In order to race in the United States, a greyhound must be registered with the National Greyhound Association (NGA). In 2003, more than 26,000 dogs were registered with the association.

A pregnant dog may need to increase her daily food intake by three or four times so that her unborn puppies can develop properly. The dogs cannot see or hear until they are two or three weeks old. When they are four or five weeks old, the puppies and mother can move from a relatively small enclosure to a larger one where they can run about safely. Puppies should be kept away from adult females other than their mother because these older dogs will sometimes kill puppies that are not their own.

A greyhound puppy must be tattooed on its ears before it is three months old. The left ear gets the litter registration number; the right ear contains information of the month and year of its birth and other information so the individual puppy can be identified later.

As the puppies get older, they run and play with their litter mates. Sometimes, a male and female will be paired together. By the time they are 10 or 11 months old, they have achieved their full adult body weight. At about this time, the dogs also start to "roo," or sing and howl together. They are taught simple commands, how to use a lead, and to behave well around humans.

The dogs begin their race training when they are about a year old. Because their desire to run and chase is instinctual, it is relatively easy for them to learn to chase a lure that is dragged along the ground. They are also natural competitors, so when a race is started, no outside stimulus is needed to get them to chase the lure and try to reach it first.

The dogs begin their practice runs without a starting box at first, so that trainers can see how well the dogs get along with one another, and how well they respond to the lure. After a while, they are put into schooling races, non-wager preliminary races before the feature events, so that the dogs get a taste of what it is like to race in front of a crowd.

Greyhounds begin racing when they are about a year-and-a-half old. A typical schedule calls for the dog to be in two races a week; the rest of the time is spent in the kennel and generally taking it easy. Most dogs retire when they are about four years old, though a few may continue to compete until they are six years old.