“Ibezian Hound. Pharaoh Hound. Saluki.”
Thanks for the gentle prod. Some interesting info on them...
(although I take info from Wiki with a large helping of salt)
Ibezian Hound sounds like a breed favored in Muslim Spain;
maybe the “unclean” stigma for dogs hadn’t been solidified yet
or not observed on the far edge of the Islamic world?
(Interesting to note that “the female is deadlier than the male” in
terms of hunting prowess.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibizan_Hound
Pharoaoh Hound as the national dog of Malta sounds like a breed that
managed to escape Islam on the small Christian island kingdom.
(OK, Malta passed back and forth between Christians and Muslims)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh_Hound
Salukis...sound like the Muslim/Arab dog...and given an exemption from
the “unclean” status for other breeds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saluki
Wiki is full of crap:
“The breed is believed to have originated in Muslim Spain”
No, it did NOT.
It found its way there [and many other places] via Egyptian and Phoenecian traders.
It was [much] later named for the island with which the majority of them were later associated.
The supposed “DNA” authority is also the idiot who came up with the “yellow papers” for fraudulently registered AKC dogs.
Rather than utterly revoke the papers of dogs found to have been fraudulently registered, as was done in the past, she spear-headed the new AKC “policy” of issuing conditional registration in which the 4th generation litters of the fraudulent dogs could again regain full AKC status.
[regardless of the fact that who knows *what* breed or mix the dog may actually have been and/or who the sire was]
It completely undermines the integrity of the carefully kept stud books, which, ironically, the AKC was created to protect and maintain.
And yes, the bitches are the hunters.
In Spain, they -drown- most of the male puppies and Ibizans on the isle of Ibiza live lives of squalor and desperation, which often end in starvation or road kills.
Members of IHCUS recently independently rescued a slew of Ibizans from fates worth than death.
As a bit of trivia, Ibizan Hounds accompanied Hannibal over the Alps.
Salamander
[”mom” to 6 of them for the last 17 years]