Sighthound
Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are dogs which hunt first with speed and sight as opposed to scenthounds who hunt by scent and endurance. These dogs are specialized in chasing prey. They do this by keeping the prey in sight at all times. Then they overpower the prey. It is imperative that this type of dog is able to see motion, this means that their eyesight must be the best of all other types of dog. They need to be fast enough to get prey which is already very quick, such as hare and deer. The way this is achieved is be the dog having a very flexible back coupled with long legs and a deep chest to support the large heart they need for the chase. They generally have very little fat to keep their weight down and improve speed.
Typically the sighthound has a thin head which is light, its technical term is a dolichocephalic head. The sighthound has been around for over 5000 years. The earliest known existence of this breed of dog is to be found at excavations at sumer which go back to the 7000 BC. Although in modern time most sighthounds don't hunt but are kept as pets before then they were actively bred to help in the hunting of food. As a group the sighthounds loves to be active and run.
Sighthound breeds
- Afghan Hound
- Azawakh
- Greyhound
- Hortaya Borzaya
- Irish Wolfhound
- Italian Greyhound
- Hungarian Greyhound
- Polish Greyhound
- Russian Wolfhound
- Saluki
- Scottish Deerhound
- Silken Windhound
- Sloughi
- Spanish Greyhound
- Whippet
