Page 56 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Issue 15

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 5 6

Dog mummy from tomb KV50, Cairo Museum, ca.
1400 BC, dog with small hanging ears, rather fine-
leathered, of the type of a North African Sloughi, head
study © Anna Marie-Kellen

Thomas Liedtke: The ears of Sloughis are small to medium-sized, rather delicate and can
be folded in many ways, while the ears of Salukis are large, rather fleshy, less flexible and
foldable, although this depends somewhat on the type of Saluki. Animals that live in hot

geographical zones have large ears, as is the case with donkeys or African elephants, for
example. Accordingly, the North African Sloughis that live in the Sahara should have large
ears, as is the case with Middle Eastern Salukis.

... The behaviour of Sloughi, Saluki and Azawakh in a pack is very similar, all three
understand each other immediately, whereas with other breeds, such as Whippet, Galgo,

Afghan, misunderstandings often arise.
... You can make a breed out of any village dog if you want to. The only proof is that the
offspring have the same characteristics and look the same as their parents, and that over

generations. You see, Xavier Przezdziecki, for example, was not aware that Sloughis had
drooping ears until he met Bedouin dogs from the south of Algeria who had not cropped
their ears!

Thomas Liedtke: Zoologically, a breed or race is a sexually isolated population that lives
as if on an island. The idea that such a systematic approach took place in earlier centuries

just to produce dogs with lop-ears is unlikely. However, it is indicative of the inaccurate
idea of Xavier Przezdziecki and the proponents of the theory that Middle Eastern Salukis
and North African Sloughis are the same because they could eventually be bred in this
form in a few generations.

Physiologically, the differences between a village dog and a sighthound are considerable.
It remains questionable whether a significantly larger heart and thicker blood in a
sighthound can be achieved through selective breeding.

Thomas Liedtke on FB: The ethnic groups, both Arabs and Berbers, which at first glance
have a lot in common, are fundamentally different in language, culture and art.