Originally published at: Watch one of the world's fastest dogs run, and it's not a Greyhound | Boing Boing
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Learned something new today. Time for a nap.
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Hawks and dogs or hired assassins?
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The Saluki in that video is a smooth-coated variety. They can also have a “feathered” coat, with long hair on the tail and ears. The feathered salukis can look pretty goofy.
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Salukis and Afghans are very pretty dogs, but the couple I have met were rather featherbrained. Star would rather run away than anything else, she would get out of the house, and before her owner could get to the door, she would be halfway down the block. They are so fast chasing them except with a car or bike was useless, so all they could do was put out food and hope she would remember where she was fed.
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Serious ear floppage.
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I suspected it would be a Saluki. There was an episode of PBS’ Nature that showed them running and how their skeleton and musculature worked in full stride.
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Our greyhound was similar - when she would manage to get out I would just have to call to her and hold up her leash. She’d then come charging back at full speed – ostensibly eager to go for a walk. Nevermind she was already loose. Thats the featherbrained part, but thank god or they’d be gone.
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Some dogs were bred to defend the herd, some were bred to act as living fashion accessories, and some were bred to run run run.
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I’m amazed that they manage to stay hydrated.
Even under non extraordinary-running conditions dogs tend to pant slightly moistly; and here’s a dog that’s not exactly carrying around a lot of water weight running flat out for 3 kilometers without starting to dry out?
Avoiding hyperthermia under those conditions also seems like quite a neat trick.
Anyone know if these extended temperature/hostile environment greyhounds have some non-obvious trickery at work to deal with those issues(the way giraffes manage their crazy blood pressure; or aquatic mammals don’t get the bends and die basically every day); or is there just more margin for working harder in a dog than I would have expected?
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Fast and goofy. Sounds dangerous.
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Sweet dreams… Napasan.
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So I have a saluki mix, and I will tell you that in addition to being the fastest dog I’ve ever had, he’s also the laziest dog I’ve ever had. So maybe they’ve adapted to conserve energy.
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Headline: “Fastest dog and it’s not a greyhound”
buried lede: “well, Greys can clock faster, but salukis can run for longer”
Riiiight. Totally didn’t move that goalpost 
/by that logic, greyhounds are faster than cheetahs because they can run for longer than cheetahs.
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Southern Illinois University in Carbondale has the Saluki as it’s mascot.Years ago the southern tip of Illinois claimed kinship with Egypt because of our borders being defined by the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. We have towns named Cairo, Karnak, Thebes, Goshen, Carmi and Dongola. Almost every town in the area has some business named Little Egypt something or other. Over the years the school has had several of the feathered dogs, cleverly named some version of King Tut. Salukis are supposedly one of the earliest known purebreds being mentioned as far back as 7000 BCE. Who knows, thats a bit before my time.
SIU is my alma mater so it’s really good to know that the mascot is noted for being lazy and goofy. A lot of that rubbed off on me I’m proud to note.
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Also by the same logic, both are put to shame by huskies.
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Learned something new as well. I always thought dogs were considered taboo or unwanted in Islamic cultures.
Same with the couple of rescue greyhounds I had in the past. Very very quiet, easy going, and lazy dogs. They save all that energy for those bursts of speed, and otherwise are perfectly content finding a soft doggie bed to sleep on, perhaps curled up with a favorite stuffed animal. Unlike my current dog, a golden retriever, who demands constantly love and attention (and is a big goofball and adorable of course, despite his neediness).
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Yeah what a weird headline. “Watch one of the world’s fastest dogs run, and it’s not a Greyhound. Because then the headline would be ‘Watch the world’s fastest dog run’”
