A quote from Susan Bamford’s article on Sloughis in JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PRIMITIVE ABORIGINAL DOGS, No. 28, Dec. 2011 >…
Today’s narrow concept of "breed" is very specific to our "Western" civilisation subsequent to the early 1800s… The different types of sighthound (which have been turned into individual breeds by our Western world) all seem to have many areas of similarity and appear to have developed from one (or possibly more) ancient root stocks – gradually changing or evolving in different places to cope with local conditions (weather, terrain, game to be hunted,and so on) and forming what we in our Western world now call "breeds" such as Saluki, Sloughi, Azawakh, Afghan, Galgo, Tazi, etc. People living across Eastern, Middle Eastern and North African countries, on the other hand, and continuing to use their hounds for hunting and coursing game, appear to have bred primarily to type and performance - they were not looking for a static picture postcard of a dog for the show-ring, but a functional hunting hound that would look good, could perform well and catch them their supper. Obviously they would not be mixing true sighthounds with herding or street dogs but on the other hand I don't think they would have been unduly bothered by minor visual aspects of conformation, coat or colour in their sighthounds, except maybe in terms of personal preferences…<
Today’s narrow concept of "breed" is very specific to our "Western" civilisation subsequent to the early 1800s… The different types of sighthound (which have been turned into individual breeds by our Western world) all seem to have many areas of similarity and appear to have developed from one (or possibly more) ancient root stocks – gradually changing or evolving in different places to cope with local conditions (weather, terrain, game to be hunted,and so on) and forming what we in our Western world now call "breeds" such as Saluki, Sloughi, Azawakh, Afghan, Galgo, Tazi, etc. People living across Eastern, Middle Eastern and North African countries, on the other hand, and continuing to use their hounds for hunting and coursing game, appear to have bred primarily to type and performance - they were not looking for a static picture postcard of a dog for the show-ring, but a functional hunting hound that would look good, could perform well and catch them their supper. Obviously they would not be mixing true sighthounds with herding or street dogs but on the other hand I don't think they would have been unduly bothered by minor visual aspects of conformation, coat or colour in their sighthounds, except maybe in terms of personal preferences…<