AKC Gazette Articles

May 2001

TEMPERAMENT IN THE SALUKI

Don’t let your Saluki off lead except in a fenced yard. Expose your Salukis to strange people and locations constantly as a young dog, to ensure they won’t be spooky later on. Saluki prey instinct is so strong, they can’t be trusted around small animals. You must get your Saluki young; they don’t bond well as older dogs. Salukis are sensitive, delicate minded dogs and need a soft hand in training; obedience is not natural to a Saluki and they shouldn’t be expected to perform when asked. Salukis can become confused when out running and forget how to return; at such times they might panic unless their special person is around to call them in.

Does any of this sound familiar? Advice such as this is handed out every day to prospective Saluki owners, and accepted by many as absolute truth. Have you ever thought to question these absolute truths against breed history?

For millennia, Salukis lived and hunted with nomadic tribes. Until the availability of rifles, Salukis helped provide food for the cooking pot, and were family companions. If you have the opportunity to view Sir Terence Clark’s videos, you will see Salukis living in compounds with other domesticated animals, including chickens and goats. The men expected their Salukis to be fast and hardy, to hunt well and come back at the end of their run. When the encampment moved the Salukis either moved with them or were left behind. Can you picture an overly sensitive or fear biting hound in this sort of environment? For that matter, what Bedouin would tolerate a dog submission peeing in the tent?

I recall a prominent Saluki breeder once telling me shyness was traditionally correct in the breed since the Bedouins would want their Salukis to hide when strangers visited so they wouldn’t be coveted. How many times would hunters put up with a dog reluctant to return if there were strange people in the hunting party?

We have allowed the romance and fantasy of the Saluki to overshadow reality, to the detriment of the breed. Aloof means discerning, not shy. Constant exposure to strange surroundings will condition almost any dog to tolerate public events but is not a substitute for a genetically strong temperament. Salukis can and have changed owners at any age, fitting seamlessly into new homes. Top open field coursers can live in the same house and yard as cats or other small animals.

Of all the statements in the first paragraph, only the first should be held as an absolute truth. The best trained dog of any breed can be distracted, or frightened, and dash out in front of a vehicle. Sighthound speed increases the potential for danger.

"What you don’t breed for you lose." These words of the late Dr. Dan Belkin apply to every aspect of Saluki breeding. In a world of ever shrinking living space and increasing sociological pressures, mental health is at least as important as physical. "Exotic neurotic" Salukis flying around a ring because they can’t relax and pulling away from a judge’s gentle hand are to be pitied, not praised. Not bred from. A heritage of cooperation between hunters - man and hound - can too easily become a heritage of codependency.

Is this what we want to leave to future generations of Salukis?

NATIONAL UPDATE. The 2001 SCOA National will introduce a Triathlon competition, testing body, brain, beauty, and the determination of Saluki owners. We hope to see many Saluki people and those interested in learning more about the breed in Kentucky this June