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Saluki Gazelle Hound Database and Breed Information ExchangeLETTER TO FCI RE NEW SALUKI STANDARD
Gail Goodman
(Republished with permission, from Saluki or Gazelle Hound Magazine March 1997)Federation Cynologique Interllatic)nale
Secretariate General
attn: Dr Pa.schoud, Standards Cornmission 1'3 Place Albert I
B 6530 THUIN
Belgium
Dear Officers, Committee Members and Representatives:
Upon receiving the FCI Saluki Standard No. 269/03/03/1997/GB, I noted ORIGIN: Middle East and was both surprised and pleased at the change. However, origin: Middle East are the only words in this "new" standard which accurately describe the Saluki. This new standard is ANTI-HISTORY, ANTI-ARAB, ANTI-SALUKI! What a tragedy thatis as we approach the 21st century, the greatest danger to the extinction of this marvellous, varied, ancient breed is the new FCI standard.
Ignorance of history, lack of logic and rational thinking prevail in the very first sentences of this destructive document. The historical summary is pure nonsense. The General Appearance absolutely destroys in a single phrase the greatest strength of the breed, its wide variation in structure, PROPORTlON, and type. Those who created this standard should be ashamed of themselves and those who approved it can congratulate themselves on finally killing this resiliant, healthy hound of ancient lineage.
The general appearance of the native Saluki was never and rernains generally NOT rectangular. This standard is yet another attempt by a handful of show-breeders to impose their ignorance and selfishness on an entire fancy. It is also a shameful attempt to eliminate further competition from Middle Eastern imports because the majority of Eastern bred hounds do not look like the animal described in this standard.
In many breeds, the people who use the breed to do the work it came into existence to perform say that dog shows "ruin" the breed. Fortunately for Salukis, the original standard was general enough to permit wide variation in type, parallelling the actual situation in native environments and permitting continued importation (genetic diversity) with either the imports or their offspring having success racing, coursing, and sometimes showing. The 1923 British standard, due to explicit wording with regard to wide variation in type, not merely size and coat, and very general wording in areas critical to the maintenance and acceptance of that variation in the show ring - preserved the breed in a generally healthy state while permitting the influx of imports from the countries of origin. This is HEALTHY. However, the current FCI standard no longer even describes any but a few Western show-bred specimens - weak, long-loined, bony-breasted animals - and eliminates almost all athletic and Eastern bred hounds. How is this supposed to preserve or benefit the breed?
The 872 page volume, The Saluqi: Coursing Hound of the East was published in 1995. Thirty writers contributed to this work, some world renowned scholars, many Arabists familiar with the breed in the Middle East and Africa. There are tables of measurements, relative proportions, and percentages of hounds that measure rectangular, square, or shorter bodied than tall. These are tables of hard data - real measurements that numerous people worldwide made the effort to collect. These data sources are veterinary doctoral dissertations. There are ample numbers of hounds in the Saudi Arabian and American samples. These tables provide hard data which clearly demonstrate the range of height to length measurements. The average Saluki is NOT slightly elongated, its proportions are NOT 10:9, it does NOT have a long loin to show off the slightly elongated format.
The table of comparisons of measurements of Salukis in the United States reveals that as one moves from desert imports to show champions (dogs and bitches), one can see a steady lengthening of the Saluki (page 696). However, the most revealing and damaging table is that of the percentages of greyhounds and Salukis that are longer than tall. In greyhounds, 100% of the dogs and 88% of the bitches are longer than tall. For Salukis in America: desert imports/direct desert descent, 7% of the dogs and 0% of the bitches are longer than tall; titled open-field coursing Salukis, 15% of the dogs and 0% of the bitches are longer than tall; lure-chasing title holders, 16% of the dogs and 47% of the bitches are longer than tall; AKC show champions, 23% of the dogs and 55% of the bitches are longer than tall. Of the total breed sample (36 dogs, 47 bitches) 17% of the dogs and 30% of the bitches are longer than tall (page 700). There are numerous tables of REAL (as opposed to imagined or perceived by the eye alone) measurements and tables of aggregated data throughout this book. The purpose of collecting all this material was to debunk damaging myths. The tables from pages 696,700,702,755,818 and Appendix B: pp 852-863 provide enough data to clearly demonstrate that the proportions of the breed Saluki range from shorter bodied than tall (8:10) to square (10:10) to longer bodied than tall (10:8). It is absurd to propose that the human eye can distinguish a centimetre difference in proportion. My experience in taking measurements (imprecise on living dogs) and comparing them to my visual guess is that dogs that APPEAR slightly rectangular measure SQUARE. Dogs which are actually rectangular do NOT represent the average or norm for the breed anywhere except the dog show ring and this is due to selection based on myth now tragically legitimised by the FCI.
The Saluqi: Coursing Hound of the East was donated to the FCI by the Kennel Club of Bahrain, which, I presume, was not invited to comment on this new standard since Mrs Danah Al Khalifa'.s chapter in the book ridicules goat-like ears, slack pasterns and long backs - all unacceptable to the Arab breeders she has known during her long residence in the Middle East. But then, Westerners are not obligated to read books or consider Eastern opinions- they obviously wish to transform the Saluki into an imaginary creature to reflect the deterioration the breed is suffering in its move from incomparable Eastern athlete to Western lounge lizard show dog. This is heartbreaking to those of us who are fascinated with the real Saluki, its real function, and its really ancient history
Brief comment follows on some of the more irrational, absurd or inaccurate wording in this 3/3/97 standard:
The Sumerian (Tepe Gawra) images do NOT show dogs with fringes on the ears, tail and legs - they show smooth bodied dogs; overwhelmlngly upright m carriage, with tails UP; gaily some OVER thc back Egyptian images again show smooth ears, legs, bodies and, on some hounds, slight tail fringe. The dogs "appear" square.
Egypt is in Africa, it is west of the Arabian peninsula AND obviously an original source of the breed (predating the Selucids by several thousand years). The range of the breed Saluki is from Russia to Africa, from Iran to at least Egypt (if people cannot give up the fantasy of three breeds).
Neither the Tepe Gawra images nor the Egyptian images are greyhounds - they are Salukis or "lithe coursing hounds". The British imperialistically called Salukis greyhounds, reflecting their Eurocentrism. Neither the British not their greyhound existed in 5000BC, difficult as that may be for some people to accept. The word greyhound should not appear in a standard for the Saluki because it causes confusion and predisposes people to expect "greyhound shaped" hounds, ie., long bodied. Lithe coursing hounds is accurate.
The Saluki was clearly (to anyone who bothers to look at a map) all over the Middle East for thousands of years BEFORE the Selucids rose to power. The Selucids are somehow associated ONLY with the word (name) Saluki - NOT with either the origin or dispersion (since there is no precise site of origin) of the breed. There is zero evidence that the Saluki hounds were "fringed"; this is a disgraceful attempt to promote feathered hounds when all evidence indicates feathering was and remains irrelevant to hunters everywhere.
As a matter of fact, the AL Jahiz standard from ca. 1000 CE makes absolutely no mention of feathering (fringes) - NONE. This is the only written, authentically Arab description (standard) for the Saluki. The opening words of this standard state: "Men Knowledgeable in these things say that some distance between the forelegs and the hind legs of a Saluqi is a mark of good speed, but his back should be somewhat short". The only reference to hair is one that reveals health and soundness: "The hair of both (dog and bitch) should be fine and soft for this indicates strength". With regard to tail length, this standard states: "It is not hateful for a female to have along tail but it is disliked in the male" .
For an accurate history and "labelling" of the breed in England (zoo Saluki and all) refer to Mrs June A. Burt'.s chapter in The Saluqi, particularly pages 349-355.
The Saluqi discusses every point in this new FCI standard which is nearly the same as the clumsy and damaging British standard of 1987, except this FCI version is more restrictive, more damaging and more devoted to Westernising the breed. There is NO evidence that sloping pasterns are desirable; prominent breastbones are absolutely NOT found in coursing hounds, they are buried or wrapped in muscle; ear length and carriage as well as tail length and carriage are highly varied; all running animals possess fast twitch and slow twitch muscle masses (bunchy and flat); the loin does not arch like a bubble on the dog's back - the arch begins after the withers and is caused by muscling throughout the body, the loin muscle as well as the back muscles cause the back and loin to appear broad and powerful; the loin is SHORT, DEEP and STRONG.
What do squarely implanted teeth look like? Saluki's brain cases (one purpose of the skull) should be large - the backskull is not narrow. The forehead must be broad for a head full of brains.
Enough. As expressed in my opening comments, I repeat - what irony that as the Saluki enters the 21st century, its greatest enemy, after all these thousands of years, is the British-FCI breed standard! This standard is anti-history, anti- Arab and anti-Saluki. It is the product of ignorance; ignorance always does harm. If modern doctors behaved towards their patients as dog show registering organisations behave towards dogs, doctors would still be applying leeches to cure our ills.
The new FCI Saluki standard is doggie voodoo, not Saluki science, not even an attempt at preserving this marvellous breed that dances through history on seals and frescoes, and coursing fields even today. The FCI has severed the cord connecting past to present.
Sincerely,
Gail Goodman, Editor, The Saluqi: Coursing Hound of the East.
Copyright 1997, Gail Goodman and Saluki Or Gazelle Club MagazineClick here to return to SALUKI MAIN MENU