Are greyhounds the fastest dog?
The aristocratic salukiPicture: Wikipedia.com Greyhounds can reach speeds of about 70 kmh (45 mph) and are clearly the fastest dog breed on Earth. Aren’t they? Maybe not. It is possible that the aristocratic saluki is faster. I call salukis aristocratic because they are not only perhaps the fastest breed, they are probably the oldest. And if the chap pictured above isn’t an aristocrat, I don’t know what is. The question of which is the faster breed remains unanswered for the droll reason that salukis are not interested in chasing things such as mechanical hares and therefore will not race greyhounds on a track. If you think this is further proof of aristocratic nature, I agree with you. Salukis do show an interest, however, in chasing gazelles. This, indeed, is what they were bred for. And as gazelles are known to reach speeds of 80kmh, a reasonable case can be made for the saluki’s superiority. Their history is fascinating. The breed could be 9,000 years old, with excavations from the
