Page 94 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Issue 15

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 9 4

Sighthound by Giacometti 1951, Le Chien, bronze, with
large lop ears. Unknown photographer

Fifthly. A return to the landrace? Or to its foundations.

The advantage with landraces is that there is an intention to improve the breed. Some
changes have proved successful, but many have not.

The inclusion of other dogs in a landrace has meant genetic diversity, but ultimately the type
has hardly been called into question. It remained stable over long periods of time. Because
the inclusion of other dogs did not happen constantly in every generation. For example,
Elizabeth Dawsari spoke of a foreign mating of the same type in approximately every 3rd
generation. (see Sloughi Review 7, Tohuwahou p.41).

This results in several findings. If the type remains stable, it is advantageous to include

foreign blood in the line at certain intervals. In the case of a Sloughi, for example, this means
that the puppies of the following generations do not show any feathering and the basic type
remains stable.

Borzoi breeder Boldareff also explained this idea to us (Sloughi Review 13, page 129 ff).
According to Boldareff, the basic type must be preserved. This is only possible if one "knows
the old blood" (Boldareff).

So if we want to have an authentic Sloughi breed, we can allow foreign blood to a certain
extent. However, this must be done at long intervals and must not lead to the original type
being changed. Neither phenotypically nor genetically.