Sighthound

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A Whippet: characteristic long legs, deep chest, and narrow waist of a sighthound WhippetWhiteSaddled wb.jpg
A Whippet: characteristic long legs, deep chest, and narrow waist of a sighthound

Sighthounds, also called gazehounds, are a type of dog, hounds that hunt primarily by sight and speed rather than by scent and endurance as scent hounds do.

Contents

Appearance

The dolichocephalic head proportions of a typical sighthound Sighthound head.jpg
The dolichocephalic head proportions of a typical sighthound

These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it in sight, and overpowering it by their great speed and agility. They must be able to detect motion quickly, so they have keen vision. Sighthounds must be able to capture fast, agile prey, such as deer and hares, so they have a very flexible back and long legs for a long stride, a deep chest to support an unusually (compared to other dogs) large heart, very efficient lungs for both anaerobic and aerobic sprints, and a lean, wiry body to keep their weight at a minimum. Sighthounds have unique anatomical and physiological features, likely due to intentional selection for hunting by speed and sight; laboratory studies have established reference intervals for hematology and serum biochemical profiles in sighthounds, some of which are shared by all sighthounds and some of which may be unique to one breed. [1]

The typical sighthound type has a light, lean head, which is dolichocephalic in proportion. This shape can create the illusion that their heads are longer than usual. Wolves and other wild dogs are dolichocephalic or mesaticephalic, but some domestic dogs have become brachycephalic (short-headed) due to artificial selection by humans over the course of 12,000 years. [2] Dolichocephalic dogs have a wider field of vision but smaller overlap between the eyes and therefore possibly poorer depth perception in some of their field of view than brachycephalic dogs; most, if not all, dogs have less visual acuity than their antecedent the wolf. [3] There is no science-based evidence to confirm the popular belief that sighthounds have a higher visual acuity than other types of dogs. However, there is increasing evidence that dolichocephalic dogs, thanks to a higher number of retinal ganglion cells in their “visual streak”, retain more heightened sensitivity than other dog types to objects and rapid movement in the horizontal field of vision. [4]

A Saluki Saluki dog breed.jpg
A Saluki

History

Sighthounds such as the Saluki/Sloughi type (both named after the Seleucid Empire) may have existed for at least 5,000 years, with the earliest presumed sighthound remains of a male with a shoulder height around 54 cm, compared to a Saluki, appearing in the excavations of Tell Brak dated approximately 4,000 years before present. [5] The earliest complete European description of a sighthound and its work, the Celtic vertragus [6] from Roman Spain of the 2nd century C.E., comes from Arrian's Cynegeticus . A similar type, possibly a moderately sized male sighthound, with a height of 61–63 cm, of approximately the same historic period, the Warmington Roman dog is described from a well-preserved skeleton found in England. [7] Sighthound type "gracile" bones, dating from the 8th to 9th century CE, anatomically defined as those of a 70 cm (28 in) high "greyhound", were genetically compared with the modern Greyhound and other sighthounds and found to be almost identical with the modern Greyhound breed, with the exception of only four deletions and one substitution in the DNA sequences, which were interpreted as differences probably arising from 11 centuries of breeding of this type of sighthound. [8] Population genomic analysis proposes that true sighthounds originated independently from native dogs and were comprehensively admixed among breeds, supporting the multiple origins hypothesis of sighthounds. [9]

Although today most sighthounds are kept primarily as pets, some of them may have been bred for as many as thousands of years to detect movement of prey, then chase, capture, and kill it primarily by speed. They thrive on physical activity. Some have mellow personalities, others are watchful or even hostile towards strangers, but the instinct to chase running animals remains strong. [10]

Apart from coursing and hunting, various dog sports are practiced with purebred sighthounds, and sometimes with lurchers and longdogs. Such sports include racing, lure coursing, and other events.

List of sighthound breeds

Crossbreed sighthound types

Breeds considered to be controversial, not having by origin a sighthound function

A number of breeds or types of dogs which do not hunt solely by speed and sight, as well as a number of non-hunting breeds, are currently being recognized as sighthounds, either formally or informally [12] by kennel clubs, or lure and live coursing clubs. These include:

Kennel club classification

When competing in conformation shows, most Anglophone kennel clubs, including the American Kennel Club and The Kennel Club (UK), group pedigree sighthound breeds together with scent hounds in a Hound Group, [13] [14] the Fédération Cynologique Internationale groups them in a dedicated Sighthound Group, [15] whilst the United Kennel Club groups them in a Sighthound and Pariah Group. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan Hound</span> Dog breed

The Afghan Hound is a hound distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat, and a tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed is selectively bred for its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan. Its local name is Sag-e Tāzī or Tāžī Spay. Other names for this breed are Tāzī, Balkh Hound, Baluchi Hound, and Barakzai Hound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greyhound</span> Dog breed

The EnglishGreyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgence in popularity as a family pet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibizan Hound</span> Dog breed

The Ibizan Hound is a lean, agile dog of the hound family. There are two hair types of the breed: smooth and wire. The more commonly seen type is the smooth. Some consider there to be a third type, long, but the longhair is most likely a variation of the wire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Wolfhound</span> Dog breed

The Irish Wolfhound is an Irish breed of large sighthound and one of the largest of all breeds of dog. The modern breed was developed in the late 19th century by G.A. Graham, whose aim was to recreate the extinct Irish wolfhounds of Ireland. Classified by recent genetic research into the Sighthound United Kingdom Rural Clade, the breed is used by coursing hunters who have prized it for its ability to dispatch game caught by other, swifter sighthounds. In 1902, the Irish Wolfhound was declared the regimental mascot of the Irish Guards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saluki</span> Dog breed

The Saluki is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than strong scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game animals. The dog was originally bred in the Arabian Peninsula. The modern breed is typically deep-chested and long-legged, and similar dogs appear in medieval and ancient art. The breed is most closely related to the Afghan hound, a basal breed that predates the emergence of modern breeds in the 19th century, and the Saluki has been purebred both in the Middle East, including by royalty, since at least that era, and in the West since the 1840s, though as a free-breeding landrace, similar dogs are common as feral animals in the Middle East. A related standardised breed is the north African Sloughi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Deerhound</span> Dog breed

The Scottish Deerhound, or simply the Deerhound, is a British breed of large sighthound, once bred to hunt the red deer by coursing. In outward appearance, the Scottish Deerhound is similar to the Greyhound, but larger and more heavily boned with a rough-coat. The Deerhound is closely related to the Irish wolfhound and was the principal contributor to that breed when it was created at the end of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloughi</span> Dog breed

The Sloughi, or Arabian Greyhound, is an ancient breed of domesticated dog, specifically a member of the sighthound family. It originates from North Africa and is found in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galgo Español</span> Dog breed

The Galgo Español or Spanish Greyhound is an ancient breed of dog, specifically a member of the sighthound family. The English greyhound is possibly a descendant of the Spanish greyhound and, for several years in the 20th century, some breeders did cross-breed Galgos and Greyhounds in order to produce faster and more powerful Galgos, specifically for track racing purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whippet</span> Dog breed resembling a small Greyhound

The whippet is a British breed of medium-sized dog, of the sighthound type, related to the larger greyhound and the smaller Italian greyhound. Apart from the differences in height, the whippet closely resembles these two breeds; it has sometimes been described as "the poor man's greyhound". It is kept as a companion dog, for competitive showing, for amateur racing as well as lure coursing. It has the highest running-speed of any breed in its weight and size range, and may have the fastest idle-to-running acceleration of any dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hound</span> Type of hunting dog

A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scent hound</span> Dog type, hunting dog

Scent hounds are a type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than sight. These breeds are hunting dogs and are generally regarded as having some of the most sensitive noses among dogs. Scent hounds specialize in following scent or smells. Most of them tend to have long, drooping ears and large nasal cavities to enhance smell sensitivity. They need to have relatively high endurance to be able to keep track of scent over long distances and rough terrain. It is believed that they were first bred by the Celts by crossbreeding mastiff-type dogs with sighthounds. The first established scent hounds were St. Hubert Hounds bred by monks in Belgium during the Middle Ages.

Lure coursing is a sport for dogs that involves chasing a mechanically operated lure. Competition is typically limited to dogs of purebred sighthound breeds. The AKC has a pass/fail trial for all breeds called the Coursing Ability Test (CAT) and a timed 100 yard dash called Fast CAT where the dog's speed is converted to points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coursing</span> Hunting method and dog sport

Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, the landed and wealthy, as well as by commoners with sighthounds and lurchers. In its oldest recorded form in the Western world, as described by Arrian – it was a sport practised by all levels of society and it remained the case until Carolingian period forest law appropriated hunting grounds, or commons, for the king, the nobility, and other land owners. It then became a formalised competition, specifically on hare in Britain, practised under rules, the Laws of the Leash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lurcher</span> British dog cross-breed

A lurcher is a crossbred dog resulting from mating a greyhound or other sighthound with a dog of another type such as a herding dog or a terrier. The lurcher was for hundreds of years strongly associated with poaching; in modern times, it is kept as a hunting dog or companion dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare coursing</span> Competitive activity where sighthounds pursue hares

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight, not by scent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magyar Agár</span> Dog breed

The Magyar agár (MA) is a dog breed. It is a type of sighthound originating in Hungary and lands that previously belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is used for hunting and coursing, and is also kept as a companion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taigan</span> Dog breed

The Taigan, and also known as Kyrgyz Taighany, Mongolian Taiga dog is a breed of sighthound from Kyrgyzstan. The Taigan is found in the alpine Tian Shan region of Kyrgyzstan on the border with China, it is closely related to the Tazy and the Saluki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dog type</span> Categorization of dogs

Dog types are broad categories of domestic dogs based on form, function, or style of work, lineage, or appearance. Some may be locally adapted dog types that may have the visual characteristics of a modern purebred dog. In contrast, modern dog breeds strictly adhere to long-established breed standards, that began with documented foundation breeding stock sharing a common set of inheritable characteristics, developed by long-established, reputable kennel clubs that recognize the dog as a purebred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podenco Canario</span> Dog breed

Podenco Canario is a breed of dog from the Canary Islands. The Podenco Canario is still used today, primarily in packs, most often for the sport hunting of rabbits. The word "podenco" in Spain refers to a certain type of dog, typically rabbit hunters with the same body shape. "Canario" is a reference to its region of origin, the Canary Islands. The Spanish Kennel Club, Real Sociedad Canina de España, recognises the following similar dog breeds that use the identifier "podenco" in their names: Podenco Andaluz, Podenco Ibicenco, and Podenco Valenciano. ge

The Old Croatian Sighthound, also known as the Old Bosnian Sighthound, is an extinct breed of sighthound from the Balkan countries of Bosnia–Herzegovina and Croatia.

References

  1. "Clinical pathology of Greyhounds and other sighthounds" S. Zaldívar‐López L.M. Marín M.C. Iazbik N. Westendorf‐Stingle S. Hensley C.G. Couto Veterinary Clinical Pathology Volume 40, Issue 4, first published: 24 October 2011
  2. Roberts, Taryn; McGreevy, Paul; Valenzuela, Michael (July 2010), "Human Induced Rotation and Reorganization of the Brain of Domestic Dogs", PLOS ONE, 5 (#7): e11946, Bibcode:2010PLoSO...511946R, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011946 , PMC   2909913 , PMID   20668685
  3. Miller, Paul E.; Murphy, Christopher J. (December 15, 1995), "Vision in Dogs" (PDF), Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 207 (#12): 1623–1634, PMID   7493905 , retrieved 2012-12-24
  4. McGreevy, Paul; Grassia, Tanya D.; Harman, Alison M. (December 2004), "A strong correlation exists between the distribution of retinal ganglion cells and nose length in the dog", Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 63 (#1): 13–22, doi:10.1159/000073756, PMID   14673195, S2CID   24772865
  5. Clutton-Brock, J., 1989. A dog and a donkey excavated at Tell Brak. Iraq, 51, pp.217-224.
  6. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Bronzen_beeldje_hazewindhond_ForumHadriani_015501_RMO_Leiden.jpg [ bare URL image file ]
  7. Schoenebeck, J.J., Hamilton‐Dyer, S., Baxter, I.L., Schwarz, T. and Nussbaumer, M., (2021). From head to hind: Elucidating function through contrasting morphometrics of ancient and modern pedigree dogs. ‘’The Anatomical Record’’, 304(1), pp.63-77.
  8. SVOBODOVÁ, H., BARTOŠ, M., NÝVLTOVÁ FIŠÁKOVÁ, M. and KOUŘIL, P., (2015). Genetic analysis of possibly the oldest greyhound remains within the territory of the Czech Republic as a proof of a local elite presence at Chotěbuz-Podobora hillfort in the 8th–9th century AD. SbNM B, 71, pp.17-24.
  9. Li, Wu-Lue, et al. "Multiple origins and genomic basis of complex traits in sighthounds". Molecular Biology and Evolution (2023): msad158.
  10. Fogle, Bruce (2000) [1995]. The Encyclopedia of the Dog. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN   0-7513-0471-9.
  11. "Estándar GALGO BARBUCHO PATAGONICO" [Standard PATAGONIAN BARBUCHO GREYHOUND]. Kennel Club Argentino (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  12. Bengtson, Bo. "How Many Sighthound Breeds? Would you believe more than 50?" Sighthound Review Vol. 5, Issue 4, Winter 2014–2015
  13. "Hound Group". American Kennel Club. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  14. "Hound". The Kennel Club. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  15. "Group 10: Sighthounds". Fédération Cynologique Internationale. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  16. "Breed Group Designations". United Kennel Club. Retrieved 24 December 2019.

Further reading