My first Sloughis, Lakh d'Ymauville and Massouah d'Ymauville.© Dominique de Caprona 1963 and © Pierre Gillet 1964

       It was in1962, that my parents established for me (I was 14 at the time) their first contact with Mr.and Mrs.Stacul.  This concluded a 2 years search in Europe for a Sloughi puppy.  Apart from Mrs.Patricia Sigaux (Sloughis des Barines) who had bred two litters earlier on, Mr and Mrs Stacul were the only Sloughi-breeders in Europe at the time.  It was in 1996 during my yearly stay in Europe that I simply called her on the phone.  A lively voice answered the phone, and what a pleasure it is to discuss Sloughis with Françoise Stacul today.  This conversation reminded me of her commitment to the breed and when Françoise Stacul sent me her old original pictures of Sloughis, I thought that this long forgotten story of the Sloughis d'Ymauville should be written for those of us who are looking in the past for the early footsteps of Sloughis in Europe.
        Françoise Stacul bred Sloughis from 1956 to 1965.  A gap of approximately 5-7 years developped between the last litter of Sloughis d'Ymauville and the renewal of interest for the breed in the earlier 1970ies in Europe.  It is almost taken for granted that there were no good Sloughi- breeders before 1970.  As we will see this was not the case.
        The Sloughis bred by Françoise Stacul were sand with or without black mask, sand or fawn/red brindle with or without black mask.  Françoise Stacul bred 16 litters of Sloughis:

      Y'schrab came directly from a Tunisian nomadic tribe: he was a mountain type Sloughi, sand, with cropped up ears and ritually branded front legs. He was experienced in hunting jackals.
      Chéchia Bent Abdul des Barines, (red brindle), was bred in France by Mrs Patricia Sigaux, who owned the sire, T'Abdul Ahmid, imported from Tébessa, Algeria, by the Baron d'Almont, and the dam Alenda de la Horde d'Or (V'Paouk de la Horde d'Or X W'Tchinguiz Kahn II de la Horde d'Or, both successful in Algerian shows), bred by X.Przezdziecki in Algeria.
      B'Douchka was sand with black mask and she came from the breeding of the Pacha of Marrakech , El Glaoui, in Morocco.
      Fautchy (red brindle) was a tall Sloughi rescued by Françoise Stacul and although his origins were not quite clear, she suspected at the time that he came from Algeria

     The red brindle descendants of Icare d'Ymauville have played an important role in the history of their breed in the United States, and should be mentioned here. In 1986, Tounsia Kahloul de la Treille and Fahran of Mumtaz-i-Javanadmi (from Holland) had the first litter in the USA whose puppies where to be shown. In 1987, one bitch of this litter in particular, Jaaram Nubia, represented her breed at the Rare Breed Show organized by the Rare Breed Kennel Club together with the Kennel Club of Beverly Hills in California.  She later participated several times at other shows.  The Nubia Cup, donated in her memory by her owner Jack McGuffin to the Sloughi Fanciers Association of America, is the ultimate award for the best coursing and racing Sloughi of the year in the USA.
      In 1997, the dog Batal Shi'Rayân is the first red brindle Sloughi in the history of the breed to win the World Winner title. His sister Bouthayna Shi'Rayân, golden brindle, is the highest pointed Sloughi in lure-coursing to date.  In 1996 they both were awarded the first "Best Brace" on the American mainland.  Their brother Bassel Shi'Rayân, red black brindle, even darker than Isa Dora, a color very rare in the Sloughi, is the only male international Champion in this color (american system, the other is his sister Badia Shi'Rayân), and the first Sloughi to place in the Top 5 Hounds (# 2 hounds, rare breeds, 1996) in Canada. His daughter Hulkah Shi'Rayân, also black brindle, owned by Pia Puomila, is the first American bred Sloughi to become Finnish and Swedish champion (2000).

    It was thanks to the commitment of Françoise Stacul to the breed, and the help of my parents that I became the proud owner of my very first Sloughi: Lakh d'Ymauville (litter 13, Chéchia X Ivriz), and my first Sloughia Massouah d'Ymauville (litter 14, Chéchia X Ivriz).   Noam, sand black mask, was a grand-son of Massouah d'Ymauville.  Born in Bielefeld, Germany, he found himself, after a change of ownership, in an abusive home, was rescued by Mrs Hrebik (Sloughis Min al Bait Said), and with her help, found his way back to us.  He was then 6 1/2 years old and lived with us until he passed away at the advanced age of 15 1/2 years.