Salukis are very special dogs and they are not suited for everyone. This is why in Arabic countries the dog is considered a present of Allah.

The Muslim culture considers dogs to be unchaste animals, with an exception made to the Saluki, a dog that is perfectly accepted by Islam due to its utility to men. Salukis are used by nomad tribes as guards and to protect against predators, while also proving to be extremely helpful in hunting hare, one of the few food sources in the desert.

Despite widespread all around the Middle East, the breed’s cradle seems to be in modern Iran, probably originating from an old city named Saluk, a place long gone and meaning “the noble one”.

Seen in old Egyptian drawings and sculptures, one believes the Saluki may have existed as far back as the Pharaoh epoch, reaching the Western World only in the 19th Century. Given the Middle East’s vast lands, the breed developed with great diversity of type and size.

In those regions where the climate is more adverse and with less natural food supply, Salukis tend to be smaller and more agile, employed by humans to hunt hare.
Contrary, dogs found in areas with richer food supply tend to be bigger and larger, therefore employed to hunt bigger prey, such as deer or moose.

Being a distinguished hunter and having lived for thousands of years in arid regions, the Saluki has developed into a resistant and fast hunter who uses his sight and smell to find and pursue his loot. The Saluki spots his prey at large distances and only then will he sprint to a fast and agile pursuit until he reaches his target.

Being a hunting dog that uses speed, he requires frequent exercise to strengthen his muscles, which in turn protect the bones to avoid fractures. Despite their athleticism, Salukis love to sleep on soft and comfortable places.

Even though not an aggressive breed, Salukis protect their property by circling intruders with jumps and barking, instilling fear.
They have a very reserved temperament, they are discrete in their gestures and pose and are not effusive in their demonstrations of affection. Despite their independent character and economy of affection they develop a tight bond to their owers and are therefore considered dogs with a single master.

They are also known for their cleanliness as they may spend hours laying down and licking themselves like cats. They therefore rarely smell.
Salukis come in two main varieties, long haired and short haired. It is common to breed both coats among each other and one can find both coats within a same litter.

To breed dogs with the goal of producing specimens that will win in the show ring is never an easy task. However, some breeds are more challenging than others, either regarding the actual breeding (mating, delivery, c-sections, etc.) as well as the challenge to try to correct certain faults.
Salukis on the other hand are easy to breed; the dams are excellent mothers, prolific and very zealous with their litters.
Regarding the challenge to perfect faults the task is similar to other breeds. Improving the head piece is much easier than to correct angulations, both in the hind legs as well as the fore legs, the latter being a greater challenge in itself. Another structural challenge is improving the opening and depth of the fore chest. As already mentioned, the main characteristic to be judged in a Saluki is movement and movement is directly linked to the quality of angulations, particularly of the shoulder. This is why breeders that truly understand their breed are always thriving to produce dogs with great quality in their movement. When a Saluki moves in its typical way, it is one of the most beautiful appearances in the world.

As in most sight hounds, Salukis are not best suited for obedience or agility competitions, or any other exercise demanding discipline or self control. Hounds were developed over time to follow prey with sudden great speed and determination.
If a Saluki is trying to observe a disciplined training session, which by the way is always a boring task, and suddenly sees any animal running in the distance, he will certainly stop his exercise and lunge in the direction of the running animal, which for him resembles a prey, even if it does not happen to be one.

Among the two coat types the long haired Saluki is better known, while the short coat variety is more rare.
Despite the coat difference, both are Salukis and compete equally.
Both varieties can be bred to each other and the results are the following:
1) long coat X long coat = all puppies will have long coats
2) long coat X short coat = puppies can either have long or short coats
3) short coat X short coat = also here puppies can have long or short coats

It is important to note that any Saluki born from two short coated parents or from mixed parents will have its long coat in an absolute normal length and will not have less fringes just because one or both parents have short coats.
The abundance of fringes is naturally hereditary and transmitted through long coated ancestors. Salatino’s greatest Saluki, Salatino Danado de Bom, has marvelous fringes on his ears and tail and is an offspring of two short haired dogs.

Being the same breed, their characteristics are similar, although some breeders believe that short coated Salukis tend to be slightly more docile or affable; personally I agree with this theory, as I am an unconditional devotee of short haired Salukis.
Short haired Salukis are much like oysters or Japanese food: one has to “develop a taste”. Besides, in my opinion both varieties complete each other aesthetically: whereby the long haired Salukis brings glamour, the short haired adds eccentricity to the breed.