Saluki

[Giselle]

Oh jeez, my memory of the history of the sighthound is very very foggy, so all I can say definitively is that the Saluki is a very ancient breed and retains primal sighthound characteristics. Unfortunately, cancer is not an uncommon disease in this breed. Still, overall, Salukis are very healthy (as are most sights).

Since they are sighthounds, they don't have a very high drive to please their owner. Their original function was to seek prey and to run it down. There is absolutely no human intervention. Therefore, sighthounds usually don't make the best obedience competitors. Some people mistake this for "low intelligence". WRONG WRONG WRONG. Sighthounds are very intelligent in ways that humans can never imitate (can *you* catch sight of an animal and run up to 40 mph to chase it down?).

Sighthounds are the best. What can I say? They're all greyt!!

[Genny]

I've never had one but I think they are pretty dogs. They remind me of a gray hound and like toehrs said the afghan too.

[Miss Z]

Ah, I love salukis too. I've only ever met one, but she was a lovely dog; very even tempered and gentle.

Their original function was to seek prey and to run it down. There is absolutely no human intervention.

Yes, I think nomadic tribes use three animals to hunt; the arab horse, the hawk and the saluki. The saluki retrieves the prey of the hawk, I think. Something along those lines, it was a while since I read about it. So no, I don't think they like an excess of human company.

ETA: Just realised how old this thread is, and what happened to the OP.

[SemaviLady]

I've had two different Salukis in the far decades of my ancient past. I loved them, they are wonderful dogs.

They are true to their independent sighthound nature. This is hard coded. So someone that wants a cloying obedient pet, best look elsewhere. That said, people that are very good at understanding 'dog' and are attracted to sighthounds seem to do very well with them.

Indoors they tend to be very calm, easygoing and sedate (when mature). Some Saluki people have built amazing dog houses for them complete with TV and couches (seen in breed newsletters!). Salukies, like cats, know how to find and get on the softest comfortable places in the home.

Outdoors, they are energetic, and love to stretch their legs. You cannot really have small free-ranging pets that may catch their eye. They are very quick on the kill. They can jump pretty high so you need good fencing. There are stories of Salukis taking cooked/cooling holiday Turkeys down from the top of the fridge. (people that share these stores are often laughing, the love is obvious).

Salukies are also one of those breeds that seem to recognize their own kind pretty well. They have unique ways of playing with each other. It is awesome watching them, almost like watching fairies whose toes almost never touch the ground except to leap again.

Mine were were lightly feathered on the ears, but even so, the back of the ears tangle pretty easily into silky grannyknots of the century so they need attention at least once a week. Tail feathering is coarser in texture and relatively easy to care for. Heavily feathered ears are sometimes protected with snoods to keep them from getting into waterbowls and food dishes. (There are smooth salukis as well.)

Temperamentwise, the two I had about twenty years apart were polar opposites. The first one was social and bold (as much one might see on that end of the bell curve in the breed), and the other one was terribly skittish, shaky and spooky. In generally you will probably find more dogs in the middle of that spectrum. I'm not sure why I was so 'lucky', but it sure did teach me a lot about not drawing conclusions on a breed based on one good or bad experience. I loved both dogs and remember them fondly.