The following will need little comment, but it is unusually illustrative. The little red tazi with the gray face is Larissa, an Almaty dog in origin, Ataika’s daughter and we hope the next mother- to- be. The cream male is Tavi, the intended father, a mix of Kazakh genes and Russian.
What to notice is how the greyhound types dominate at first– I used to say that if a hare was caught at or before a quarter mile it was my late Plummer lurcher– but gradually the salukiformes’ endurance wins out– a catch after a mile needs tazi genes I think.
Please double or right click– these are worth enlarging!
Of course, dominating the hare doesn’t mean you are a social lion– it was his big old housemate Gaddi the Afghan who brought the hare to hand!
UPDATE: a friend thought I meant tazlukis are superior coursers, or that longdogs have no stamina. Not at all– I think that a mixed pack is the way to go., and ran one in my and my hounds’ time. Good grey crosses regularly take jacks closer than most “oriental sighthounds”; if a course goes to four miles, which happens in this country, they will still be in the race, but their Asian relatives may well be ahead. I have never owned a dog of either type to quit, though for all I know some may. These longdogs catch plenty of hares and one has tazi genes; they have speed and stamina.
(Track greys are still another story– very fast and very quick to burn, run like hell in a straight line, and break easily. Many don’t have the wits to come back. Great crosses, sweet pets, dumb as a bag of rocks…)
I like to watch hounds chasing quarry. My old dog did that with roe deer and wild boar — never caught anything because he would yodel in excitement before starting with deer (not that smart) and hold back (not that stupid after all) with boar. I plan on getting a galgo at some point, and hunt her (had a *dog*, learned my lesson).
But I count 6 hounds and one hare here. Ahem, fair play?
More than you may think, Federico! In my experience two or three good dogs are the most efficient– that many often just get in each others' way. Any more than that never gets the quarry– too distracting.
This was actually an exercise run with two people's dogs that accidentally became a hunt, but the pix and what they illustrated were irresistible.
To be honest I am joking — all my coursing was exactly that, a walk that turned into a hunt. And yes, the pictures are ace.
FANTASTIC photos–yeah, you REALLY need to do a SPECIFIC book on sighthounds Bodio! Illustrated with such photos! And yes, Federico, that's how all my "hunts" start, too-just me taking the dogs for a run! And we rarely catch or kill anything(although I could, if, with the proper weapon, if I wanted too)–but just try and tell that to aggressively territorial landowners or woods-cops! Better to remain as elusive as the resident coyotes–you'll get no quarter from anyone, as they will advise you!(if you get in a conversation with a coyote, that is….) One thing I've learned the hard way(coursing running hounds in dense forest–not ideal for their function I know), is that the shorter smooth coats of the more true greyhound types(and my super smooth Azawakh!)–much as I LOVE the smooth look and feel of these coats–tend to get ripped and torn frequently! Even the only slightly thicker coats on the Saluki/Tazi types I've had are SOOOOOOOO much more resistant to getting such wounds!!! And ditto(actually, double-ditto that) for a good wire coat!….L.B.