Some years ago, a client of Pedigrees By Design, on my suggestion, contacted Paul Wheeler regarding the rearing of pups. Anyone who has ever spoken to Paul will know he is always forthcoming with advice. When the client told Paul what his rearing set-up was, Wheeler's advice was to completely change the procedure. It was Paul's suggestion that while he "might" achieve racetrack success, he might also achieve much more.

What Wheeler was suggesting was that paddock rearing is far more conducive to rearing fast, tough, competitive racing greyhounds than side-by-side 50m to 100m long by 3m wide lanes. While there will always be a star emerge from "lanes", the consistent production of city winners by the Wheeler operation is testament to the fact his method works.

Don't want to take Wheeler's advice as gospel? OK, then just look at his success. Fernando Bale won seven Group 1 races in 2015 alone and became the first earner of $1 million in stakes. Fernando was reared under the Wheeler regime, and what a regime it is.

A man long before his time

Allan Wheeler was no doubt a man long before his time.

When Allan first came into greyhound racing, way back in the early 1960s, greyhound training had not emerged from the days of long walks morning and night and an occasional race once a week at the most. Pup rearing was not really something most dog men thought much about.

Wheeler changed all that.

His operation soon became so big he physically didn't have the time to walk his dogs, like all those "legendary" trainers he was setting out to defeat. So Wheeler galloped them, free galloping in the earliest of competition runs. Wheeler loved the results he got, the dogs loved it, and success came rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that his training methods were quickly copied.

As any scientist will tell you, it is all about specificity of training, which means train for what you are going to be doing. Cyclists cycle, swimmers swim, runners run. Greyhounds are no different.

A greyhound expected to run 500m or more should be able to cope with such lung-expanding work by running 500m or more. Allen Wheeler adopted this theory to the rearing of his puppies. Big galloping paddocks became the norm and the Wheeler dogs thrived on it.

Paul Wheeler learned the lesson well.

A field environment on 3000 acres

Today, on the 3000 acres that are Wheeler Kennels at Murringo, the pup rearing facilities are immense and purpose built. And it allows for what Wheeler himself calls "a field environment". By that he means every aspect of the rearing of greyhound pups at Wheeler Kennels is conducive to the ultimate aim of their careers: to race and win.

Pups are shifted into the rearing yards by the time they reach 12 weeks of age. In each 40m x 100m "holding yard" is five or six pups, either littermates or of similar age.

These pups are allowed out into, initially, a five-acre galloping paddock for at least two hours a day. As the pup progresses in age and size, this two-hour-a-day paddock galloping is increased to a 10-acre paddock, and then a 20-acre paddock.

Having 3000 acres at Murringo allows Wheeler Kennels the space to cater for such large numbers of pups being reared and also the amount of room needed. Each galloping paddock has a large dam.

The gallop paddocks are separated from the 40m x 100m holding yards by a Colourbond fence. Wheeler wants those pups in the galloping paddocks to gallop, not be distracted by those other pups still in their holding yards.

The inventions: feeding, bedding, starting boxes

Wheeler has thought long and hard about this aspect of his rearing. Obviously what worked for his father decades ago still works for Paul, but it has been refined. Wheeler has a number of "inventions" that he has put into practice with success.

Each holding yard has a massive farm-shed-like building, cement floor and very high ceiling but open at the front. It is big enough to give pups plenty of respite from the weather conditions of the time. Each of these sheds is split into two, half for one holding yard, the other half for the one next door.

Inside this shed is a large metal frame filled during winter with straw as a bed for the pups during the colder months. Wheeler is adamant that come spring this straw is removed to clear the areas of any possible flea problem. The straw is burned and the area is swept of any dust.

"Obviously we get a lot of dust from the straw, specially with pups resting in it all the time, and playing in it," said Paul. "We are fortunate we have never had a flea on the property at Murringo."

The metal pool-fencing that splits these sheds into two is where all feeding is done, and this is an ingenious idea from Wheeler. Eight holes are cut into this pool fencing, big enough to allow the pups to put their heads through. Six pups in each holding yard but eight areas to access food, so there is food available for every pup, 24 hours a day.

Above the eight food bowls is a long piece of light board. Each pup, to be able to feed, simply learns to push its head through the opening in the pool fencing and easily lift the angled board. The board sits at an angle almost identical to that of the front of a starting box.

Wheeler Kennels feeds a stew to every dog on the property in the morning. This consists of mostly beef, but to which is added chicken skin for added fat. Bones are fed every day, cut up and added to the bowl of stew. In the afternoons, the stew bowls are collected and replaced with raw meat. If these are not finished overnight, they are then cooked up in the next morning's stew.

No milk, no multivitamins

Greyhounds at Wheeler Kennels are never fed milk, with the exception of their own mother's valuable milk after birth and up to weaning.

"I used to think milk was good for greyhounds," admitted Paul. "Dad always bought fresh cows' milk for the pups." But it was legend Irish dog man Pat Dalton who convinced Paul milk is unnecessary for greyhounds.

"It was Pat who told me greyhounds are lactose intolerant," he said. "Pat's brother had plenty of dairy cows right next door to his property in Ireland so Pat had plenty on hand to access if he wanted. But he never uses it. At one time we had great trouble sourcing powdered milk. So we stopped feeding milk at all. And you know what, the dogs have gone better since."

Wheeler is the same about vitamins. "The only vitamin we feed is standard DCP calcium powder," he said. "The phosphorous in it is needed by dogs. But that's all we give our dogs."

He tells a story of many years ago discussing greyhound pup rearing with the late, great John McDonald, famous for the "Glider" dogs and for the quality of rearing he gave his pups. "At the time we were feeding iron supplements and multivitamins and minerals produced for greyhounds," said Paul. "McDonald told me in no uncertain terms, they didn't need any of that garbage. We have not fed anything but DCP powder ever since."

Handled daily, even at 3000 acres

For a property that is 3000 acres, and with more than 350 puppies on hand at any one time, one could think the Wheeler "product" gets little or no attention from 12 weeks to 14 months, when they are brought into the breaking-in kennels.

"Not so," says Paul Wheeler. "All our pups are handled daily. Of course we have to have our staff actually bringing pups in and out of the galloping paddocks. It is their duty to spend time with all those pups when this is happening. As my father once said, you can never hurt a dog with love and kindness."

Because Wheeler Kennels employs 12 full-time staff, and Sunday overtime rates are so costly, Sunday becomes a day of rest at Wheeler Kennels. "It is only the family who work on Sundays," said Paul. "But we still have plenty to do with all the broodbitches, little pups and broodbitches. But the bigger pups have the liberty of kibble day on Sunday."

By that Paul means the pups are given an extra large feed on Saturday night and their kibble "hopper" is filled to the brim. Wheeler has developed a container that is in an L shape and in this is loaded five kilos of kibble on Saturday night. The kibble feeds down into the open section at the bottom of the L shape as pups eat the food. Again, this area has its own "starting box" cover to encourage pups to push their head in and lift the "starting box" to eat the dry food.

"We have self-filling water troughs for the pups in the rearing yards," said Paul. "They have plenty of food but we do not let them out into the galloping paddocks on Sundays. They remain in their 40 metre by 100 metre holding yards."

Wheeler does not top up the kibble hopper again until the following Saturday night. "I don't really care if the pups eat kibble or not," he said. "It is the red meat and bones that I want them to eat, not the dry food."

The dry food Wheeler uses is bread that has been baked into a dog food. "A lot of trainers feed bread instead of manufactured kibbles," he said. "In fact, most of my trainers feed bread and semi-lean racing beef to the racing dogs. I have not seen a bag of complete dry food at any of their kennels."

"It is not like we are building a house here"

Wheeler says everything about his rearing of puppies is aimed at producing a racing animal. "That is why we do everything in rearing in a group of six," he said. "Have a look at all the old farmers who live around our area, the sheep farmers who rely on great working sheep dogs. From a very early age, those sheep dog puppies are on the back of the truck heading out to work the sheep with the adult dogs. They are not locked in a shed until they are 12 months old and then asked to be the perfect sheep dog. No, they are out learning their trade from a very early age.

"It is not like we are building a house here. If we make a mistake we can pull it down and fix it. No, we have to get it right from a very early age and this is the method that we have found best suits rearing the perfect racing greyhound."

Take one look at the Wheeler runners on the racetrack any day of the week. You will see determined race dogs, able to handle themselves in a field, competent box dogs, great chasers, the complete package. It comes from the perfect upbringing. Nothing is spared, no corner taken. It is a recipe designed since the 1960s. Fernando Bale is the ultimate example.