Page 93 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Issue 15

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 9 3

In order to improve the hunting characteristics, Salukis were now bred into the Sloughi lines
in some kennels. This new mixture appealed and so, in order to obtain a stable type, the
principles of line breeding were applied. The mistake, however, was that genetically most of
the smooth Salukis were Standard Salukis, which were labelled as Sloughi according to the
registration.

The FCI Standard 188c of 1973 did not yet specify the country of origin, the patronage for the
Sloughi breed was still held by France, which at times listed the Sloughi as a "French breed".
Morocco took over the patronage of the Sloughi standard in the early 1970s. It was not until
the FCI Standard 188d of 1 January 1981 that Morocco was specified as the country of origin.

However, due to line breeding, there are now two types of Sloughis bred according to the
standard. And these two camps are opposed to each other and there is no escape from them,
it seems, because each breeding line insists on its own line breeding.

The Sloughis bred according to the standard were originally all from Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia and Libya. They were characterised, for example, by a homozygous short-haired

appearance of the coat, as well as other characteristics typical of a North African Sloughi. Not
all of these Sloughis are based on line breeding. After all, North African Sloughis do not
produce mixed coloured, feathered offspring that distort the basic type, which would make
strict line breeding necessary.

However, those Sloughis that were labelled as Sloughis due to their individual appearance,
but in reality were and are mixed-breed individuals from other areas of origin with feathered
individuals, receive their mixed-breed ancestry through line breeding. In purely genetic
terms, they cannot become the Sloughis that have always been short-haired due to their
origin!

So we see that line breeding not only brings advantages, but also disadvantages. Genetically
inherited characteristics are always passed on. If a breeder insists on a particular line,
undesirable developments cannot be countered by a positive development in the sense of the

breed according to the standard.