Page 140 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

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With Africanis, who also works with people in hunting, people say: The dogs are our
eyes and ears. So they improve the success in hunting. At the same time, like Azawakh
or Sloughi, they move freely in the field.

The described living situations in which the Azawakh and the Sloughi move can in no way
be described as “domesticated” .. Once again, we quote Erik Zimen: “Domestic breeds are

only created by selective breeding by humans according to certain objectives in the
reproductive lines genetically isolated from humans” [88].

According to the descriptions of the A.B.I.S. expeditions by Dr. Roeder (Sloughi Review

No.9), the Azawakh roams freely in the tent villages. The most assertive male mates with
the bitch in heat or she lets the most attractive male have his way. Here the matings of
the same types of dogs remain due to the unconditional reality of the desert, which does
not allow other types of dogs to exist there. Therefore, the Azawakhs have remained
among themselves in great genetic diversity.

Dr Gabriele Meißen emphasises, however, that there should also be targeted matings in
certain Tuareg tribes. Whether this targeted mating is in substantial agreement with the

selection ideas according to genotype and phenotype remains questionable, however.

We find a very similar situation among the nomadic tribes in the north who have Sloughis
in their community. However, as the sedentary breeders there also point out, there are
clear guidelines for mating. But it is rather the ideas of a mating of the same type, namely

to preserve the good qualities, which may be described differently at the respective
location. Therefore, in the Sloughi we find the types of nomads, but also types from semi-
nomads to sedentary situations. In all these types, however, which occur in the original
countries, one will not or rather not assume a domesticated form for the reasons
mentioned above, which we will go into in more detail below.

We only find the form of the domesticated Azawakh or Sloughi in the modern idea of the

breed systematics of the FCI or other systems of Kennel Clubs. Whether this is an
improvement for the dog types remains to be seen.

In any case, a purebred Sloughi bred according to beauty rules cannot prevail in the
long run against an original type with its requirements of performance characteristics.
Or, conversely, a “beauty winner” will not be outperformed by a working dog. So we are

moving in two fundamentally different systems.