THE SALUKI

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 December 1926, Page 4

THE SALUKI

OLDEST BREED OF DOGS. MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. NOW AN ENGLISH KENNEL NOVELTY. The latest dog star in the ascendant belongs to the saluki. Some fanciers say he is the “coming dog,” and that Sealyhams, Belgian griffons, English Danes, “chiens-loups”—all favourites of recent years—seem likely to be replaced by salukis. The newest fashion in dogs is, as it happens, also the oldest, says the “New York Times.” The saluki is reputed to be the first dog known to history. Whenever you see the word “dog” in the Bible it means the saluki. Pictures and cuniform writings in the Calcutta Museum prove them to have been domestic pets fifty centuries ago. These are tfie dogs which the Pharaohs hunted. If one has doubts, look at the hieroglyphs upon the most ancient Egyptian tombs. There is'the saluki, just as he is to-day, readily identifiable. But the tombs, valuable as is their testimony, fail to record tw r o of the dog’s most striking points; He tracks entirely by sight and he makes no sound of any kind. No danger that neighbours will complain about your dog barking if he is a saluki. At the saluki show held in London the other day—the third of its kind —not a bark, not a yap, w r as heard. The saluki —sometimes called the “gazelle hound,” and, erroneously, the “Persian greyhound”—originated among the nomad tribes of the Arabian deserts. All of the region stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Sahara is his habitate, including Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the steppes of Siberia. Besides gazelles, he hunts jackals, foxes, and hares. The Arabs say that these dogs are unable to kill without the aid of hawks and falcons. That the Arab is w r rong is proved by the salukis now in England. Capital Hunters. The dogs make capital hunters of game with no outside aid, and their admirers say they beat the average hunting dog many timeg over in rough country. The deepest sand, the biggest boulders are surmounted by the saluki with ease and speed. The speed of the saluki is tremendous. His feet are pronounced by experts “very wonderful.’ They are hard and firm and the growth of hair between the toes is remarkable. In all its running and leaping, the dog in no way damages its pads and toes. In appearance the saluki resembles the English greyhound; one would know they were cousins, just as he know's that the saluki to be kin to the Italian greyhound and the Russian wolfhound. But the oldest of dogs is much more beautiful than these more recent relatives of his. His beauty is, in fact, the obvious thing about him; his grace and symmetry of his form; his head with its expression of dignity, mixed with gentleness. The eyes are deep and far-seeing, as befits the hunter who tracks by eye alone. The “feather” upon the ears and tail and at the back of the thighs is a rare adornment. There are smooth-coated salukis, but they enjoy neither the prestige nor the popularity of the “feathered” variety. At the London show there was not a single entry in the smooth-coated class. White, cream, fawn, golden, red, grizzle and tan, tri-colour (white, bladk, and tan), and black and tan—there are the salukis chosen colours. His coat is of silky texture. Ears are long and well covered with longer hair. .Though large and oval, the hazel eyes are never unduly prominent. The long tail set on low and carried naturally in a curve, the arches of the loin, the arched toes, the -well-muscled shoulders that showno sign of coarseness—all these things proclaim the thoroughbred. It is typical of the breed that the female is much smaller than the male.