Zanzibar Greyhound

Also known as the Zanzibar Dog, this breed is named after the small island of Zanzibar lying off the Tanzanian coast of East Africa.

In the 19th century there was an unusual type of greyhound living on the tropical island of Zanzibar. This previously unknown breed aroused considerable interest and an example was taken to France in the late 19th century, where it was described and illustrated by Pierre Mgnin in 1897.

The Zanzibar Greyhound was a prick-eared dog, lacking the usual folded ear-tips of other, more typical greyhound breeds. A tall dog, it stood 27 in (68 cm) high and had a rough, red-and-white coat. It had a robust, powerful body, was remarkably intelligent and was keen-scented as well as keen-sighted. The German authority M. Siber in his work on African hounds, published in 1899, concluded that this breed was the result of a Saluki/Pariah crossing. It is not known whether a small population of these dogs still survives on the island today.

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Whippet

In the past, this breed has also been called the Lightning Rag Dog and the Snap Dog. The present name appears to have originated from the word `whappee, which used to mean ‘a small dog that wapps yaps]’. In the 17th century, the name Whippet was used to describe a ‘little cur’. The Whippet as we know it today was developed in the 19th century as a rabbit-coursing dog.

The Whippet has been described as the Poor Man’s Greyhound’ and although many are now kept as prized and highly valued pets, this rather downbeat description does fit the origin of the breed. In Victorian times, the miners in the north of England could not afford to keep Greyhounds for coursing, so they invented their own miniature version and called it the Whippet after the ‘small dogs’ of earlier days. Detailed records were not kept at the time, but it is believed that the breed was created by either (I) breeding down in size from the Greyhound, mating runts with runts, until the animal’s height had been reduced from roughly 30 to 20 in (75 to 50 cm); (2) crossing Greyhounds with Spaniels; or (3) crossing Italian Greyhounds with Terriers (especially Manchester Terriers). It is clear from the appearance of the modern Whippet, with its slender, streamlined shape, that if crosses were involved, the Greyhound elements were strengthened by back-crossing over a period of time.

When first developed, the Whippets were used for competitive rabbit-killing. These contests, in which rabbits were turned out into an enclosure and the dogs were released to see which one could make the quickest kill, permitted the northern miners to indulge in gambling without costly overheads. When their sport was condemned for its cruelty, they turned instead to ‘rag racing’ in which a cloth or fur lure was dragged down a straight track (often no more than a back alleyway) and the dogs were released from traps to hurtle after it. This again only involved modest running costs and their gambling urges could still be satisfied.

The Whippet is sometimes used today for competitive racing, still chasing a dummy prey down a straight track, but this is now usually done simply for pleasure and no longer involves serious gambling. Because of its lighter build, the Whippet has better acceleration than the Greyhound, but cannot reach quite such high speeds. Over very short distances, it could beat its bigger relative, but the Greyhound would soon overtake it.

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Tibetan Hound

Tibetan Hound sometimes known as the Sha-Kyi, this little-known breed is employed to hunt large game. It has also been called the Tibetan Hunting Dog.

Tibetan Hound is unusual for a Him. alayan dog, being a comparatively short-coated animal in. a cold country, where every other local breed has long hair to protect it. But, presumably, for it to be fast-running in the hunt, it cannot be too heavy and has to sacrifice comfort to speed.

The only description of the dog that we have is as follows: The ears are drooped and hang forward, the coat is short but thick, and the tail is usually carried low but is raised up and curled over the back when the dog is active. In colour it is a creamy grey. The head is long and is smoky black in colour, shading gradually into the creamy grey of the body. The dog is about the same size as an Airedale.

It is used to hunt bharal (a kind of wild sheep), serow (a wild goat) and musk deer. With the bharal, it pursues the game towards cliffs, where the prey stops and defends itself, trying to butt the dog over the edge. Apparently this technique sometimes works with wolves that are rash enough to charge the prey and come within range of the dangerous horns, but the Tibetan Hound is trained to keep the animal at bay and not to make that final move. It continues harassing the animal al and barking at it until the hunter arrives to shoot it at close quarters. (The guns used are so poor that a long-distance shot would fail, so the assistance of the hound is crucial to the success of the hunt.) Sometimes the hound, which has very keen sight, will spot some game in the distance and strain to be let off the leash, but if there is no suitable place for the dog to corner the quarry, the hunter will hold it back.

A German visitor who encountered Tibetan Hound described it as ‘less hairy than ordinary Tibetan dogs, lean, swift as the wind, and indescribably ugly’, a quality that is rare among sighthounds.

The most likely reason for the absence of more detailed information concerning Tibetan Hound breed is that it is kept exclusively by tribal nomads and is therefore not often encountered by foreign visitors. The tribes said to be involved with this breed are the Khampas.

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Tesem

Also known as the Egyptian Hunting Dog, this ancient breed was one of the first specialized sighthounds in the world.

Although described by some authors as an ancient Egyptian breed, in reality this dog is even older, being depicted in the rock paintings of East Africa that date back to the Neolithic period.

It appears in the tomb art of Egypt from about 3000 BC and is clearly shown as a short-coated, fawn-coloured, erect-eared, slender-bodied, greyhound-like dog. Its height is estimated to have been about 20 in (51 cm).

Described as the ‘prototype greyhound’, this ancestral dog can count among its descendants several other African breeds, such as the Basenji, the Manboutou, the Niam-Niam and the Shilluk. Courtesy of Phoenician traders of the first millennium BC, it is also the probable forerunner of the present-day Mediterranean breeds which we now refer to as the Sicilian Greyhound, the Pharaoh Hound and the Ibizan Hound.

Whether this breed is now extinct is debatable. It has been argued that it is unlikely to be found today in its original, undiluted form, but there are feral dogs in north-east Africa that remain remarkably similar to the ancient form. And some of its descendants resemble the Egyptian tomb-art dogs so closely that one is inclined to think of them as surviving Tesems.

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Tazi

This breed of Russian sighthound has many names. It is also called the Tazy, the Tasy, the Tadzi, the Taji, the Tasi, the Tazii, the Mid-Asiatic Tazi, the Mid-Asiatic Borzoi, the Mid-Asiatic Greyhound and the Sredneaziatskaya Borzoya. There are two local variants, the Khazakh Tazi and the Turkmenian Tazi. A courageous dog, it is used for hunting in the desert regions east of the Caspian Sea, where it is employed to pursue small game, including gazelle, hare, fox, wildcat and marmot. It is also prepared to tackle larger animals such as deer and even wolves. The main centre for this rare breed is the Kirhiz steppe country.

The Tazi is found in Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It is similar to the Saluki, but is more strongly built. It is a hardy, fast and robust greyhound, with sharp reactions. Its coat is short, soft and straight and it has a fringed tail and long, fine hairs on its ears.

In the past, Tazi dogs have always been greatly prized, and their ability to obtain food has sometimes meant the difference between life and death for their owners. It is said that at one time a sin. gle pure-bred Tazi was worth 47 horses. However, modernization has meant that their role has been greatly reduced and their. numbers have dwindled alarmingly. Furthermore, because the Tazi dogs were blamed for the disappearance of the local deer, they were severely persecuted in the 1970s, being pursued in jeeps and helicopters and ruthlessly culled. Now, only a few enthusiasts stand between them and extinction.

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