The Oldest Purebred Dog in The World?
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By Lee Conner
For so many of our pedigree breeds, their histories often consist of a mixture of tall tales, myth and legend. It’s up to those interested in the pedigree dog to separate fact from fiction – a task that’s not always easy!
However, a tool that’s always very useful in this fight for the truth is their portrayal in works of art; it gives us such a valuable insight into the development of all our pedigree dog breeds.
But even with works of art, there often has to be a fair bit of ‘artistic license’ given when ascribing any dog portrayed to a particular breed. I’ve seen early works featuring ‘spotted dogs’ that breed enthusiasts eagerly claim as Dalmatians, when the only commonality between the small (often rather stout dogs in the medieval paintings) with today’s sporty looking Dalmatians is a spotted coat!
There are no such doubts with the breed I plan to feature this month – the stunningly beautiful Saluki.
As Edward Ash so poetically put it;
Saluki – the very name conjures a picture of yellow sands and vivid colors of the unchanging East. For though Arabia has indeed seen, “many strange vicissitudes and many histories known” yet in the far away deserts the daily life of the nomadic tribes remain unchanged; a picture of today is a picture of bygone centuries, of flocks and camels, of crawling caravans, of heated arguments of tribal wars; of horses, greyhounds, and the capture of and death of antelopes and other game.
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Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=218025
Posted by Jane Alston-Myers
on Dec 10 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured.
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