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THE SALUKI / GREYHOUND. BY ALAN TYER. THE SALUKI CROSS GREYHOUND, WHAT A CONTROVERSIAL ANIMAL HE IS! ON THE ONE HAND HE IS CONSIDERED THE BEST TYPE FOR SINGLE-HANDED HARE COURSING. MANY DEVOTED OWNERS SWEAR BY THE SALUKI /GREYHOUNDS ABILITY TO UNRAVEL THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF HARE COURSING AND STATE THAT HE IS THE ONLY TYPE OF LONGDOG THAT CAN DO THIS TO A HIGH STANDARD ON A REGULAR BASIS. ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE ARE THOSE WHO STATE THAT THE SALUKI/GREYHOUND IS A STUPID ANIMAL WITH NO PLACE ON THE COURSING FIELD. THAT HE IS A RECALCITRANT NUMBSKULL AND ANY DOG WITH SALUKI BLOOD SHOULD BE DISPOSED OF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. STRONG WORDS INDEED. WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WELL BOTH OPINIONS HAVE SOME BASIS IN FACT. THE SALUKI /GREYHOUND IS NEITHER THE BEST COURSING HOUND THAT EVER LIVED, NOR IS HE A USELESS NUMBSKULL AND THEN AGAIN, HE CAN BE BOTH! SOMETIMES AT THE SAME TIME. A WALKING PARADOX. ANYBODY WHO HAS OWNED A SALUKI/GREYHOUND WILL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. I HAVE SEEN SOME THAT HAVE NOT BEEN WORTH A DISH OF DOG FOOD AND THEN AGAIN I HAVE SEEN SOME THAT ARE PRICELESS, PURE CLASS. LIKE MOST TYPES OF LURCHER / LONGDOG, THERE ARE GOOD EXAMPLES AND BAD ONES AND ITS IN THE LUCK OF THE DRAW WHICH TYPE YOU GET, OR IS IT? WHY DO SOME DOGMEN ALWAYS HAVE THE TOP DOG, THE CREAM, BE IT LONGDOG OR LURCHER? THIS COULD BE EASILY EXPLAINED IF THE GOOD DOG ALWAYS WENT TO THE MAN WITH THE MONEY BUT THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE, IN FACT THE LAD WITH THE HOME BRED DOG, BRED FROM " OLD GYP" TO A BITCH FROM "DOWN THE ROAD" IS JUST AS LIKELY TO HAVE A "REAL MACHINE" AS THE GUY WITH THE CASH TO BUY THE BEST. SO, WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THE SALUKI / GREYHOUND SUCH AN ENIGMA? WELL FIRST OF ALL MOST OF THE "SALUKI / GREYHOUNDS" ARE IN FACT MANY GENERATIONS AWAY FROM THE FIRST CROSS AND ARE IN FACT LINE-BRED LURCHERS BUT STILL PREDOMINATLEY SALUKI / GREYHOUND. THE BETTER OF THE FIRST CROSSES ARE BRED FROM AND THEN THE BETTER OF THE SECOND CROSSES ARE BRED FROM. WITH EACH GENERATION OF THIS BEST TO BEST BREEDING POLICY THE PERCENTAGE OF CAPABLE LONGDOGS IN A LITTER INCREASES, ALL BE IT, BY A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE. THIS, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, REPLACES THE "HYBRID VIGOUR" THAT IS THE MAINSTAY OF THE FIRST CROSS.NOW ALL THE "HYBRID VIGOUR" IN THE WORLD WILL NOT GUARANTEE A TOP CLASS LONGDOG, NEITHER WILL A BEST TO BEST BREEDING POLICY BUT BOTH WILL HELP. IF YOU HAVE A DOG, EITHER A FIRST CROSS OR ONE BRED DOWN FROM A BEST TO BEST BREEDING POLICY YOU HAVE A BLANK PAGE ON WHICH TO WORK. SOME DOGS, NO MATTER HOW THEY HAVE BEEN BRED PROVE TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK WITH; THEY JUST DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE SUCCESSFUL WORKING DOGS. THERE COMES A TIME WHEN EVEN THE MOST PATIENT OF DOG MEN HAS TO REALISE THAT THE PROMISING PUP OF THE YEAR BEFORE WILL NOT BE THE ONE TO LIFT THE BRITISH SINGLE-HANDED COURSING TROPHY, THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE IMPORTANT. IF YOUR SIGHTS ARE JUST TO HAVE A COURSING DOG THAT WILL GIVE MANY DAYS OF SPORT AND HAVING THE TOP CLASS DOG IS NOT THE BE ALL AND END ALL THAT IT IS TO SOME, THEN THINGS ARE A LITTLE EASIER. THE MAKE-UP OF THE SALUKI / GREYHOUND TO UNDERSTAND THE SALUKI / GREYHOUND WE FIRST HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE BREEDS THAT GO INTO ITS MAKE-UP. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE STATED THAT A LOT OF SALUKI / GREYHOUNDS ARE A LONG WAY FROM THE ORIGINAL CROSS, NEVER THE LESS, IN ITS MAKE-UP THE SALUKI AND THE GREYHOUND ARE THE TWO MAIN INFLUENCES. EVEN IF THERE WAS SOME OTHER BREED ADDED SOMETIME IN ITS ANCESTORY ITS INFLUENCE WOULD BE SLIGHT. GENETICALLY SPEAKING, THE TWO MAIN BREEDS ARE SO STRONG AND SO SIMILAR THAT THESE ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT SHOULD CONCERN US. THE GREYHOUND THE GREYHOUND HAS BEEN BRED AS A COURSING, RACING ANIMAL FOR MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS, IN FACT THE GREYHOUND AND THE SALUKI WERE ORIGINALLY THE SAME ANIMAL. WHY ARE THEY NOW SO VERY DIFFERENT? THINK OF THE TYPE OF COUNTRY, IN, WHICH, THE TWO ANIMALS HAVE TO DO THE JOB REQUIRED OF THEM. THE GREYHOUND HAS BEEN BRED FOR SPEED, SPEED TO REACH THE HARE BEFORE IT COULD REACH THE COVER THAT WAS ALWAYS ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY. SPEED TO CATCH THE HARE BEFORE IT SOUGHED. WHAT USE WAS THE GREAT STAMINA OF THE EASTERN GREYHOUND (SALUKI) WHEN IT WAS PITTED AGAINST A FASTER DOG IN A COURSING MATCH? AS WAS THE CASE IN ENGLAND. COURSING ABILITY AND SPEED WERE THE TWO MAIN CRITERIA BY WHICH A GREYHOUND WAS JUDGED. SPEED TO LEAD UP AND COURSING ABILITY TO SCORE THE POINTS NECESSARY TO WIN A COURSING MATCH. A DOG WAS BRED TO BEAT ANOTHER DOG, RATHER THAN TO CATCH GAME. SPEED AT THE COST OF STAMINA. COURSING ABILITY, AT THE COST OF LOSING THE ABILITY TO LAY OFF THE HARE UNTIL A CHANCE APPEARED TO STRIKE, (THIS ABILITY TO "LAY OFF" IS SEEN IN MANY OF OUR GREATEST SINGLE-HANDED LONGDOGS) YES, SOME GREYHOUNDS COULD STILL CATCH HARES AND CATCH THEM WELL. I SAW A GREYHOUND IN THE EIGHTIES CATCH ALL FIVE HARES IN A THIRTY TWO DOG STAKE AND THE TOTAL, YES TOTAL, RUNNING TIME WAS LESS THAN FIFTY SECONDS, ALL HARES BEING CAUGHT ON THE RUN-UP. IT CAN HAPPEN BUT DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH. IN THE GREYHOUND, WE HAVE A DOG THAT HAS SPEED TO BURN, SPEED AT THE COST OF STAMINA. FOR A DOG THAT WOULD PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE, SOMETHING WAS NEEDED TO BRING BACK THE STAMINA, THE SALUKI. THE SALUKI THE SALUKI IS AN INTELLIGENT DOG, THERE; I'VE SAID IT! HOW CAN I SAY THAT THE SALUKI IS IN ANY WAY INTELLIGENT, WHEN THE OPINION OF BETTER MEN THAN I SAY DIFFERENT? WELL IF YOU JUDGE INTELLIGENCE AS THE ABILITY TO LEARN, AS DO MOST INFORMED AND CLEVER DOG BEHAVIORIST, THEN I MUST BE WRONG, BUT HOLD ON A MINUTE, LEARN WHAT? TO SIT, TO STAY, TO WALK TO HEEL, YES ALL THESE ARE SIGNS OF AN INTELLIGENT DOG AND MANY LURCHERS CAN DO ALL THESE AND HUNT WELL. SOME OF THE CLEVEREST AND MOST RELIABLE HUNTERS ARE THE COLLIE BRED LURCHERS THAT YOU SEE FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION IS TO DISCUSS THE SALUKI, SO HOW CAN I CALL A SALUKI INTELLIGENT? WELL, IS NOT A CAT INTELLIGENT? BUT WHERE IS THE MAN WHO CAN TRAIN A CAT TO SIT, TO STAY AND DO ALL THE TRICKS THAT ARE SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOUR? IF YOU ACCEPT THAT A CAT IS INTELLIGENT THEN YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT INTELLGENCE CAN SHOW ITSELF IN DIFFERENT WAYS. |