History of the Greyhound
The true origins of the greyhound are shrouded in the mystery of history, but today’s greyhound bears a striking resemblance to the ancient breeds of sighthounds that go back to the Egyptians and Celts. Temple drawings from 6,000 BC in Turkey show domesticated hunting dogs with long, slender bodies. A funerary artifact found in modern day Iran and which dates back to 4,000 BC, has images of dogs that look like greyhounds. The skeletal remains of a dog identified as having the same form of a greyhound or saluki were excavated in modern Syria and were dated as being approximately 4,000 years old.
Even the ancients weren’t sure where these sighthounds came from. A Greek historian named Arrian, who lived during the 2nd century AD, mentions sighthounds and suggested its origins were from the Celts. But a systemic zoo-archaeology of the British Isles conducted in the 1970’s ruled out the existence of a true greyhound-type dog in Britain before the Roman occupation. The Celts believed that greyhounds originated from Greece and came to the British Isles with the Roman troops. This confusion suggests at least that greyhound-type dogs didn't originate in Gaul or Greece, but possibly in the Middle East.
It may be that the ancestor of greyhounds, salukis and other sighthounds came into being in the tents of Middle Eastern nomadic peoples. However, at some point, a special kind of dog was discovered or bred--a dog that could hunt alongside humans, including humans on horseback-- an extremely valuable service. These sighthounds were given a special place inside the camp, even inside the tents, where no other animal was allowed. The unique and highly prized abilities of sighthounds help explain why they have changed very little in 2,000 years.
The Romans used hounds for coursing, testing the speed and agility of the hound against the hare. Dogs apparently did not compete against one another the way they do now. Ovid describes coursing in the early first century AD: the impatient greyhound is held back to give the hare a fair start (read an excerpt). Arrian wrote "On Hunting Hares" in 124 AD in which he tells his readers that the purpose of coursing is not to catch the hare, but to enjoy the chase itself: " When they conquered Britain, the Romans brought with them European hares--more suitable for coursing than the local wild hares.
Greyhounds nearly became extinct during times of famine in the Middle Ages. They were saved by clergymen who protected them and bred them for the nobility. From this point on, they came to be considered the dogs of the aristocracy – nobles and the clergy. Hunting with sighthounds in this era hadn't changed much since the time of Romans like Arrian. It was a sport, not the serious pursuit of food, which pitted the hounds against the hare and against each other.
Coursing races, with dogs chasing live hares, became popular during the sixteenth century. Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) had Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, draw up rules judging competitive coursing. These rules were still in effect when the first official coursing club was founded in 1776 at Swaffham, Norfolk, England. The rules of coursing have not changed a great deal since this time.
Unlike Elizabeth, King James I (1566-1625) preferred hunting to hard work and he was an avid fan of greyhound coursing. Races between the horses of his followers became as important as the matches between the king's greyhounds. This began the tradition of competitive racing in Newmarket, England.
The English Earl of Orford created the first coursing club open to the public in 1776 in Norfolk. In live-hare coursing, two greyhounds are slipped (released) together. The winner is judged by a code of points: One of the most famous greyhounds of this century is Snowball, who won four cups and over thirty matches in his coursing career. In the 18th century, breeders began to keep proper pedigrees of their dogs.
The 19th century saw the beginning of the advertising of dogs available to stud for a fee. This was a dramatic change from the past, when breeders would never allow one of their champions to sire a dog that might compete against them one day. King Cob was the first successful public stud dog.
The popularity of greyhound coursing in Britain increased greatly in the nineteenth century, as the Industrial Revolution gave the manufacturing classes the wealth and time to enjoy such activities, and the expansion of rail made it easier to get to coursing events. Formal coursing meets reached their peak of popularity in the late 1800s. Some of these meets, such as the Waterloo Cup, are still held today.
The Waterloo Cup was considered for over a century to be the ultimate test of the coursing Greyhound. The first Waterloo Cup was held in 1837 on the Altcar estate of Earl Sefton and was won by a Mr. Stanton's dog, Fly. The competition was held during the week of the Grand National horse racing meet and soon attracted sporting men in considerable numbers. By the second half of the century, it had become a premier attraction by itself. Modern Greyhound enthusiasts, whether of track or coursing sport, have little idea of how important this meet was. In fact, simply to be nominated for entry was a matter of prestige, and early advertisements for stud service or puppies would have a line reading "Waterloo Cup nominator" referring to the sire/stud. To actually win the Cup was to be the top dog of the year.
Dogs were raised and trained in remote hill areas where they could roam freely, and chase anything that caught their attention. The constant exercise and hard climate built a level of endurance into the dogs that some think has been lost with modern rearing methods. In their second spring, the puppies were either sold or began their training for coursing competition.
Greyhounds were imported to North America in large numbers from Ireland and England in the mid-1800s not to course or race, but to rid mid-west farms of a virtual epidemic of jackrabbits that was ruining their farms. Greyhounds also were used to hunt down coyotes who were killing livestock. Americans soon discovered that greyhounds could be a source of sport. One of the first national coursing meets was held in Kansas in 1886. American coursing has been most popular in the western states.
With the formation of the National Coursing Club of England in 1858, coursing was turned into more of a business. It began requiring the registration of dogs for its events in 1882. This led to the creation of The Greyhound Stud Book in Britain and, later, sister publications in the United States, Ireland and Australia.
The evolution from coursing to track racing began in 1876, when the first enclosed or "park" course meet was held. These courses were only 800 yards long instead of the 3-mile traditional courses. Because of this, enclosed courses put a premium on speed. Enclosed courses have stayed very popular in Ireland. Their popularity in England was short-lived at the time, but they helped convince open coursing leaders to shrink the size of their courses. Also in 1876, greyhound racing began at the Welsh Harp, Hendon, England, when six dogs raced down a straight track after a mechanical lure. This attempt to provide a humane alternative to coursing failed, however, and the experiment would not be tried again until 1921.
From these coursing meets track racing would eventually develop. It came about partly due to the necessity of controlling the enormous crowds of people who came to observe the coursing. enclosed coursing parks were developed. These were huge fields which were fenced with an assortment of escapes (holes) built into the fences. Hares were captured and trained to the escapes so that they would have a fair chance. Then, during a coursing meet, dogs would be slipped in pairs to pursue the hare. They were judged on speed on the "run up" to the hare, on the number and kind of turns they forced the hare to make (a sharp turn earned more points than a slight deviation), and on whether or not they made the kill. The "run up" earned a significant number of points so speed became very important.
After an artificial lure was developed which could be run by a motor, it was an obvious step to turn to racing rather than coursing the hounds. Greyhound racing with an artificial lure began on September 11, 1879 at Hendon, England. Six dogs raced over a 400-yard straight course, chasing an artificial hare riding on “an apparatus like a skate on wheels” along a single track, according to a newspaper account of the day.
Around 1912, Owen Patrick Smith invented the mechanical lure a lure that could be run in a circle on a track such as horses used that racing began to be considered as a sport. He opened the first greyhound track (circular in shape) in Emeryville, California. Six years later he owned 25 tracks around the nation, including ones in Florida, Montana, and Oregon. Florida became the US capital of the sport after dog racing was introduced there in 1922. The first track race in England opened in 1926. Greyhound racing became very popular with the working classes in America and Britain. Before long it spread to Ireland and Australia as well.