Sight Hound
Dogs
Sight Hound
Afghan Hound | American Staghound | Azawakh | Basenji | Borzoi | Chart Polski | Deerhound | Galgo Español | Greyhound | Ibizan Hound | Irish Wolfhound | Italian Greyhound | Longdog | Lurcher | Mudhol Hound | Pharaoh Hound | Rhodesian Ridgeback | Saluki | Sloughi | Whippet
The Whippet
shows the characteristic long legs, deep chest, and narrow waist of a sight
hound.Sight hounds, also called gaze hounds, are
hounds that
primarily hunt by sight instead of by scent.
Appearance
These dogs
specialize in following prey by keeping it in sight. Therefore, the dog must be
able to quickly detect motion, so these hounds usually have extremely good
vision and smaller ear flaps so as not to obstruct possible sounds. Because the
prey is often quite fast and agile, such as
deer, the dog must
be able to keep up with it. As a result, most of these dogs have long legs for a
long stride, a deep chest to support a strong
cardiovascular system for long sprints, and a thin, wiry body to keep its
weight at a minimum.
History
Sight hounds similar to the
Saluki have
existed for at least 5,000 years, with the earliest known sighthounds appearing
in Arabia.
Although today sight hounds are kept primarily as
pets, they have been
bred for thousands of years to detect movement, chase, capture, and kill prey.
They thrive on physical activity. Most have mellow personalities, but the
instinct to chase running animals remains strong.
So much so that, apart from pure hunting, various dog sports are practiced
with purebreds, and sometimes with
Lurchers.
Apart from
Greyhound racing (and Whippet racing) there are
lure
coursing,
oval track racing,
straight racing,
open-field coursing, and other events practiced outside of North America.
Miscellaneous
The fastest sight hounds can reach speeds of over 40 mph (60 km/h).
List of sight hounds
This family includes
See also
Home | Up | Scent Hound | Sight Hound | Treeing
Dogs, made by MultiMedia | Free content and software
This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
|