# Saluki anyone??



## ArreauStandardPoodle

I have heard they are quite similar to Afghans in temperament and "aloofness". So maybe if people do not know Salukis but do know Afghans they can tell you a bit about them. Less brushing than an Afghan though...big bonus. I hope to live with a Saluki some day. Gorgeous, beautiful dogs.


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## flyingduster

they are a hound, and hounds are rather independant. Sight hounds are rather more aloof than scent hounds too I've found.. I have only met a few though, so can't really say... they are gorgeous! lol


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## *tina*

flyingduster said:


> they are a hound, and hounds are rather independant. Sight hounds are rather more aloof than scent hounds too I've found.. I have only met a few though, so can't really say... they are gorgeous! lol


Is independent the nice way of saying stubborn? LOL We had Bassets and Dachshunds most of my life, and well, living with scent hounds is special...especially when the rabbits are out and about LOL I don't know anything about Salukis though!


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## Feathersprings

The ones I have known were more aloof than Afghan hounds, which i used to have, certainly more so than Poodles  They have this really ancient thing about them.. like they are almost still quite not domesticated..not in a bad wild way.. just in their attitude  I love them . My son told me just the other day he is looking for one... guess i influenced him a bit in the dog show days when he got dragged along...


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## fjm

Not pure Saluki, and rather a long way for most of you, but I am sitting on my hands not to ring about the smallest of these!
Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Rudy and Blitzen – 7 week old male and female Lurchers dog for adoption


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## Feathersprings

Wouldnt hurt to get some pictures so you could see faces and those ears and legs  My favorite Sight hound was my Deerhound.. Loved the Afghans but the Deerhound was the most wonderful girl! There was nothing not to love about her  The most gentle dog and the one that made me understand what people meant when they said an "Old Soul" We used to go to Renaissance Faires  And was a fun obedience dog..


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## Keithsomething

I've heard that they're easily trained and are great cuddlers XD

my friend Elis has a gorgeous saluki boy that I would dognap in a heart beat!!...its the getting to Iceland that makes it difficult >.>

I was a huge fan of Borzoi until I saw them in person at shows...and that threw them right out of my book XD so my love of borzoi's transferred to the saluki and afghans


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## Greenfoley

I have a lot of Saluki friends (we have a rare breed sighthound and most people who have them also have Salukis). They are very aloof and independent. Very smart but have the sort of typical screw-you attitude that many sighthounds have lol. Someone mentioned them seeming almost not fully domesticated and this is certainly true since there are still wild dogs being caught and added into breeding progams overseas and being imported a generation or two out of the desert. Now since my Saluki friends are not local, I haven't had much personal experience with them myself, this is all going on what I have heard from their stories and reading about them mostly and knowing that they are similar in a lot of ways to our breed, Azawakh. We live near Lexington where the Saluki Nationals are every year and we usually meet a group of friends who come in to show out at the Horse Park. They are lovely dogs, not as socially dependent on humans as more domesticated breeds but still wonderful dogs. Someday we might add one to our household but I, personally, need a dog that cares more about what I think than the sighthounds do for my own best friend. I adore our Bilal beyond reason but I need a more...needy...dog than that around too, to make me feel like I matter lol.


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## AgilityIG

I have lived with sighthounds (Italian Greyhounds, Whippet and Greyhound) for the last 15+ years and I would not call them aloof at all (ANY of them). They have all been very personable with my family and friends. Some were very friendly and outgoing with strangers and some were more distant with strangers. But all were very cuddly and sweet. I have found them all very easy to train (housetraining is a bit more difficult with the IGs), but I use all positive training methods. I have done agility, obedience, rally, lure coursing, tracking and conformation with them. I don't have personal experience with Salukis, but I have found sighthounds in general very sweet and personable dogs.


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## Greenfoley

Well either I have misunderstood them or we use aloof differently lol. I certainly didn't mean shy or not friendly, but more wary. Mostly with strangers. I certainly didn't mean it as a bad thing. The sighthounds I have known have almost all, with levels varying based on the individual dog's temperment, training and exposure of course, have just been much more slow to warm up to someone they just met. Fully accepted people, no, I wouldn't use aloof to even describe Bilal around us, he's as obnoxiously affectionate as it gets lol. So sorry if I offended or misspoke, eloquence isn't really my thing lol. Oh and perhaps instead of calling it a "screw you" attitude, perhaps calling it a "What's in it for me" attitude is more in line with what I was thinking - and sounds a little better lol.


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## Locket

Thanks for all the information. 

My understanding is that Whippets and Greyhounds are much different than Salukis. I was talking to someone who had a Saluki before they got their whippet and he said that he LOVES how friendly his whippet is, and that his Saluki was MUCH more reserved. I personally didn't find his whippet super friendly with me (he LOVED Mitch though), so I'm imagining Salukis to be very cat-like and disinterested in people outside the family. 

What about with other dogs? Are they like most sighthounds in that they are generally non-aggressive with other dogs and can be put into a large group of dogs regardless of gender and be okay?


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## ArreauStandardPoodle

AgilityIG said:


> I have lived with sighthounds (Italian Greyhounds, Whippet and Greyhound) for the last 15+ years and I would not call them aloof at all (ANY of them). They have all been very personable with my family and friends. Some were very friendly and outgoing with strangers and some were more distant with strangers. But all were very cuddly and sweet. I have found them all very easy to train (housetraining is a bit more difficult with the IGs), but I use all positive training methods. I have done agility, obedience, rally, lure coursing, tracking and conformation with them. I don't have personal experience with Salukis, but I have found sighthounds in general very sweet and personable dogs.


OMG...ME TOO!!!!!!! I love them and will never be without one in my home.


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## WonderPup

The only thing I ever worried about with the sighthounds was them chasing down and hurting one of the tibbies. It happened in the past, but it was a borzoi who did it. The whippets my friend has and one that I co-owned with her did it to a cat as well. So that is actually what decided poodle VS sighthond for us right now. When/if we no longer have smaller cat like dogs we might go back. I just LOVE watching a lure coursing trial, nothing prettier IMO than a sighthound coursing.


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## Feathersprings

I could not have my Greyhound and Pekingese together. She had been tested and they said she had low prey drive  That wasn't accurate.. She just looked at her like a little fuzzy bunny! I don't even like the way she plays with Hoolie. Thank goodness she isnt real playful most of the time. If I get another poodle I would go with a Mini ( I wouldn't mind having a toy) , she seems ok with dogs that size but they aosl wouldn't play together .

I also love lure coursing! I only participated once with my Deerhound... She was hilarious  We were just going to do an up and back instead of a full course since it was her first time. I let her go with my DH at the other end.. When she got almost there they stopped the lure too soon.. She looked around and spotted some boys playing baseball way across the park and off she went... Someone yelled start the lure!!!!! They did and she saw it out of the corner of her eye and was back on it and finished the course  What a day she had!!! We let her do it a couple more times over the day.Quite an event.


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## Greenfoley

I would love to do lure coursing! One of my favorite things to do during the Saluki Nationals is to go watch the lure coursing. Maybe with a future Azawakh or if we have a aluki in the future. Although I thought I saw someone mention lure coursing with a spoo? I know when I lived in MI there was an all breed lure coursing club and I was going to check it out with Ebby but that was about the same time she got hurt so all sports went out the window.

We are always worried about the sighthounds coursing the little dogs. When Sean and I got together I had Pixie, a little 8lb chi/dachsund mix. Bilal's breeder freaked out that I was bringing her into the house with Bilal and we were VERY on watch but it proved to be safe with him. Heck she was beat up by the chickens a few times but her and Bilal were best friends. Still, even though I *LOVE* little dogs and had been considering a toy poodle that I would totally be one of those people who carry around with nails painted and bows in the hair hehe, since we will always have Azawakh and aren't interested in taking that kind of chance, I will most likely never have a little one, I'll have to spoil a big one hehe. Here is Bilal and Pixie curled up on the couch together. We called them the "red dogs" since they were more alike, coat type and color, than the other dogs and they were practically joined at the hip they were such good friends.


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## WonderPup

Wow, I haven't seen an Azawakh in years. My friend I co-owned the whippet with had one, I think his name was Arty but I could be TOTALLY wrong on that. I remember he reminded me of a giant version of my little dog Pixie haha. I thought he was the NEATEST dog ! Very cool breed. He's one of only two I have met in person. Certainly not a breed you see every day.


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## bigpoodleperson

I have always loved salukis, and have dreamed about having one!! I think they are some of the most beautiful dogs! I just dont know about their personality. I dont need an obedience dog in one (thats for the poodles! ), and i dont care if they dont enjoy strangers. I like dogs that are "into" me though. I have a cat, i dont want a cat like dog (well, one of my cats is so dog like its scary, but). Perhaps one day. I also love whippets and afghans, and wouldnt mind having either. I have met some salukis, but its when they are at the vets. Very hard to tell true personality there.


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## Greenfoley

Haha yeah most people have never even heard of them. The majority of conversations when we have him out and about go as follows

"Hey what kind of dog is that?"
"He's an Azawakh"
"Aza-what?"

I had never heard of them before I met Sean. I still have only met him, his mother and sister and two others. His mother decided since Bilal thought I was ok that I might actually be, his sister wasn't interested in me at all and two others that came from a totally different breeder and owner and they were on the agressive side of shy, not the correct temperment.

bigpoodleperson - haha that's how I am too! My husband would be fine if we never had any other breed than Azawakh but I said I always will have to have one dog that isn't, I need a dog that cares what I think a little more than the Azawakh do!! As long as I have my poodle or doberman in addition to the Azawakh I'm happy lol.


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