History of the Greyhound - discussion Discussions

"I do think its important for people to also think about the purpose of the breed"

Well put Patch - and not just for Greyhounds !

How can the origins of this breed ever be discovered ? I've looking into it, but can't find anything, except old paintings, some of which are over 4000 years old ! For that reason, I don't think there would be any records of its beginnings and original purpose, unless someone can read old hieroglyphics

I'd love to know more...............

No records of its original purpose........did the greyhound evolve on it's own to run ?

Who knows ? Would be nice to know what the experts think. By that I mean any genetic/historical canine experts that have been involved with researching how certain genes evolve naturally.

Do me a favour !

You don't need an expert to realise that all the dogs we own today have not evolved naturally over 1000's of years.

Dogs are domesticated and every breed we know today has been developed.

Some have evolved naturally and those are the ones closest to wild dogs/wolves of varying types, worldwide, and some have been 'messed' with very slightly, but yes the majority have been developed by humans, but I can't see the Egyptians having the same logic we have today in reasons to develop a breed !!

Then again they did build the pyramids and make Gold moulds that are still a mystery today !!

Alien's put them there !!!

No there are no known records of specific dogs used to create the breed, not that its surprising given the thousands of years they have been around, but the visual records certainly show very much a consistently recognisable type from the earliest pictures, carvings and statues found so far to modern day, so there must have been a fair bit of breeding `savvy` developed around them from the start I think.

I wonder - purely speculatively as I have`nt tried doing any digging around on it yet, could they have been developed from the Saluki ?
If historical finds can be used as a rough guide on timing, its quite possible that the Saluki was around first, [ apparently a visual record of them dating back 5000 years ], and certainly were in the right region geographically for where early pictoral evidence of Greys have been found - so could Greys be a direct result of breed creation using Saluki`s as a founder breed ? Or of course the other way around if the Grey was actually around before the Saluki, depending on which historical evidence is more known or indeed possibly yet to be found.

Thoughts/theories, [ or something more tangible ! ], on a Saluki connection either way, anyone ?

Ya never know, especially as cats apparently have Motherships maybe ancient alien cats used Earth as a penal colony for dogs from their planet :smt005

Now there's a thought !!

I think the Saluki connection is very probably given it's construction etc, so I would also speculate that it's very possible.

Whether it came before or after.......chicken and egg !!

I think it is safe to assume that the origins of these dogs are that they were bred for hunting, the Egyptians apparently even used Cheetahs for hunting, so maybe there is a correlation between these dogs and Cheetahs as they have a very similar build in that they were both bred/evolved for speed. Maybe the dogs came into being because Cheetahs were too difficult to control.
Who knows for sure, don't you wish you could have an observation time machine!
Becky

That had never occured to me, what an interesting - and thinking about it now you`ve said it - probably a very likely theory indeed !

Too right

Both excellent posts with good points made, well said.

Talking about the different constructions of the showing type and the race type, does anyone know if any other breed has been added to them for this reason, or has it been a case of selectively breeding different lines and seeing different 'goals' for each type (as it is in many other breeds) ?

From what I have read, (ages ago), both types originate from the same type of dog, ie the coarsing greyhound. But the racing type has been continually bred for speed, so selectivly the fastest, most streamlined/muscled dogs were used. The show type went the opposite way, using the elegant dogs (and if you searched back I wouldn't be surprised if these were coarsing or racing rejects), and so bred based on how they looked, which over time they became less of an athlete. So both types have naturally evolved into the two dogs we have today.

I think I read that on a dutch website a couple of years back, and they had a bit on the history!

I just found a site where you can trace some pedigrees back to 1800's for racing hounds, I managed to trace a sire and dam lines back to 182x for Jade

Thanks Iain, just wondered

That's not true. Not all racing greyhound breeders are non caring. A true racing greyhound breeder has the dogs health at best interest, the racing greyhound is the true greyhound. They are bred for racing, speed. Good breeders breed from the most athletic, healthy winning dogs. Show greyhounds are totally different, just bred purely for looks, the kc standard has ruined what a greyhound should look like.

I suppose it depends on your idea of a good breeder IMO a good breeder is not someone who breeds these dogs then dumps them into rescue or even worse when they are used up or not good enough then your are of course entitled to it. Im not sure where I said they were not bred for speed or health to ensure races are won - as you said yourself, but its still down to money.

Are you saying that those breeding show greyhounds are not breeding for health? Ive yet to see a show greyhound in rescue, can you advise if you have?

You are taring all race breeders with the same brush. I have 2 good friends who breed race greyhounds, they put all their time and effort into rearing these puppies. When one has to retire they pureposely find homes for the dogs themselves, never have they dumped or put one down. I have 2 greyhounds from them.

In my opinion show greyhounds are purely bred for looks, and in the future the way they are being bred there will be health problems, yet another breed being ruined to fit the looks of a standard.

I had missed that post about breeding for money.

I think it should be pointed out, that generally racing greyhounds are bred differently to most other breeds, is such that, most racing greyhound owners will send their dog off to a breeder, to be bred from. So in that sense the breeder is always acting for the owner of the bitch. Most racing greyhounds are bred for speed, so this is the purpose, to breed the fastest dog possible. I think the bad image of racing greyhound breeders comes from the money grabbing owners, who will discard a reject dog, whether it be a puppy or a slow racer. Unfortunately there are many owners of racing greyhounds that are decent folk, but these are often over looked by the negatives.

In my opinion, show dogs are bred by breeders that are trying to improve the look of the dog, but unfortunately this type of dog is coming away from the true purpose of the breed in the first place.

It is my opinion that a dog should be able to fulfil the purpose it was created/bred for. IE a hound should be able to run etc, a collie should heard and a lab should retrieve etc. In my opinion too many dogs are bred to look nice, with disregard to the job they should be able to do!