Old Croatian Sighthound
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The Old Croatian Sighthound (, 'greyhound'), also known as the Old Bosnian Sighthound, is an extinct
breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...
of
sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are a Dog type, type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hound, scent hounds, which rely on scent and endurance. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it ...
from the countries of
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
. It is claimed the Old Croatian Sighthound was descended from sighthounds kept by the
Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
; it closely resembled images of dogs on Celtic coins from the 5th century BC, as such it is believed to be closely related to the
greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
, which was introduced to Britain by the Celts. Descriptions of the breed in the region have been found in the writings of
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
s from the 13th and 14th centuries AD. The Old Croatian Sighthound was almost identical to the Greyhound although slightly smaller, with dogs standing between bitches being shorter. The breed had a short coat and was predominantly white with black, brown, red or yellow patches. Traditionally the breed was kept for
coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, ...
, predominantly hunting
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...
; it would catch the game and return it to the hunter. The breed never received recognition by any kennel club and suffered greatly under the former
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. The government of Yugoslavia banned coursing with sighthounds and further prohibited hunters from owning dogs without kennel club registration. In the early 1980s, some remaining specimens were found in
Orašje Orašje ( sr-cyrl, Орашје) is a city and the capital of Posavina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of river ...
and the surrounding villages; a pair were brought to the
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
School of Veterinary Medicine with the hope of starting a breeding program, but ultimately the program failed; it is believed the breed was extinct by 1995.


References

Sighthounds Extinct dog breeds Dog breeds originating in Croatia History of agriculture in Croatia {{dog-stub