Saluki GRACE & SYMMETRY SPEED & STRENGTH Movement
C an you select the fastest Olympic athlete in the 3,000-Meter Steeplechase without seeing them run? Of course not, but you might be able to pre- dict the winner using certain physical criteria. When we evaluate Salukis in the ring, we try to deter- mine which dogs meet the Breed Standard most closely for the best ones that day. By logical extension, in meet- ing the Standard, that Saluki should be able to run and hunt successfully. From the AKC Saluki Breed Standard (with empha- sis added): “The whole appearance of this breed should give an impression of grace and symmetry and of great speed and endurance coupled with strength and activity to enable it to kill gazelle or other quarry over deep sand or rocky mountains.” As the Saluki is intrinsically a hunter, we believe the Stan- dard helps us choose the best without them actually chasing a hare or gazelle. To fully comprehend the concept of move- ment in the AKC Saluki Standard, it’s important to know something about the creation of its British predecessor—the BY BRIAN PATRICK DUGGAN, M.A.
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first Saluki Standard in Western countries. THE 1923 & 1927 SALUKI STANDARDS
WHY ISN’T MOVEMENT DESCRIBED (OH WAIT, IT IS THERE!)
In the 1920s, other sighthound Standards in Britain didn’t mention movement at all—only giving a physical description of the dog standing. It’s likely this seeming “omission” was because the athleticism of a galloping hunter was self-evident from the breeds’ names: Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound); the well-known Greyhound; Irish Wolfhound; Scottish Deerhound; and Saluki or Gazelle Hound (perhaps also a factor was that indoor show rings of the day weren’t large enough to properly gait a sight- hound). The Saluki Standards of 1923 and 1927 both say in their ultimate paragraphs: “The whole appearance of this breed should give an impression of grace and symmetry and of great speed and endurance coupled with strength and activity to enable it to kill gazelle or other quarry over deep sand or rocky mountains.” So, we are looking for bone and muscle structure capable of hunting. Fluidity, efficient speed, and nimbleness (“nimble” being one of the British meanings for “active”). Even without text specifically describing gait, there is the clear implication in that last para- graph that we are to be evaluating athletic (hunting) potential.
Salukis were a rare breed in England until officers returned home from WWI service in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Sinai, and Syria. Owners of Salukis were just building up momentum to start a club when the discovery of Tut- ankhamun’s unopened tomb in late 1922 sparked the frenzy known as “Egyptomania.” This hastened the Kennel Club’s recognition of the Saluki or Gazelle Hound (as they were then called) in July 1923. The breed’s Standard was authored by people who’d hunted with Salukis in the Middle East, and coursed hares in England, as well as the most prominent Saluki scholar. The Standard was deliberately written broadly enough to include the range of body types from their regions of origin—an area of approximately four million square miles and larger than the continental United States. That 1923 Standard was adopted verbatim by the fledgling Saluki Club of America in 1927. * Our AKC Saluki Standard remains the oldest unchanged Standard in the Hound Group. *There was an entirely insignificant transposition of one word.
324 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2023
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