I want some TOO!

Apologies for this beautiful Flatcoat Retriever being slightly out of focus - I made a sound to attract his attention, he looked at me for one second, then back to what really interested him: the food on the table at this Menton seafood restaurant! Hence, he's slightly out of focus. Below, you'll see the shot I eventually got but this dog wasn't remotely interested in posing. I wonder if he got given a treat. Personally I don't feed a dog from the table - ever. They get their treats just before bedtime - Biccies at Bedtime, I call it.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 6

One man - two dogs. Are they tired and fed up? Probably not. Most dogs would rather be with their owner, even if they do have to wait whilst he watches the Arabian horses. Dogs need to be with us and we with them. They are family, after all.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 5

This beautiful dog - is it an Italian Greyhound or a Whippet? Yes, I know I should know. Well I think it's an Italian Greyhound by way of its size. Yet another dog seen at the Arabian Horse show in Menton. In the last photograph you can see one of the horses being taken out for exercise prior to exhibition.

Chico, the dog from Orvieto

This little dog belongs to Don, a friend of mine who lives in Italy. Below you'll see Don and Chico outside the church in Gorbio village. Chico appeared one day at Don's house in Orvieto and despite a long search, the owner was never found - so Chico now has his forever-home. Lucky dog! Lucky Don!

'Skipper'

This little dog has got the art of being cute down to a 'T.' Only 8 months old, she's as bouncy as you'd expect a puppy to be. She wouldn't sit still until I make squeaky noises which made her sit up and take notice. Here she is with her owner outside a café in Carnoles, which is a suburb of Roquebrune-cap-Martin.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 4

This little cutie - only three months old - is proudly held by her owner. Yet another dog and a very small one this time, snapped at the Menton Arabian Horse Show.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 3

This is a Sloughi with a bandaged foot. Yet another dog present at Menton's Arabian Horse show. The plastic bags you see in the background are fixed onto the ends of rigid wires and waved about to 'get the horses going' - to energise them. I suppose they are used to it but it seemed to scare some of them. You can more on the beautiful Sloughi breed below.

The following information on the breed was taken from the Sloughi Fanciers Association of America website - click here to read more.

The exact origins of the breed date too far back to be completely known and remain speculative. Representations of African Sighthound-like dogs go back to the 8th-7th millennium BC. and artifacts of Ancient Egypt show us how valuable straight eared and lop-eared smooth Sighthounds were in those days. The smooth lop-eared Sighthounds of ancient Egypt are thought to have originated from Asia (east of Egypt), but they were also part of tributes to the Pharaohs from Nubia (South of Egypt). This ancient hound resembles today's Sloughi, Saluki, Azawakh and smooth Afghan, and it is impossible without any genetic study to know whether it was a breed of its own, whether it was identical to one of these 4 breeds, or whether it was the ancestor of all lop-eared Sighthounds.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Sloughi was almost extinct. Political upheavals had disrupted highly sophisticated breeding by leading families. A French law introduced during French occupation which prohibited hunting with Sighthounds had resulted in the shooting on sight of these dogs. Epidemic rabies had further decimated the Sloughi population. In spite of dedicated efforts which started at the end of the 1960ies in Europe, North Africa and the USA, the Sloughi is still not very common, and its breeders have an important responsibility in the conservation of this ancient breed.

The Sloughi's native countries are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It is the hound of the Berber and Bedouin who have always highly treasured the Sloughi's tremendous hunting skills, beauty and loyalty and treated him like family.

In the old days, the Sloughi used to hunt desert hare, fennec (desert fox), gazelle, large mountain gazelle, hyena, ostrich, and jackal. Today it hunts mainly desert hare, fennec, rarely gazelle, and protects the goat and sheep herds by hunting their predator the jackal. Like all Sighthounds, Sloughis are open space hunters which rely on excellent vision, speed and stamina to catch their prey. They chase on sight anything that moves, however far away. Although the breed hunts mainly by sight, it also relies on scent and sound to do so.

The Sloughi is also an alert watch dog, which remains aloof and cautious with people it does not know. Sloughis take time to warm up to strangers allowed to enter the house, and it is always best to let them do it at their own pace. With its owner the Sloughi is gentle, affectionate and very loyal. Once it has bonded with someone, the Sloughi does not always change owner with ease. Bedouins treasure this attitude and have bred their Sloughis accordingly.

© Dominique Crapon de Caprona