Standard
The Ear Set of
the Sloughi
by Dr. Dominique de
Caprona
© de Caprona
2009
All
photographs copyrighted to the author. Please do not use text or photos
for any purpose without asking.
Since 1852, at a
time when
the North African Sloughi became more well known to the Western World,
the various standards which followed the previous descriptions have
been
modified. The ear set of the Sloughi is what has seen the most changes
in the breed standard.
From 1852-1937:
The ears of the
Sloughi
are required to be larger than the Greyhound's and carried folded back
- they are sometimes also half erect. The most famous sculpture of the
breed, entitled "Tom, Algerian Sighthound", by the 19th century
Animalier
Antoine Louis Barye, shows a Sloughi with such an ear set.
1896,
Sloughi "Debba" of the Chasseur Francais journal's kennel.
© de
Caprona
2007
1897, the
ideal ear
set of the Sloughi, left, and the Persian Sighthound, right, by Swiss
artist
J.Petersen
(first published in
the
book Windhunde) in “Les Races de Chiens” (“The Breeds of
Dogs”) by Count Henri de Bylandt, Belgium.
© de
Caprona
2007
Circa 1904,
the ideal
earset of the Sloughi, left, compared to that of the Greyhound, right,
by Dutch artist Auguste Le Gras,
printed in De
Nederlandsche
Sport journal. © de Caprona 2007
1937- now
Prior to 1973, the
Sloughi
being the French Sighthound, the Sloughi standard is in the hands of
the
French. It is in the 1937 standard that the description of the ear set
of the Sloughi is changed dramatically from an ear larger than that of
the Greyhound and folded back, to that of a lop-ear. At the time the
Dutch
- the Netherlands was then also an important country for the breed -
disagreed.
One wonders what led
to
this change, as it coincides in time with the discovery by the French
Military
of the lop-eared smooth Salukis in the Middle East. The "Sloughis" of
one
of the persons apparently involved in modifying the standard, Mrs
Turcat,
were criticized at shows as having "Persian blood" by a well known
French
cynologist and judge P.Mégnin.......(for details please consult “The
Sloughi 1852-1952”)
Be it as it may,
the Sloughi
is now required to have lop-ears.
However, many
Sloughis still
have folded ears, for example when they trot or when they are nervous.
As in the past, many Sloughis in North Africa still have folded ears.
Such
an ear set does not imply, as is often mistakengly stated, a
crossbreeding
to Galgo espanol. Folded ears are simply part of the Sloughi's genetic
make-up, even if lop-ears have been imposed on the breed by the
standards
since 1937. The hunters in North Africa do not always care about the
way
a Sloughi carries its ears, the hunting talent of the dog being more
important,
and in some countries the ears are cropped.
 
Moroccan Sloughis
©
de Caprona 2008
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