What is a sighthound?

And why does that matter in training?

Sighthounds are dogs who hunt by sight. These dogs are often fast, powerful, and with short attention spans. Whereas other dogs’ instincts propel them to herd or protect livestock, or retrieve game, many sighthounds were bred to scope out prey, and run very fast to catch it. 

This unique purpose unites sighthounds across the world. Though they can vary drastically in appearance, because they’ve been shaped by similar purposes, they are usually slim with small waists, long legs, deep chests, and long snouts.

Most historians and genetics experts agree that the origins of sighthounds come from a couple of different strains: A West-Asiatic strain being the main ancestors of the Saluki, Tazi, Afghan Hound, and Borzoi, and a Western European strain being the main ancestors of the Greyhound, Whippet, Irish Wolfhound, and Scottish Deerhound. 

There are also what’s called landrace breeds of sighthounds which developed independently of the above strains that are uniquely adapted to their environments, like the Azawakh and Caravan Hound. 

Over time, as working class people recognized the benefit of having a dog that could run and catch prey for the dinner table, crosses and mixes appeared. Some crosses have become their own breed, like the Silken Windhound, whereas others don’t have an official breed standard, but are still very popular, like lurchers. 

Common Sighthound Breeds

This is not an all-inclusive list but if you are more used to seeing poodle mixes, labradors, spaniels, and shepherds, it’s good to get a sense of what we mean. 

Greyhound

Whippet 

Borzoi

Saluki

Afghan Hound

Silken Windhound

Ibizan Hound

Wait, what about lurchers??

Lurchers generally refer to a cross between a purebred sighthound and a dog of a different breed group. These dogs are popular in the UK for their historical working abilities, combining the speed of a sighthound with specific traits from other breeds, like strength, stamina, scenting talent, or bite strength. 

Common lurchers include Greyhound x Collie, Whippet x Terrier, and Saluki x Greyhound x Bully breed. 

Though hunting with lurchers now has specific legal restrictions in the UK, lurchers remain a cultural hallmark of the working class. There are lurcher clubs and races all over the country, and even dedicated breeding programs. 

They may not be recognized by a kennel club, but these dogs are bred with intention and purpose nonetheless. 

In contrast to lurchers, Longdogs are crosses between two or more sighthound breeds – though they are not purebred per se, they still retain a distinctive sighthound shape and purpose, like Deerhound x Greyhound longdog. They are not lurchers technically, because they don’t have parentage from another “type” of dog.

I include lurchers in the broader category of sighthounds because even though they have additional genetics, they frequently function like sighthounds, both in how they are worked and in their natural instinct to chase and catch. 

Beyond the snoot: What makes sighthounds tick?

Because of the centuries and possibly even millennia history of scanning for prey to chase, sighthounds have a keen ability to spot movement across huge distances. It also means they have shorter attention spans – I think of it like Dog ADHD, in the best way.

Just like how ADHD neurotype in humans is said to have evolved to guard campfires at night, sighthounds need a certain amount of fast response and impulsivity to notice the tiniest of movement and details. Over-responsiveness to movement is actually a benefit in working environments, because it means the dog won’t miss any prey. 

Because of this, sighthounds have an incorrect reputation for being “unintelligent”, “slow to learn”, “unfocused”, and “impossible to train.”

This is only true if you buy into the idea that there’s only one good behavioural and training standard for all dogs. Just like how ADHD kids struggle at school but blossom in sports and outdoor environments, so too do sighthounds struggle with certain training methods, but thrive when training embraces and channels their instincts.

Common training struggles for sighthounds

When I first started training my first Borzoi, I joined a generic puppy class and tried to apply the advice to my sighthound. I quickly learned that I had to do things in roundabout ways to even make a smidgeon of progress compared to other breeds. But some questions I had, the trainers (from other backgrounds), just couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. Like,

How do I reward my dog if he has no food drive? 

What if I can’t get far enough away from a reactivity trigger to slowly desensitize him to it? 

What do I do if I can’t get my dog’s attention? 

How do I train a loose lead walk when he’s already taller than my waist at 11 months old? 

Is it reactivity or is it over friendliness or is it prey drive? How do I tell the difference? 

Why do other dogs react so badly to my dog for no reason? 

Through pouring over sighthound specific blogs, books, and spending years studying neurodiversity in humans for my Master’s degree, and incorporating training insights from other breeds that seemed to work, I came up with my own theory for training sighthounds.

Which is simply to honor their instincts, understand their history, and communicate with them in as direct and natural a way as possible. 

I learned that there is no one “right” brain and there are diverse ways to be intelligent.

I learned that if a dog isn’t taking food, there’s probably something more interesting in the environment, that I can use in training.

I learned that giving my dog a task to focus on, direct feedback, and embracing triggers as learning opportunities resolves reactivity far faster than avoidance.

I learned that dogs, even when silent, have a language of their own through body movement and pressure that can make or break a tense situation.

Now, my dogs regularly enjoy freedom that many of their breed companions and cousins rarely get to do in the modern western world.

We go off-leash hiking.

I let them chase small animals because I know it fulfills their unique breed needs, and I know they will always come back to me. 

I’m not stuck trying to force food into my “stubborn” dog to “reward” him.

I don’t have long training sessions.

Instead, we communicate clearly, we go outside every single day, and I let him do what sighthounds love the most: Run. 

Welcome to Serene Sighthounds.

~Serena