Page 37 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 9
P. 37
T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 3 7
It occurs in diverse purebred manifestations
that have developed over historical periods as
a result of regional conditions of existence
within the borders of the respective migration
areas (isolates)" (26).
The Oska or Idi, both denoting "the dog" in
this Azawakh region, is the only type of dog
found.
Dr. Werner Röder continues:
"The guideline for any breeding selection is
Territories in West Africa, where Tuareg people
live today the suitability of the dog for the everyday life
of the nomadic family. ... The qualities
Dr. Werner Röder sheds light on the origin necessary for this have been developed in the
and characteristics of the sighthound we character of the Azawakh through breeding
know as Azawakh here in Europe. This selection and survival selection: on the one
sighthound, however, originates from the hand, the guarding of a protective area
southern distribution area of the Tuareg, entrusted to it by loud threats and by
namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. They attacking and chasing away as soon as the
differ from the types of the nomadic intruder falls below a certain distance. On the
sighthound in Ajjer and Ahaggar in other hand, and as an indispensable
southern Algeria and the Aoukar in complement: the willingness to form a close
Mauritania.
bond with the human, who determines the
dog's behaviour through earliest conditioning.
"The sighthound types of Africa are referred The observance of the 'tent order', the
to as the companions of the pastoralist peaceful interaction with family members,
peoples who have lived for millennia from domestic animals and herds and non-
the Sudan to the Atlantic coast and between aggressive behaviour towards guests and
the Mediterranean and the 'southern shore' strangers on the move, ... on the observance of
(Arabic: Sahel). Geographical barriers and which the survival of the individual dog in the
social separation from the rest of Africa have nomadic society depends."
prevented the nomadic sighthound from
interbreeding until today.
