninety whippets from all over England. It's a festival of whippets.

Whippet racing is an amateur event organised by pet owners. Unlike greyhounds, the whippets are not sent to kennels and prepared for racing by trainers. There is no money in racing and no betting. The whole point is to have fun.

The first step is the weigh-in.

"With whippet racing, you meet a lot of  wonderful people, and it's just a wonderful sport".






Bill ready for the first race
Photograph: Pippa Mackenzie

Like horse racing, the dogs paws are protected by bandages. Now Bill is ready, but John is nervous.

"As long as he behaves himself and follows in his dad's footsteps, we should have a good day."

Bill watches, eager for his run. There are a few races before his. The course is 150 yards long from the starting traps to the electronically times finish.

The dogs chase a lure, which they think is prey. They wear muzzles so that they cannot bite each other because they think they are competing for food,

The fastest dogs can cover  the course in 9.5 seconds. Some of the top dogs in England are here today, so Bill faces tough opposition.
The word "whippet" come from the expression "whip it" - to move quickly. Developed from crossing the greyhound, Italian greyhound and the terrier - whippets are the altimate sprinters.. They can go from zero to 37 mph in seconds.

It's time for Bills first race. He's wearing number one - red.

"Bill has got to learn to follow the lure. He's got to get his mind to get his to get through the open gaps. He's just got to use his brain to get through the other dogs to get in front".

Bill seems calm and focused - and he's off! Round 1 is over in mere seconds. Bills win means he gets to race again.

"I don't know whose he's drawn against yet, but there are some class dogs in it. If he gets second, I'd love it. I'd love him to win, but it all depends on the draw."

Bill's raring to go for his second race - this time he's number 3 - white. They're off like the wind. In the wink of an eye, Bill is crowded out. Monica consoles Bill after a tough race.

"He's just managed to finish third out of five dogs. There were two racing champions in there and they are all experienced and seeing as he is only a young dog, I'm very proud of him. He ran very well".

Bill did well in his race. John thinks that, with more practice at their quiet spot by the river, he may be a champion one day.