Page 131 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

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CHAPTER 10 - THE HUNTING DOG AND PROTECTOR OF HERDS
AND DWELLINGS, WHERE DO WE FIND THE SLOUGHI?

“For those of them whose livelihood is based on grain cultivation and

agriculture, it is better to stay in one place than to move around.
These are the inhabitants of the hamlets, villages and mountainous
areas, namely the great mass of Berbers and non-Arabs. Those who
earn their living from freely grazing livestock such as cattle and

sheep, in most cases move around to find pasture and water for their
animals, because for them it is more beneficial to move back and
forth in the country.”
Ibn Khaldoun, Muqqadima, p.136

We have shed light on some aspects of the questions related to domestication. Derived
from this, a completely new picture emerges of how we have to understand the Sloughi.

The Sloughi does not originate from a sedentary culture, but in particular its
characteristic of guarding herds and dwellings arises from a social disposition of canids in
general. In addition to this disposition, there is also the disposition to hunt, which also
contributes to the protection of herds and crops. Therefore, the Sloughi originally
developed as a type before a sedentary culture.

We still see nomadic and semi-nomadic people living among the Berber peoples today,
but they also have a permanent residence. We will look at this aspect below with Raphael

Joorde in Roman times and Johan Gallant will tell us about the immigration of Africa by
people with their dogs. Different types of dogs and the immigration of groups from
present-day Sudan will be explained.

The process generally referred to as “domestication”, how the dog came to man, must

therefore be reconsidered. First of all, we must realise that the wolf, as we see it today in
the form of the grey wolf for example, cannot be regarded as the progenitor of the dog.
Dog and wolf have a common ancestor from which both species descend. Today's grey
wolf is therefore at best a “cousin”, if not a distant relative of today's dog, as genetics tells
us (see Bergström, Skoglund).