Sloughi

About the Sloughi

North Africa produced the Sloughi, kept in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya to course hare, gazelle and jackal across desert and rocky plain, and prized by its owners in much the same way the Saluki was further east. It is a smooth-coated breed, distinct from the feathered eastern hounds despite the frequent confusion between them.

Dogs stand around 66 to 72 cm, lean and racy with a well-defined bony structure, a fine short coat and a characteristically melancholy, dark-eyed expression. Colours run from light sand through fawn to red, with or without brindling and a black mask. Sloughis are reserved with strangers to the point of appearing standoffish, and a stud that is settled and confident in a new place is valuable, because sensitivity in this breed can shade into timidity if it is not bred for carefully.

Ask for a current eye certificate, since progressive retinal atrophy has been documented in the breed, and ask the owner what DNA testing the breed clubs currently advise for it. Hip scores are a reasonable request. Raise thyroid function and any history of seizures among close relatives. The breed's sensitivity to some anaesthetic agents, common to the sighthounds, should be passed on to whoever ends up as the puppies' vet.

Health & breeding

We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.