Exercise, Socialisation and Enrichment

GRNZ’s Greyhound Welfare Standards set out the minimum standards for daily greyhound exercise, socialisation and enrichment (ESE) to ensure they develop appropriate behaviours, and that Licensed Persons (LPs) plan to provide for their ongoing mental and behavioural health at all stages of their racing and breeding careers. 

A programme of socialisation and enrichment will prepare greyhounds well for the balance of their lives as a pet after their racing career is over. Every LP taking care of greyhounds is required to produce an ESE Plan for their premises for all of the different lifecycle stages of the greyhounds they care for.

The ESE Plan template

Exercise, Socialisation and Enrichment Plan

The ESE Plan template above has been created to help LPs complete their ESE Plan. The template consists of a first page of general information, Standards 3.1 - 3.14, and individual forms for each lifecycle stage of the greyhounds that may be at an LP’s premises.

The first page must be filled in and then a form for each lifecycle stage of the greyhounds on the premises. Note that not every form is required to be filled in if there are no greyhounds of a specific lifecycle stage; for example, there may not be any lactating females on the premises.

GRNZ understands that there will be times when it is not possible to provide the minimum amount of daily ESE requirements for all of your greyhounds (for example, when a greyhound is recovering from surgery or racing, or during very bad weather) and this is outlined in Standard 3. Veterinarian advice regarding the type and amount of exercise must be followed first to ensure the welfare of the greyhounds on your premises. 

Sample ESE Plan

The sample ESE Plan above can be viewed to see what kinds of activities, frequency and information might be included to complete the template. More ideas on socialising greyhounds can be found in the Raising Resilient Racing Greyhounds article here, as well as information on building resilience through early puppy socialisation here.

How to complete the ESE Plan

The template can be completed in two different ways – by handwriting or electronically (the pdf file has fillable fields).

To complete by handwriting:

1. Click on the Exercise, Socialisation and Enrichment Plan link to open the file.
2. Print the file as usual.
3. Fill in the template by hand and keep with your records.

To complete electronically:

1. Click on the Exercise, Socialisation and Enrichment Plan link to open the file.
2. Click on download and/or save the file to where your records are kept.
3. Start typing your answers in each field, using the tab key to work across the form.
4. Save the file before closing it.
5. The file can be updated as required and printed to keep with your records.

GRNZ Kennel Handbook

GRNZ has produced a Kennel Handbook to aid LPs. These handbooks contain the full set of GRNZ Greyhound Welfare Standards, along with helpful templates for documents, such as treatment records, emergency plans, treatment records and the ESE Plan template.

All trainers have been issued with a hard copy of the Kennel Handbook, but if you would like to request a new copy, please contact GRNZ.

Keep the ESE Plan handy

The ESE Plan should be updated regularly to ensure it reflects all the greyhounds on your premises. By keeping the plan with your kennel documents it can be produced for inspection by the RIB at a kennel audit. If the plan is not up to date or available, the RIB may issue an improvement notice.

Further assistance

LPs looking for new ideas of ESE activities can view a list of activities appropriate for each lifecycle stage here.

Any LP requiring additional information should check out the FAQs below.

Exercise, Socialisation and Enrichment Plan FAQs