A Dog With A Past — History of the Breed

greyhound_history_cartoonGreyhounds have had a special place in history for a long time. And until modern times, were treasured by their owners, usually royalty or noblemen, and treated as one of the family.

Ancient Times

The greyhound, as we know it today, was worshipped in ancient Egypt. The death of a favorite greyhound was treated the same as the death of a human. Families shaved heads, stopped eating, wailed, mummified and buried their pets with their owners. Greyhounds traveled from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece and were treated with the same reverence. The same is true for ancient Rome. Gods in all three cultures were portrayed with greyhounds — Anubis in Egypt is sometimes interpreted as part man, part hound. The Greek Gods Hecate, Pollux, and Artemis all had greyhounds as companions. In Rome, Diana was just one of the many gods who were portrayed with greyhounds. It was in ancient Rome that it appears that greyhounds started racing after hares as a sport.

Medieval Times

Greyhounds almost became extinct during the Middle Ages as famine and pestilence spread across the land. Men of the cloth saved them, and the nobility claimed them as an exclusive right of theirs. It is during the Renaissance that greyhounds were painted and immortalized. Both Chaucer and Shakespeare mentioned greyhounds in their literature.

In the 1700’s greyhound coursing became popular and spread across Britain and Europe. During the same time, bulldogs were bred with greyhounds by an English nobleman named Lord Orford and these crosses continued for 7 generations, and were very popular.

Getting To America

As the Britons emigrated to America, they brought their greyhounds with them. And found them ideally suited to chase down rabbits that were interfering with their crops. This led to bets and wagers among the farmers as to who had the faster dog. And in the 1900’s, an artificial lure and an oval track led to the first formal greyhound wagering, the forerunner of our greyhound racetracks.

A greyt book all about your greyhound’s past is The Reign of the Greyhound — A Popular History of the Oldest Family of Dogs, by Cynthia Branigan. All book stores carry it and it is highly recommended and fun reading!

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