Page 45 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Issue 15

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 4 5

Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, smooth Saluki, 2006
© J. Rübesam

Jutta Rübesam wrote to me about the smooth Saluki pictured above: "Bahrain lies off the
coast of Saudi Arabia. Mrs Balles writes that Dr. Olms' dogs were probably from Saudi
Arabia. She writes that the grey dog (which probably refers to my photos) comes from a pure

Arabian line called "Blues" Zirg in Arabic. Other Salukis owned by Dr. Olms are said to have
had Persian blood. Of this pure Arabian breed, which I described above as the old Bedouin
breed, she says these Salukis are not as fast but hunt game with stamina. So in principle,
Saudi Arabia as the origin of smooth Salukis, as you said."

Przezdziecki's or Oechslin's preference for improving the gait and the resulting speed is a
one-sided functional consideration that causes a change in the overall picture of the
Sloughi. It is understandable in a modern sense to want to select for certain
characteristics eugenically, that is: in the family, "in the line". However, the type was also
changed in the process. Some breeding lines, for example, have ears that are far too large

for a Sloughi. The extent to which changes in character and other traits have taken place
is currently not precisely described.

The Swiss SKG and the SHSB have had to make some difficult decisions, as the Salukis of
Burchard and Tepe Gawra were not recognised by the Swiss Saluki Club. Probably due to
their lack of knowledge, they simply favoured the feathered = Saluki, smooth = Sloughi.
However, they did not take into account the country of origin and the then updated

Sloughi standard of 1 January 1981.