Silken Windhound

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Silken Windhound
Other names Silken
Country of origin United States
Traits

The Silken Windhound is a rare American breed of dog, a member of the sighthound family.

Contents

[edit] Description

[edit] Appearance

A Silken Windhound, pictured next to the larger-sized Borzoi.
A Silken Windhound, pictured next to the larger-sized Borzoi.

The Silken Windhound is a graceful, small to medium-sized sighthound with a moderately long silky coat. This breed owes its unique appearance, elegant build, and the athleticism of a true coursing dog to champion Borzoi and Whippet ancestors. The Silken Windhound can be any combination of coat colors and markings, from spotted to solid, black and tan, saddled, brindle and sable, pure white and reds to deep black and blues, and a rainbow of colors in between.

[edit] Temperament

A black and white Silken.
A black and white Silken.

Silken Windhounds are as comfortable in the sporting fields as they are on the couch at home with their humans. They are generally affectionate and playful, and make ideal family companions and good playmates for gentle children. They are unsuited as guard dogs due to their trusting and friendly nature. Like all sighthounds, Silkens excel in racing or lure coursing but have also proven to be intelligent and responsive enough to also enjoy less typical sighthound activities. There are successful agility, therapy, flyball and obedience Silkens, as well as those that perform as assistance dogs. They do well with smaller household pets indoors if socialized to them properly, but their sighthound nature means that many small, fast running animals in the field may be chased.

[edit] Training

The Silken Windhound is a gentle, intelligent breed, they train easily and most effectively using reward and affection based training in short, positive sessions. Using positive training methods, Silkens will work eagerly and form strong relationships with their owners. Harsher training based on corrections do not work well with this breed, and will often create a fearful Silken rather than an obedient one. Like many in the sighthound family, most Silken Windhounds can slip out of a standard buckle collar, and the collar most often used with these hounds is a martingale dog collar, or a semi-slip collar.

[edit] Health

With proper care, many Silken Windhounds will live into their late teens, with some living until they are 17 to 20. Bone and joint ailments like Hip dysplasia are generally not a problem, nor is bloat. Some dogs in this breed are sensitive to Ivermectin and related drugs; a simple test is now available to find out if a dog is a Mdr1 (multi-drug resistance gene) carrier.[1] Responsible breeders are working to eliminate this faulty gene from the breeding pool. There have been some cases of cryptorchidism, umbilical hernia, and lotus syndrome, as well as deafness and cataracts in geriatric dogs. Thanks to the efforts of the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, Silken Windhounds are going to be the first dog breed to have their genome mapped.[2]

[edit] History

Breed founder Francie Stull showing off a Silken.
Breed founder Francie Stull showing off a Silken.

The Silken Windhound was created by Francie Stull, a successful breeder of top show and performance American Kennel Club (AKC) Borzoi and Deerhound who utilized her decades of experience with AKC hounds in the formation of this breed, combining the best aspects of some of the top performance Borzoi and Whippet bloodlines in the Americas. The first Silken Windhound litter was whelped in 1987, and the breed club was formed in 1999. Silken Windhounds now are located all over the US, Canada, and Europe. Silken Windhounds were bred to be a small to medium-sized sighthound. Like other members of their group, they hunt by sight, and can course game in open areas at high speeds.

A "straight race."
A "straight race."

[edit] Event Venues

In addition to specialty shows held worldwide, in the US, Silken Windhounds are welcome to show in the rare breed show venues Rarities, IABCA, and NCA, competing as part of the Hound groups. In Slovenia, the Silken Windhound is an accepted part of the Slovenian Kennel Club, member of the FCI, and also participates in the Hound group. Silken Windhounds are also able to participate in sighthound performance sports, and in addition to competing alongside other sighthounds in Finnish lure coursing and straight racing events, the ISWS has an established straight racing program that enables Silkens to race and win points towards their straight racing championships (SRC) in race events around the USA.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Multidrug Sensitivity (e.g. ivermectin). Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  2. ^ Canine Genetic Heritage Projects. UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.

[edit] External links