
Saluki
A graceful, athletic, medium-sized sighthound, the Saluki has a soft, smooth coat, often with feathering (longer hair) on the legs and ears, and sometimes the throat. The smooth type of Saluki lacks this feathering.








The Saluki breed can suffer from:
- Hip dysplasia
- Gastric dilatation volvulus
- Saluki neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis which is a storage disease that can cause nerve cell damage.
- Dilated cardiomyopathy¹ which is a condition where the heart muscle becomes progressively weak and cannot beat properly.
- Hemangiosarcoma², a cancer in the cells that line the blood vessels.
Priority Kennel Club health schemes and testing:
None but there are several recommended schemes that the Kennel Club recommends which can be found here.
¹T. P. Bellumori et al, 'Prevalence of inherited disorders among mixed-breed and purebred dogs: 27,254 cases (1995–2010)', 2013, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
²J.K. Kwon, 'Heart-base Tumours in Three Yorkshire Terriers', 2014, Journal of veterinary Clinics
The Saluki is an intriguing mixture of independent and intelligent, loyal and aloof - and affectionate but not demonstrative. They also have never forgotten their royal ancestry! They are generally disinterested in people they don’t know and somewhat standoffish but they are bond closely to their families, are quietly affectionate and dislike being left alone.
Prized by their royal owners in ancient Egypt, their death would be marked by a period of deep mourning and they would often be mummified wearing their ornate hunting collars. The famous boy king Tutankhamun is shown in his tomb with his favourite hounds - which all appear to be Salukis.