I would like to add a saluki to our family next year. We live in a small rural village in a sheep rearing area and as of last week sheep were pastured in the field directly behind our house. Short of putting up a deer fence around our garden (currently hedged and due for laying this winter), I am scared that the saluki could get into real trouble here unless we take him out somewhere for a run--by the way, I only have our two on a lead around here, they don't get to run free till we are walking along the river. The trouble there is that there is plenty to chase by way of birds, deer etc. I'm worried about him disappearing into the next county. What do others do without large fenced paddock? If the answer is "don't get a saluki" I will not be surprised.

I've had borzois for over 20 years, was hoping for a saluki and am picking up a Silken Windhound pup tomorrow and I live in the country and don't own my own field :-)  Are you north or south of the border? Here in Scotland we have the right to roam, which means you can use any empty grass field for exercising the dogs. In England you may have to ask permission.

I have several regular fields I use depending on livestock rotations. They range between 2 and 15 minutes drive away. Go round your local area just now and make a list of suitable fields. You need to walk right round the perimeter of the field checking the fence, ideally it should have no hidden dips and it needs a gate that closes. The ones I use are all bordered by roads or railways lines rather than other livestock fields. Only once has one of my dogs ever jumped out of a field, after a deer but that's the chance you take when you let a hound off lead. I've had thousands of trouble free walks and hundreds of times when they've got up after a rabbit, hare, fox or deer but stopped at the fence.

Regardless of how much free running your hound gets your garden still needs to be secure. Salukis are a lot like zois, after an initial race around they'll just mooch along at your side unless they see something to chase. Even after a long walk they'll still want to chase the sheep in the next field if they run. Hedges make good boundaries because they can't see through them, sighthounds have no wish to chase anything they can't see. What height is your hedge and is it solid or with gaps? A 4' chicken wire fence on your side of the hedge would be fine. I've got 6 foot fencing in the back garden but only 4 foot in the front. Generations of borzois, a whippet and a lurcher plus several collies have lived here and never shown any inclination to jump out even after such delicacies as a passing cat.

You'll learn that walking a sighthound is not like walking any other breed. Paths with lots of undergrowth or trees are not ideal as they could very quickly disappear from sight after prey. I try to stick to large open fields to walk hounds and just keep scanning the horizon for anything they may find tempting :-)

As with any other breed let your pup off lead as soon as possible, but don't relax and think your hound is perfectly trained and not like all the others, sometimes the chase instinct doesn't kick in till a year or even later.

thanks very much , Tigger2m this is more encouraging than I dared to hope for--and good luck with your new silken windhound! I saw your earlier posts about this.

I had a saluki over 30 years ago, a desert bred dog who was very much his own man--loved one person, but other than that was devoid of much interest in humans. Birds, cats etc were a different matter entirely, and we had one awful episode where he and a neighbour's boxer despatched a cat very efficiently. We took him halfway around the world with us to live in New York in a very small town with lots of open space. He had zero road sense and eventually when he was retired to a 40 acre smallholding he managed to find his way under a car, so you can see why I feel thrilled but very anxious about whether I can give this new pup all he needs.

We are in east Lancashire on the border of north Yorkshire. I planted the mixed hedgerow (e.g. hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, viburnum, ash, rowan, honeysuckle) 12 years ago round our plot--once it's fully laid this year it will be stockproof. It's about 2m high at the moment but obviously this will be reduced somewhat till the following spring. I keep hens on the plot (they live behind 2m deer fencing, much to the frustration of my WSS who love to watch them and probably would like to chase them too if they had the slightest encouragement).

This pup, if we get him, will be at least 10 months old by the time he arrives (he must be just over a week old now!) because of the import legislation. I know his breeders have big open spaces for their dogs. I can picture some of the fields we use for our WSS as being good for him, I'll keep on doing a reccy with our WSS lads till I build up a good picture of where we can go safely. I'm just hoping we can get the saluki pup trained to the whistle so he comes back with the WSS. I'm not counting on him learning to swim like they do though :-) !

I have two saluki lurchers (one probably/possibly a full saluki) and we live in London. We have a super country park here where the salukis can run free pretty safely as there is no lifestock on there, only the occasional fox! (They do have reasonable recall in non-chase situations). However, whenever we are in the countryside, I always find it very difficult to find areas to exercise them off lead as there is almost always something to chase around. A saluki won't be put off by sheep two miles away, if he can get to them, he will... and it won't take him long either to get to the next county... And of course the problem with salukis is that they do need to run properly, just on-lead exercise is not enough for them.

So perhaps in your situation, unless you can find a safe area to exercise a saluki, it might be worth to reconsider.

Salukis are a lot like zois, after an initial race around they'll just mooch along at your side unless they see something to chase.

That's not my experience with salukis...! Salukis are - unlike many other sighthounds - a breed that need a lot of exercise and make the most of it when out off lead! It's only at around 4 years old, that both our saluki lurcher and saluki started to calm down and grow up, but they still rarely just walk by my side (one is nearly 5, one is 8), in fact, the saluki never does. He is always ahead of me and is running or at least trotting most of the time.

sighthounds have no wish to chase anything they can't see

Sorry, I don't mean to be contradictive... LOL But again, my experience is different. In open countryside, our hounds won't go off unless they see something. But walking in the woods is an entirely different story where both our saluki lurchers will go off for minutes at the time using their noses trying to flush something chasable out...

I've got 6 foot fencing in the back garden but only 4 foot in the front. Generations of borzois, a whippet and a lurcher plus several collies have lived here and never shown any inclination to jump out even after such delicacies as a passing cat.

Although our saluki lurcher wouldn't attempt to jump a 6 foot fence and probably not a 4 foot either, our saluki would without hesitation! We have an 8' wall at the end of our garden where sometimes foxes or cats balance across... And if it wasn't quite so awkward to get to it and if they had a proper run up to it, then our saluki would have jumped even that without a lot of problems if going after a fox or cat... So I guess, it very much depends on the individual dog.

You might have to consider whether a breeder will even sell you one without adequate fencing....I know I certainly wouldnt!! (no offence meant by that....just wouldnt consider selling to someone without a wire fence inside their hedge.)

No offence taken, sam--this is exactly why I am asking these questions now. There is a wire fence inside and beyond the hedge already, and I am planning on adding to it over the next few months to build it up to 2m all round. I do know that fences guarantee nothing, though. I have had a much-treasured saluki before and know very well what his prey drive and exercise requirements meant. Much as I would love to share life with another saluki, I would never take one on unless I was confident of being able to take care of him in a way that suits his temperament and physical needs. That's why 35+ years have gone by since I had my dog Zeyd.

> That's not my experience with salukis

I walk with 3 salukis a few times a month. They are full pedigree salukis aged, 2, 6 and 7. When we get out the car all the dogs have a race around for maybe 10 minutes, usually a lot less than that. They then invariable mooch along with us as we chat, they stop and sniff, pee, look at things but are never more than 5 feet away. We walk in a local farmers field and can see all around and as long as there is nothing to chase on the horizon the dogs are like shadows :-)

> Sorry, I don't mean to be contradictive... LOL But again, my experience is different. In open countryside, our hounds won't go off unless they see something. But walking in the woods is an entirely different story

and this is what I said....

You'll learn that walking a sighthound is not like walking any other breed. Paths with lots of undergrowth or trees are not ideal as they could very quickly disappear from sight after prey. I try to stick to large open fields to walk hounds and just keep scanning the horizon for anything they may find tempting

I think we're singing from the same hymn sheet :-)

ah sorry I misread it and thought there was just a laid hedge and no wire. well our 2 deerhounds have jumped our 5 feet high gates in the past with ease but overall they choose not to! Not sure if that helps or not really!?

I don't have a Saluki but i do have a fear aggresive large dog who has a high prey drive.
I hire a large fully fenced 3.5acre field for her to run in 2-3 times a week from a greyhound kennels about 10 miles away.
She can run and play frisbee and we can both totally relax knowing she can't escape and no other dogs will appear.

thanks bevb, this sounds like a great idea--how did you find out about greyhound trainers in your area (sorry to sound helpless!)

I just asked about.  One kennel near me said no but this other one further away said yes and thought it a great idea and also said if anyone else I knew would like to hire it they are welcome.