On our way to post that the English Foxhound standard is one of the oldest unchanged breed standards, we learned of the AKC standard that really is the oldest unchanged breed standard, and it belongs to the Saluki.

Copied from the 1923 British standard, the Saluki standard was adopted by the Saluki Club of America in 1927, and it remains unaltered to this day.  It is the oldest, unchanged sighthound standard in the AKC.

It’s fitting. The most ancient of horse and dog breeds arose in the deserts of the Middle East and Central Asia. In a remarkable article by Sarah M. Drake Ph.D, she shares a theory that the same “standard” may have been used by the breeders of the Saluki and the Arabian horse (many of them bred both) in their development of horses and dogs in the region, likely because these two different species needed to work as a team when hawking. Ideas about function, and what it took structurally to get the job done, may have been applied to these two different species with similar jobs. In our view, the article that was first published in Saluki International is a must read.

Image: “Arabian Horse and Two Salukis by Sue Deutscher
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