Xigou

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Siden vi har vært innom noen litt mer sjeldne mynder denne dagen, tenkte jeg å gi mitt bidrag: en kineser, Xigou.

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Dere finner litt info og flere bilder her, fra Sir Terence Clark: http://saluqi.net/id21.html

Han forteller følgende:

We know from the historical and archaeological record that a Saluqi-like hunting hound existed in China even before the Arabs conquered parts of Central Asia and it is possible that some may have been traded along the Silk Road. One of the early pictorial representations is in a painted mural in the imperial Tang dynasty tomb of Prince Zhanghuai (died 684 AD) near XiAn, showing a falconer in a hufu (foreigner's) robe with a falcon and a Saluqi-like hound with an unusual, rather banana-shaped nose.

So, during a tour along the Silk Road through the Uighur Autonomous Provice of western China in September 2002, I made enquiries at various of the oasis towns such as Kashgar and Khotan around the Taklamakan desert, but though we were very warmly received by Uighurs and Han Chinese no one seemed to know about Xigou (pronounced See-gow) or 'slender dogs' as they are called in Chinese. A mural in the Khotan Museum of traders on the Silk Road did however include a hound in the foreground, suggesting that such hounds were there in the past.

So I was surprised and intrigued when out of the blue in September 2009 a hunter in Xi'an, western China emailed me with information and pictures of 'slender dogs' with what he described as a 'sheep's head' just like the hound in the Tang mural!

The correspondent sent me video clips showing how these 'sheep's head' hounds and others with a normal, straight nose hunted for hare in the vicinity of Xi'An airport. He said that on New Year's Day last year more than 100 hunters took part in hare coursing with more than 150 hounds! The hunting season lasts from October to February. The hare does not have much of a chance to escape as they usually slip any number of hounds at once. They do not run them in competitions but they do show them at the annual dog show in Xi'An. They produced in January 2009 a provisional breed standard but they do not yet maintain a registry. The hounds come in all colours but he said they preferred solid colours: white, black and deep red in that order, provided that they are tall and fast, but they also liked grey, brindle and grizzle, as these were all considered to be the colours of purebred hounds. Most of the hounds in his pictures were feathered but a few were smooth. Males measure 65-70 cm on average but he knew one measuring 78 cm; and females measure 60-70 cm on average. They are fed on chicken carcasses, corn meal and vegetables, with occasionally meat and bones. The hounds live outside in kennels as they also guard the house. They live 11-15 years and hunt until they are 9. They are kept until they die of old age as they are regarded as part of the family.

He said that in Shandong and Hebei provinces there were similar 'slender dogs' but the pictures he sent suggested a somewhat different strain, without the 'sheep's head' and often with a smooth coat. Kazakh hunters whom I met in Russia in 2005 told me that they had been selling their Hortayas to China for some years, so there could be a connection here.

In October 2010 I paid a visit to Shaanxi Province, the heartland of the Xigou. I met many of the breeders there and went hunting with them in the vicinity of the Hua Mountains to the east of XiAn. I found that the Xigou is as diverse as the desert bred Saluqi, with a range of different types. Some had the sheep's nose, but others did not. Some had a slightly roached back and rounded hindquarters, but others had a straight topline with prominent huckle bones (ischia) like those of Saluqis. Some had rather rounded front feet, but most had typically long Saluqi feet with arched toes. All those that I measured were taller than long, often by as much as 7-8 cm (3"); one was very tall - 80cm (31 1/2"), but most were around 70 cm (27"). Most were pure white or self black, often with a tiny patch of white on the chest. A few others were red sable, grey, dark brindle and cream.

Sir Terence Clark i Kina:

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