Saluki
Calm, sensitive, dignified and catlike indoors. From Fertile Crescent.
Houndmedium breedFertile CrescentStandards checked
Standards checked: this profile's facts are checked against the breed standards of the AKC, The Kennel Club and the FCI, as described on our methodology page.
Gallery
Real photos from licensed sources only, each credited to its creator.
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Photos show different individual dogs from licensed libraries, not one dog growing up. Stage labels are approximate, the way a careful editor would judge them.
About the Saluki
From Fertile Crescent, the Saluki is a medium sized sighthound whose traditional work was to course game by sight at full speed, from hares to gazelles depending on the homeland. Sighthounds are sprinters, not marathoners: a glorious daily run, then hours of professional sleeping. Recall off lead needs secure spaces, because the chase instinct is total.
History
Sighthounds are the oldest recognizable dog type, coursing game in the deserts and steppes of the ancient world long before written breed records. The AKC recognizes the breed today, and its standard is the reference most US breeders work to.
Personality
Calm, sensitive, dignified and catlike indoors is the record's Saluki, the royal dog of the Fertile Crescent: perhaps the oldest recognisable breed in the world, coursing gazelles for pharaohs and Bedouin sheikhs alike. Salukis are gentle, self possessed and quietly devoted, bonding deeply while keeping a philosopher's independence. They are famously clean, quiet and graceful, moving through a house like silk. Puppies are leggy, charming and surprisingly playful; adults are serene, elegant companions with sudden bursts of joy reserved for their chosen people and open ground. They wilt under harshness and blossom in peaceful, admiring homes.
Temperament and traits
Energy (3/5)
Trainability (2/5)
Grooming needs (2/5)
Shedding (3/5)
Barking (2/5)
Good with children: Good with children
With other dogs: Usually good with dogs
With strangers: Reserved with strangers
Apartment life: With enough exercise
Coat and care
Coat: Smooth and "feathered".
Colors: Standard colors: white, cream, fawn, red, grizzle/tan, black/tan, and tri-color (white, black and tan).
Measure meals rather than free feeding; this breed does best on a routine of consistent meals, training in short sessions and daily exercise matched to its type. The easiest coat in dogs: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath. Thin skin and low body fat mean coats in cold weather, soft bedding for bony joints, and care with anaesthetics, which sighthound bodies handle differently.
Exercise and grooming
Exercise
Forty five to ninety minutes a day in the sighthound pattern: sighthounds are sprinters, not marathoners, per the overview: a glorious daily run in a secure space, then hours of professional sleeping. Recall off lead needs those secure spaces, because the chase instinct is total and the Saluki is among the fastest dogs on earth over distance. Walks and garden time fill the rest of the programme. Puppies play in bursts and need no forced distance on a fine boned frame. Thin skin and low body fat mean coats in cold weather and soft bedding everywhere, per the care notes. A Saluki with its run delivered is a serene, almost silent presence in the house.
Grooming
The easiest coat in dogs, per the care notes: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath for the smooth variety, and light combing through the ear, leg and tail feathering for the feathered variety. Salukis are famously clean, almost odour free dogs. The real care items are sighthound standard: thin skin and low body fat mean coats in cold weather, soft bedding for bony joints, and care with anaesthetics, which sighthound bodies handle differently, exactly as the care notes set out. Teeth, ears and nails take the standard weekly round. Sunburn can catch the thin coated nose and ears, per the health record, so shade and timing matter in strong sun.
Training and daily life
Training
Train a Saluki the sighthound way: gently, briefly and with excellent pay, accepting that an ancient coursing breed weighs every request. The train score sits low because independence is the design: these dogs decided for themselves, at full speed, far from any human, for five thousand years. Build the essentials: lead manners, a settle, cooperative care, and a recall practised in secure areas with realistic expectations. Never chase a Saluki to catch it; teach it that arriving pays better than the horizon. Harsh handling permanently damages trust with a dog this sensitive. Owners who ask politely get a mannerly, graceful companion.
Living with a Saluki
The Saluki suits calm, aesthetically minded households with secure sprinting space and a taste for serene, independent company. Calm, sensitive and catlike indoors, good with children, usually good with other dogs and reserved with strangers, it rates flats as workable in the record with the run genuinely delivered. Expect grace, silence, astonishing speed outdoors and a dog that regards small animals outside as legitimate quarry for life, so management is permanent. Owners describe living with a work of art that occasionally becomes a blur. For people who value beauty, antiquity and quiet devotion in equal measure, the Saluki is beyond compare.
What a Saluki costs
Food cost
About $34 per month for a typical 52 lb adult eating roughly 3.2 cups a day of a standard quality food ($1.60 per lb). Full breakdown in our food expense calculator.
Activity and exercise
Plan 45 to 90 minutes a day of walks, play and training. Under exercised dogs of most breeds invent their own projects, and they rarely pick good ones.
Insurance cost
Typical US range $34 to $61 per month for accident and illness cover. Estimate only, based on market ranges for this breed's risk profile; see the insurance estimator and the insurance guide.
On the monthly figures above, a typical adult year runs to about $405 for food and $408 to $732 for insurance, before routine vet care, grooming and gear. Year one costs more: vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, a crate, bedding and training all land at once.
Growth: puppy to senior
How weight typically builds with age for a medium breed, and when full size arrives.
| Stage | Age | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy | 8 weeks | about 6 to 9 lb |
| Puppy | 4 months | about 13 to 21 lb |
| Young | 6 months | about 21 to 34 lb |
| Young | 9 months | about 30 to 48 lb |
| Adult | 12 months | about 35 to 57 lb |
| Adult | 18 months | about 40 to 65 lb |
| Adult | Full grown | 40 to 65 lb (standard range) |
| Senior | From about 8 years | Healthy weight stays in the adult range; watch for slow gain or loss |
Growth pattern follows the size class growth curves published by the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, applied to the adult weight range in the breed standard. Individual puppies vary; steady growth matters more than hitting any single number, and your vet's growth checks come first.
Life stages
Puppies need gentle socialisation, kind handling, protected exercise while the fine frame grows and early recall work in secure places. Adolescents are gangly, theatrical and occasionally deaf to everything but movement, and calm structure carries the household through. Adults enjoy a long, elegant prime: keep the dog lean, the daily run protected and the bedding soft. Twelve to fourteen years puts senior status around ten: twice yearly checks with heart awareness, joint friendly gallops and warm, cushioned rest. Old Salukis stay graceful, quiet and devoted to the end.
Health
Generally a healthy, long lived sighthound. Heart conditions and some cancers are the main flags, and like all sighthounds they handle some anaesthetics differently. Sunburn can catch the thin coated nose and ears.
Conditions to know about
- Heart conditions: Heart conditions are among the main flags in this generally healthy breed, per the record. Ask breeders about cardiac history in their lines, and report exercise intolerance or coughing promptly.
- Cancer: Some cancers complete the record's main flags for the breed. Any new lump, persistent lameness or unexplained weight loss in a Saluki deserves prompt veterinary attention.
- A healthy, long lived sighthound: Generally a healthy, long lived sighthound, in the record's verdict. The flags above are watches, not expectations, and honest breeders discuss their lines openly.
- Anaesthetic sensitivity and sunburn: Like all sighthounds they handle some anaesthetics differently, per the record, so use a vet who knows sighthound physiology. Sunburn can catch the thin coated nose and ears, so manage strong sun sensibly.
Facts follow the Saluki breed standard (AKC, The Kennel Club and FCI standards agree on the essentials for this breed). Health notes summarize the conditions breed clubs and veterinary bodies most often flag for this breed. They are general information for choosing and caring, not a diagnosis or a substitute for your vet.
Gear for Saluki owners
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Saluki questions
How long do Salukis live?
A typical lifespan is 12 to 14 years. Weight control, dental care and screening for the breed's known conditions give a dog the best chance of reaching the top of that range.
How much does it cost to keep a Saluki?
Food for a typical adult runs about $34 a month at a standard quality tier, and accident and illness insurance usually falls between $34 and $61 a month in the US. Try the full cost calculator for a complete year one and yearly picture.
Are Salukis good with children?
Good with children. As with every breed, supervise dogs and children together and teach children to respect the dog's space.
How much exercise does a Saluki need?
Plan on 45 to 90 minutes a day, split between walks, play and training games. Puppies and seniors need gentler, shorter sessions.
How fast is a Saluki?
Salukis are among the fastest dogs over distance, historically credited with speeds around 40 miles per hour in pursuit of gazelles, with stamina sprinters like Greyhounds cannot match over long courses.
Are Salukis really one of the oldest breeds?
Yes: sighthounds of Saluki type appear in art from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia thousands of years ago, and the breed is often called the royal dog of Egypt.
Do Salukis shed much?
Very little for a dog this size: the smooth coat is the easiest coat in dogs per the care notes, and even the feathered variety needs only light combing. They are also notably clean and odour free.