Spanish Greyhound

The Spanish Greyhound has a rather muddied past and theories as to their origins. One widely accepted theory is that the Spanish Greyhound came from crossing the Irish Greyhound with the Sloughi or Scottish Deerhound. This ancient breed did not have their history written until the early 1900s and then it was too late to accurately trace their heritage. The Spanish Greyhound is also called the Galgo or Galgo Espanol and was named after the Gauls which was a Celtic tribe living in the Iberian Peninsula during the 6^th century. Historians believe the Celts acquired various sighthounds from Phoenician merchants and then the Moors conquered Spain in the 8^th century and brought African sighthounds. The Moors are thought to have bred the Spanish Greyhounds to these unknown African sighthounds. However, most of the Spanish Greyhounds that are in existence today can be traced back to Irish Greyhounds because of their speed and hardiness. The Spanish Greyhound was originally only owned by the noble class and was held in very high esteem. However, the lower classes began stealing these dogs and then breeding them indiscriminately. This led to them losing favor among the nobles and being viewed as trash to only be owned by the lower classes despite their elegant look. The overall appearance of the Spanish Greyhound changed because of being over-bred. More color variations became acceptable and several different coat textures. In the early 20^th century the Spanish Greyhound began to change again because they were crossed with the English Greyhound to create an even faster breed. Both the English Greyhound and the Spanish Greyhound are considered to be two of the fastest breeds in the world. The cross was dubbed the Anglo-Spanish Greyhound but the Anglo was dropped after several years. The Spanish Greyhound is rarely found outside of their native Spain and is not recognized by many dog clubs.