Are greyhounds the fastest dog?
June 29th 2008 08:33
The aristocratic saluki
Picture: Wikipedia.com
Greyhounds can reach speeds of about 70 kmh (45 mph) and are clearly the fastest dog breed on Earth. Aren't they?
Maybe not. It is possible that the aristocratic saluki is faster. I call salukis aristocratic because they are not only perhaps the fastest breed, they are probably the oldest.
And if the chap pictured above isn't an aristocrat, I don't know what is.
The question of which is the faster breed remains unanswered for the droll reason that salukis are not interested in chasing things such as mechanical hares and therefore will not race greyhounds on a track. If you think this is further proof of aristocratic nature, I agree with you.
Salukis do show an interest, however, in chasing gazelles. This, indeed, is what they were bred for. And as gazelles are known to reach speeds of 80kmh, a reasonable case can be made for the saluki's superiority.
Their history is fascinating. The breed could be 9,000 years old, with excavations from the Sumerian empire (7,000 to 6,000 BC) having unearthed carvings of dogs with a striking resemblance to the saluki. A study published in the May 21, 2004 issue of Science confirms the saluki's antiquity through DNA analysis identifying it as one of the earliest breeds to diverge from wolves.
Salukis appear on Egyptian tombs from 2100 BC. The dogs were so esteemed that they were often mummified like the bodies of the Pharaohs themselves. Numerous saluki remains have been found in the ancient tombs of the Upper Nile region.
The name saluki comes from the name of the ancient Arabian city of Saluq. For about 2,000 years, nomadic Bedouin tribesmen have been breeding salukis and their origins are strongly tied to that lifestyle. Their native habitat is thought to stretch from the Sahara to the Caspian Sea and this geographic diversity has also led to marked variation in the breed's colour and size.
The saluki has also been known as a gazelle hound, royal dog of Egypt, Persian greyhound and tazi. There is evidence of the breed in Belgium during the Middle Ages, but their popularity in Europe became most evident in the late 1800s in England. The Saluki or Gazelle Hound Club was formed in England in 1923 and the Saluki Club of America was formed four years later.
In 1919, the National Geographic Society's The Book of Dogs had this to say about salukis: "This ancient race is one of the most peculiar, most beautiful, and most puzzling of dogs. His graven image comes to us as one of the earliest of man's essays in art, and is so easily recognizable that there is no doubt possible as to the archaic artist's model."
Indeed, but it seems that even the National Geographic Society can't answer the big question: is the saluki faster than the greyhound? Personally, I think we should accept the saluki's disdainful indifference. When you've been around as long as they have, they don't have to prove anything.
Sources: Wikipedia.com, Wisdompanel.com, Classicsaluki.com
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