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Gilberto Grandi comments on the
contest: “l was amazed to see that
the quality of breed was even
better than last year. All
participating Salukis were of the
highest quality, made an excellent
overall impression, showed a
defined body structure and elegant
movement. Although Salukis are
mainly used for hunting in this
region and they are not trained for
show purposes, | appreciated to
see the natural beauty and pride of
the breed.”
Hamad Al Ghanem said: “l am
very pleased with the number of
~ participants as well as with the
quality of breed we saw on these
four show days. Last year we
spend a great amount of time to
encourage owners fo register their
Salukis and participate in the
event. The success of last year’s
show enabled us to be even more
selective in terms of the quality of
_the breed, which means that only
Arated Salukis entered the
‘competition. As a Saluki breeder it
‘was always my mission to keep the
| g
Www, arab
il: arabiansall
For further information,
please contact:
Arabian Saluki Center
PO Box 45553,
Abu Dhabi — United
Arab Emirates
fel: +971 2 5755330, Il JL
bloodline pure, eliminate inbreed,
focus on quality rather than
quantity and today | am glad to
see the result of our efforts in the
past. Saluki owners are more
aware of the risk of inbreed and
understand the importance of
registering their Salukis. | would
like to thank Gilberto Grandi for
sharing his experience with us and
the Emirates Falconers’ Club for
their continued support.”
email: arabiansaluki@
% : Kl arabiansaluki.ae
P985 29.1,]
n\\\\\“\‘ N
skanda T’lamo
Sl:je”hasi consistently wonat Championship and Oper
Thank you Seren for all the joy that you give us.
DARQUELL
DARQUELL SAMIRA
SIRED BY AMERICAN IMPORT RUWACH ZAZOU AL
MONAB EX OUR MUCH LOVED KASAQUE LAILA.
SAMIRA IS NOW EiGHT MONTHS OLD AND AT
HER THREE SHOWS TO DATE SHE HAS WON:
1sT AVYNSC PUuPPY AND PUPPY GROUP 3
AT MINEHEAD AND DISTRICT OPEN SHOW
1sT AY HOUND PUPPY AND WINNER OF
PUPPY GROUP AT NEWTON ABBOT OPEN
SHow
1sT MINOR PUPPY BITCH LKA CH SHow
SHE AND HER BROTHER DARQUELL SALAHADINN
(OWNED BY TOVEY, WILLIAMS AND
REDFERN) LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU
ALL AT CRUFTS.
OWNER/BREEDER MRS JAN BANYARD
DARQUELL SIGHTHOUNDS
TEL: O1305 853615
EMAIL: DARQUELL2(@AOL.COM
Sunswift Atig
Height: 27″
Age in photo: 2yrs 7mths
Owner: Mrs P. Buswell
Pip.buswell @gmail.com
Sunswift Aajiy
Height: 26″
Age in photo: 2yrs 5mths
Owner: Mrs E. Rushton
rushtone@interdart.co.uk
DoB: 30.01.2005 | -8
Sire: Ch Labakan ITkteer Takha .
Dam: Dakhilak Shenavah :
Breeders: Elaine Rushton © Priscilla Buswell
54
NEFISA SALUKIS
Quality personified
For the ‘Festival of the Saluki’
a team of four stunning black
Nefisa salukis travelled
together from Devon
and attended the
SGHC and Richmond
Ch Shows
Ch Nefisa Baaz gf Rhazias
DCC & BIS SGHC
Owned by Reena & Tony Clark
(Regretfully unable to be shown at Richmond)
Ch Nefisa Samy Jw Ngfisa Ieevun 1 Nefisa Jasra
Best Veteran Dog at SGHC 20d S/Y & 1St Maiden bitch SGHC
Best Veteran Saluki Richmond i >arli i onfk lSt S & 2nd Post Grad Rlchmon
Owned, bred & adored by Jenny, Steve & Laura Macro (though Jasra lives and’is loved by
Debbie McCreadie at Haytor) tel: 01752 242560 steve.jennymacro@blueyonder.co.uk
We are also proud of Ch Nefisa Bushrah of Saruk JW who won the RDCC at the SGHC
owned by Marie Bryce-Smith.
Also regretfully unable to attend Richmond
59
£
% 5&:&# a&fk é%w@%
4CCs 3RCCs | CC IRCC
We hope to have a litter from Elouise in 2008 Ended the year in style winning CC and
BoB at LKA
Ch Timaru Valkyrie of Jazirat (imp) x Ch Altaya Tasmayah at Tasia
Tablobah at Tasia . (L
4CCs IRCCs , . ~ 4CCs IRCC
Lusaki Farah Falan jw x Altaya jehzara Maria (2CCs)
The loving sisters now ten years old, still enjoy théir’déily walk and gallop with the youngsters
t Imports 1895-1946: the Wes
:oundahons
fbstracted from the Festival of the Saluki, 2007 semmar i
Much is made about Saluki imports and their fresh genetic material being added to the
breeding pool in the West, but of course, if you go far enough back, every Saluki outside
. of the Middle East was an import. The question to ask is which were the significant imports
‘~ and what, if any, lasting effect did they have on the dogs and lines that we see foday?
The topic of imports is vast and tangled, so this article will be confined to the formative
years — from the Honourable Florence Amherst’s first import in 1895 to the end of World
by Brian Patnck Du
imports fo England.
So, what makes a “significant import”2 Three
major and two minor qudlifications: first, a dog
or bitch that has documented origin from the
desert (which may include parents, breeder,
and location), second, the dog or bitch was
preferably not the product of an English
breeding program or accidental litter in the
desert, and third, that its descendants survived
fo be available for breeding through 1946 (a
postwar date fo which most registration records
can be fraced). Further, a “significant
import” would have some fame
among dog fanciers and the public
through exhibition, advertising, and
publicity, and would have notable
show or coursing wins.
Undocumented Salukis would be
those that were imported before
regisfration organizations, or Salukis
that left no progeny. These include
pets or zoological curiosities such as
the Saluki owned by a U.S. Army
officer in 1861, the Salukis shown in
Germany in 1863, and the various
specimens in Victorian England that
were painted by Wooten, Challon,
Ward, and landseer!.
The Saluki Population
Outside the Middle East
During the zenith of Saluki popularity
between the two World Wars, there
were populations — large and small –
in America, Australia, Bermuda,
Belgium, British Malaya, Canada,
War Il. To give a litfle human perspective, we’ll look at a few stories behind the significant
Ceylon, East Africa, Finland, France, Germany,
the Netherlands, New Zealand, Western
Samoa, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden (fig.
1). A good number of these dogs were
descendants of Sarona Kelb due to the many
exports by Brigadier and Mrs. Lance. However,
most of these populations simply died out from
lack of interest or access to breeding stock.
Qut of the desert to:
Fig.1 “Pre-1939 Desert Imports to Europe” A snapshot of Saluki
populations outside the Middle East. Countries above the dotted
line America, England, Ireland, Belgium, and Germany, and
Sweden have Saluki desert import stock. Other Saluki populations
are found in Australia, Bermuda, British Malaya, Canada,
Ceylon, East Africa, Finland, France, The Netherlands, New
Zealand, Western Samoa, South Africa, and Spain.
I Not to mention the European Salukis painted by Titian, Veronase, and Tiepolo.
S
Salukis imported from the desert could be found
in England, Germany, Sweden, Belgium,
Ireland, and America. Like exotic orchids in the
wrong climate, the breed failed fo thrive in
Belgium, Sweden, and Ireland and their
breeding lines became dead ends. By the end
of World War Il, the only significant desert
stock outside the Middle East persisted in
England, Germany, and America.
Import Dead Ends
In Sweden, Miss Vivien Bonander had the first
Saluki import in 1924 with Ch. Timsa el
Sollum, who was bred by an Englishman in
Egypt and sent fo Sweden via England. Miss
Bonander also imported Salukis from Sarona in
England & El Saluk in Germany. Other
prominent kennels at the time include el
Tagadd, Asahallen, and el Dair – but no
specimens of the breed survived the war.
Belgium had two champion, imported Salukis
during the lafe 1920s and early 1930s,
Choah and Djounam. They produced a litter
but no fraces of them exist. In 1927, Ireland
saw largest single importation of desert Salukis
info the United Kingdom — but they faded from
the scene by the mid-1930s (more on these
dogs later…).
Two Important European
Populations
Even though it had no direct imports from
desert, The Netherlands had such an active
Saluki fancy that it is worth a mention here. In
1926, the first Saluki came from the von
Persien foundation kennel in Germany. She was
bought by Mrs. Van der leeuw and called Emir
van de Dreef, but was not bred and shown
very litle. The real movers were Mrs Jingeling
her son, Han. Their Barukhzy Kennels started in
1928 with strong Sarona line breeding — with
prominent English imports (Amherstia, El Zobair,
Nablous, and Hama of Homs) in the
background. Salukis were imported info The
Netherlands from elsewhere in Europe, but the
Barukhzy line would be the only one to survive
World War Il and serve as a foundation for repopulation.
Germany had a large population of Salukis
with many wellestablished kennels. Their
imports tended to come from Turkey and Persia
as a result of the German/Turkish collaboration
on the Berlin to Baghdad Railway project in the
early 1900s. Of the eighteen imports recorded
from about 1910 to 1935, only two are
traceable in today’s kennel lines and so may be
called significant. Ch. Cyrus and Slongha Peri
were bred by the Shah of Persia in 1920 and
imported by Herr C. Woltering and became
the foundation of the von Persien kennel. These
two passed their influence on to the early
German kennels — von Persepolis, von der
Hasenklage, El Saluk, El Shiraz, von Gildehof,
von Arabien, and von Sonnenheim. By 1926,
a lack of imports resulted in inbreeding, and it
was about this time that Sarona Kelb’s line was
imported to Germany as well as Salukis from
the Netherlands and other European countries.
Gulan Llindroth, a native Swede living in
Germany, had a variety of English desert stock
behind her famous El Saluk hounds.
Ultimately, a very small percentage from the
von Persien foundation pair can be traced
down to Burydown Uki and Brig. They were
the puppies of Biwakuf von Sonneheim and
Ganetti von Arabien. Ganetti, Brig, and Uk, in
what was the first German confribution of
breeding sfock to England, were imported and
the Uki became a prominent, postwar sire. The
two German kennels that did survive the
hardships and deprivations of the war (albeit
just barely) were El Saluk and El Saraje –
although none of those Salukis were
descendents of Cryus and Slongha Peri.
Imports to the Land of
E Pluribus Unum
The story of imported Salukis in America is
unusual and complex2. From 1926 to 1931,
there were twenty-eight Saluki imports fo
America from England (Saronas being
prominent among these) and five were from the
deserts of Irag, Egypt, and the Transjordan.
Unfortunately, the general lack of interest in the
new breed and the vast distances between
owners led fo the desert lines very nearly dying
out. If it were not for one unusual transfer of
dogs squeaking in at the tail end of the war,
2 For an excellent history of the desertbred in America, see Catherine & Carlene Kuhl’s, “Eastern Influences on the
American Saluki”, in The Salugi: Coursing Hound of the East, edited by Gail Goodman, 1995.
58
America would have had no significant desert
lines in 1946.
In 1945, King Ibn Saud gave a pair of Salukis
o British Col. Chapman-Walker, who had
admired them in the royal kennels. Chapman-
Walker gave them to his superior officer, Field
Marshal Sir Henry Maitland-Wilson, who in
turn gave them to Flight OfficerJ. Dodge who
was serving with the American Mission in
Washington D.C. Dodge could not keep them
and found the American breeder and expert,
Edward Aldridge (Diamond Hill), and asked
him if he knew anyone who wanted the pair.
Surprisingly, Aldridge was not interested in the
imporfs and he recommended them to his
friend, Esther BlissKnapp.
It was an dissimilar pair that Esther got her
hands on for breeding. Abdul Farouk was a
feathered, tri-colour with cropped ears, born in
Jedda on the Red Sea. lady Yeled was a light
coloured smooth from Damascus. Because of
their different types and geographic locations, it
is highly unlikely that these two would have
ever been bred in the desert, but Esther used
them 1o establish her famous Pine Paddocks line
and they can be found in a large number of
American pedigrees.
Desert Dogs and Englishmen
From 1921 1o 1939, Salukis came steadily
into England from areas of postwar military
influence — predominately from Transjordan,
lraq, and Egypt. Of the six imports from the
latter, three were Florence Amherst’s3. Three
Salukis came from Syria, one from Persia, and
one from Arabia. After the discovery of oil in
the Persian Gulf, Bahrain would become
another source of imports. It was then
commonplace in the Saluki fraternity for kennels
fo inferbreed, and in particular, new desert
imports were eagerly sought after for breeding
(although there was a large number of Salukis
imported as pefs and never registered or bred
from). This confluence of imports resulted in an
extremely complex dissipation of genetic
material. However, the genes of significant
import sires and dams persisted generally
through the following kennels in 1946:
e Shammar (from Nablous & Orchard)
® Mazuri (from Amherstia & el Zobair)
* Knightellington (from Amherstia, Nablous,
& Saronal
® El Hor (through the Mazuri & Zahara lines)
e Grevel [from Sarona, Kurdistan, Amherstia,
& Fresco/Egypt.
The first Salukis that came to England were pets
and companions acquired in the Middle East
and their owners could not bear fo leave them
when they returned home. There was no
thought of importing Salukis to augment
breeding programs until breed recognition in
1923. Importing stock from the desert in the
interwar years was a chancy business that
involved letters going back and forth between
several intermediaries. One never new
orecisely what sort of Saluki might be sent and
often they were unsatisfactory and only used in
a frial breeding.
Pedigrees and litter dates can be fairly dry stuff,
so it is worthwhile to have a look at the human
side of how some of the significant imports came
to England.
Human/Canine Import Stories
Like her father, the first Baron Amherst of
Hackney, the Honourable Florence Amherst
was a scholar and aesthete and very inferested
in Egyptian history. Florence had first seen
Salukis on her family tour of Egypt in early
1895 and asked the Keeper of the Giza Zoo
to obtain a pair for her. Luman and Ayesha
were puppies from Llower Egypt and shipped fo
the family estate in November 1895. In
Norfolk, she bred them two years later, and
imported another Egyptian bitch in 1905 –
about the time that she started showing at dog
shows. Luman was used enough times that he
can be found in the pedigree of nearly every
dog with Amhersfia ancestry. Florence did not
import breeding stock again until the 1920s
when she looked to Transjordan and Iraq for
dogs to match the Amherstia type.
In 1921, Brigadier General Frederick Lance
and his wife, Gladys, grew quite fond of their
Syrian Salukis when they lived in Jaffa (Tel Aviv)
during the British postwar occupation. The
3 For further reading on British imports see: “From the Country of Origin”, by Dr. John Hudson in The Saluki, The
Saluki or Gazelle Hound Club, Championship Show Edition, 1999 ond “Influence of DesertBred Saluki in Britain”,
by June Applebee-Burt, in The Salugi: Coursing Hound of the East, Gail Goodman, editor, 1995.
59
lances were avid hunters and always rode out
with their Saluki pack and ferrier to course
jackal and gazelle. Companionship and
hunting ability were important qualities in their
Salukis and they imported their favorites, Kelb
and Echo — a brothersister pair that became
foundation of the well known Sarona kennels.
Llance used his military connections to import
new breeding stock — one dog each from
Transjordan, Irag, and the Persian border.
Khataf, the Iragi dog, while a good courser,
was only bred once and then shipped to
America — perhaps dliruistically to bolster the
breeding stock there. Despite Florence
Ambherst’s tenure in the breed, the lances were
more acfive and therefore better known to the
public for many vears. A terrible kennel fire in
1928 killed many of their dogs — including
some of their imports. Kelb had the privilege of
sleeping in the house and was spared along
with a few other Sarona hounds. He continued
fo be a winning show dog and sire until his
death in 1931 at the age of 12. The shock
affected the Lances greafly and their activity in
the breed declined until the last straw, when
Cladys died unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve
1935, The stricken Brigadier bred no more
litters, but maintained his membership and
offices in the club. After his remarriage a few
years lafer fo a woman who did not care
overly for Salukis, he took up Curly Coated
Retrievers.
It is worth noting here that while the famous
Sarona Kelb did indeed come from desert
stock, he cannot be considered to be a product
of a Bedouin or Arab breeding program. His
parents, Seleughi and Baalbek came from @
sheikh in Damascus and a Turkish administrator
in Baalbek — and with 55 miles of desert track,
mountain pass, and a river between the two
locations (not to mention whether or not the two
owners would have actually spoken to each
other, much less agreed to a breeding), it is
decidedly improbable that Kelb’s parents would
have been bred without the intervention of
Brigadier Lance.
If Kelb was the pre-eminent sire of the day, then
his female counterpart was Major C.W. Bayne-
Jardine’s Hama of Homs. Hama was a
beautiful, white or cream coloured bitch with
cropped ears, who had been acquired as a
puppy when Baynejardine was sfationed in
northern Syria. She was a good courser and
faithful companion to him, and amidst the
depressing business of handing British-occupied
Syria over to the French, Hama was the one
bright spot in her master’s life. She was
accidentally bred on the eve of returning to
England and gave birth in quarantine in late
1920. After her six months internment, she was
re-united with her master and puppies. Being a
desert dog used to unlimited freedom, had
ingrained habits (going missing for days on
end and chasing sheep) that caused problems
at Baynedardine’s new stafion at lpswich.
Painfully acknowledging that he would not be
able o confine her during his Army career in
England, she was fransferred to another Saluki
owner — and subsequently fo three other
breeders owners. Poor Hama produced a total
of eight litters in England and it is rare not to
find her in Western pedigrees.
Francis Joan Mitchell imported two famous
Salukis of her own breeding while she worked
in Nablus, Palestine. She was from a middle
class family and as her grades in nursing
school were not quite good enough for English
hospitals, she went to work in Army hospitals
overseas. She seems fo have been in Egypt
and eventually ended up as a matron in one of
the hospitals in Nablus. There she grew fond
enough of Salukis to borrow a pair from a
British officer and breed her own litter. Francis
kept several and was fond of taking her hounds
for hikes in the surrounding hills. When she
retired 1o England in 1924, she brought with
her favorites, a brother and sister pair named
Ebni and Binfe and established the Nablous
[sic] kennels. She was a quiet, selfeffacing
woman, but became good friends with
Florence Amherst and Gladys Lance. While not
terribly active as a club member, she always
attended shows and went in for coursing.
Being a fresh import, Ebni had sired two litters
and was considered a promising sfud dog untfil
one day in early 1926 when he was shot
while running loose (presumably chasing
livestoc.k..). Francis Joan Mitchell remained on
the fringe of breed activities while Binte
continued fo produce litters.
As Great Britain was helping to build the new
kingdom of Iraq out of a chunk of the former
Ottoman Empire, most of the imports fo
England came from the Army officers who were
stationed there. In 1923, Major Count Arthur
Bentinck traveled overland from Iraq fo England
with two Salukis presented fo him by a village
sheikh from north of Mosul. Rishan was a parti-
60