**Background:** Whippets are traditionally trained for lure coursing, a sport requiring high-speed anaerobic exertion. While standardised exercise tests with objective benchmarks are routinely used to monitor training in human athletes and racehorses, no such tests exist for whippets. Blood lactate concentration (LA) is a well-established marker of anaerobic metabolism and fitness in sport horses, where lactate-guided conditioning programmes can enhance performance. This study aimed to determine whether laboratory testing protocols designed for racehorses could be applied to whippets to monitor their training for lure coursing.
**Methods:** Fourteen privately owned whippets (12 males, 2 females; mean age 2.6 ± 1.3 years, range 11 months to 5.5 years; mean weight 14.2 ± 2.4 kg, range 11.0–19.2 kg) were enrolled. All were active lure-coursing competitors at various training levels. Two exercise sessions were investigated: a straight 400 m training run (T) and a 400 m simulated competition coursing run with turns (C), both conducted outdoors on a grassy meadow. Dogs ran in pairs selected by the trainer. Blood samples were collected from the cephalic or saphenous vein. For haematology (WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, PLT), samples were taken at rest and immediately after both session types. For lactate testing, samples were taken immediately after, 15 min after, and 30 min after the T session; and immediately after warm-up, immediately after, and 30 min after the C session. Lactate was measured immediately using hand-held analysers (Accusport; Roche). Haematological reference intervals were from published sources (31), and LA reference interval was 1.2–3.1 mmol/L (27). Statistical analysis used paired Student's t-test with Bonferroni correction and repeated-measures ANOVA with Dunnett's post-hoc test (α = 0.05).
**Key Results:** Significant increases in WBC, RBC, HGB, and HCT were observed after both T and C sessions compared to baseline, with no significant differences between session types. Baseline values were at or above the upper reference limits, consistent with known sighthound haematology. WBC increased by 42% after T sessions and 34% after C sessions. RBC increased by 13% (T) and 9% (C), HGB by 11% (T) and 13% (C), and HCT by 14% (T) and 12% (C). PLT increased significantly after T sessions (from 216.4 ± 26.2 to 243.9 ± 32.8 g/L, P = 0.028) but not after C sessions, and was significantly higher after T than C (P = 0.002). Lactate concentrations immediately after exercise were markedly elevated: 13.6 ± 3.2 mmol/L after T sessions and 10.7 ± 3.1 mmol/L after C sessions (P = 0.249 for T vs C). After T sessions, LA decreased significantly between 0 and 15 min (P < 0.001) and between 15 and 30 min (P < 0.001), reaching 3.1 ± 0.9 mmol/L at 30 min. After C sessions, LA decreased to 1.8 ± 1.1 mmol/L at 30 min. The mean decrease over 30 min was 10.5 ± 2.7 mmol/L for T and 8.9 ± 3.3 mmol/L for C (both P < 0.001). Importantly, LA at 30 min post-exercise was significantly higher after T sessions than after C sessions (3.1 vs 1.8 mmol/L, P = 0.002). LA measured immediately after warm-up (before C sessions) was below the upper reference limit in all but one dog.
**Clinical Implications:** This study demonstrates that the blood sampling schedule used in racehorse exercise testing (immediately after and 30 min after exercise) is applicable to whippets and can provide meaningful information about training intensity and recovery. The finding that LA returned below 4 mmol/L within 30 minutes in all dogs indicates that both types of exertion were appropriate for the dogs' training levels. The significantly higher LA at 30 min after straight-line training compared to coursing suggests that straight runs are more physiologically demanding, consistent with training programme assumptions. The warm-up protocols used by owners were deemed appropriate as LA did not exceed the anaerobic threshold beforehand. The authors recommend LA measurement immediately after and 30 min after exercise as a practical laboratory method to verify whether training programmes are optimally designed for individual dogs. Limitations include non-uniformity of living conditions, diet, and daily exercise routines among the privately owned dogs, as well as constraints on blood sample numbers due to the dogs' small size. This is the first study to describe exercise-induced haematological and lactate changes specifically in whippets training for lure coursing.