Читать книгу The Dog Owner's Handbook - Graham Meadows - Страница 12

Most of the early dogs were hounds, which suggests that a chief objective in early dog-breeding programmes was to develop varieties suitable for hunting. The development of these varieties varied according to the part of the world in which their human owners lived.

In Egypt, animal scents quickly disseminated on the hot, dry sands. Most of the early hounds therefore relied on their vision to identify their quarry from a distance before running it down; hence the development of ’sight’ or ’gaze’ hounds, from which breeds such as the Afghan and Saluki were developed. These animals also needed speed (long legs and a long supple body) and stamina (a large lung capacity within a deep chest).

Scents lingered for much longer in the cooler and moister environments of forests and woodlands – conditions common in Greece and Italy. Thick undergrowth prevented dogs from being able to follow their quarry by sight, so they needed to be able to track it by scent over long distances. These ’scent’ hounds were physically different from ’sight’ hounds. They had shorter legs and more compact, muscular bodies, and were built for endurance. We know that such dogs existed several thousand years ago.