Page 132 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

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In Kurt Kotrschal's book we find a few important thoughts on domestication. By
“domestication” Kotrschal means above all the genetic adaptation to humans [76]. In his
wolf research centre in Ernstbrunn near Vienna, he notes that today's wolves are far less
aggressive than the traditional portrayal of wolves would have us believe. On the
contrary, the domesticated dogs have greater aggression potential than the wild
wolves!

We humans share communication systems such as sight, hearing and smell with dogs and
other mammals [77]. Humans and dogs or wolves, however, also share almost the same
social system: “Both are small group creatures that cooperate very well with each other
within their clans or packs, not by exerting pressure on each other, but mainly for the

pleasure of working together. No wonder, since both human clans and wolf packs are usually
family groups. ... To keep inbreeding at a low level, women have always married into
neighbouring clans, ... Wolves seem even more flexible than humans in this respect. ... Homo
sapiens shares with wolves the tendency to wage war against neighbouring groups” [78].

Kotrschal further: “Wolves only cooperate with individuals in a social group. And the only
way to establish a social association with wolves is to hand-rear the pups, starting when
their eyes are still closed. Only then does the basic trust necessary for cooperation develop”

[79].

So we see that family formation is an essential part of socialisation, and this is not only
the case in the defence of herds, as we have seen above, but also in hunting. The mutual
respectful interaction between animals and humans characterises hunter-gatherer
cultures. In addition, wolves react to any disrespectful behaviour such as commanding,
pushing around or even physical punishment with immediate resistance [80].

This underlines that a Sloughi, which carries these traits even more strongly than a
representative of a modern selected dog breed, must above all be understood as a social
being. And this social being Sloughi does not need any training for the desired (hunting)
activities, he brings along the necessary qualities in the sense of his origin. The older
Sloughis teach the younger ones the qualities they have brought with them by teaching or

example in special situations. This can be called “training”. Control and pressure,
however, spoil the Sloughi and it can then also react aggressively.