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1800 and all that
Bruce Teague Australia (Verified User) Posts 2092 Dogs 0 / Races 0 18 Dec 2018 22:59
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Greyhound history is long and famous but one vital aspect seems to have crept by unnoticed. It occurred while Captain Phillips original party was desperately trying to sustain life in a strange environment, full of disease and short of food. The progeny of the original four greyhounds brought along by Joseph Banks, and others which followed, turned out to be lifesavers. The story is related by Guy Hall in THE DOGS THAT MADE AUSTRALIA (Harper Collins), a highly recommended and very readable account.
It bears more publicity by the PTB as part of a campaign to tell the public more about a wonderful and ancient breed. Here is a small excerpt.
Chapter 3 - Colonial hounds save the day
They crossbred Scottish deerhounds or possibly Scotch (sic) rough-haired greyhounds with smooth-coated greyhounds, and in doing so produced litters of wiry- and smooth-coated puppies, the wiry-coated being much preferred. The offspring were closer to the deerhound in size 80 pounds (36 kilograms) as opposed to the smooth-coated classic greyhound, which was 65 pounds (29 kilograms). They retained both the greyhounds explosive start and speed and the deerhounds greater stamina for long chases.
These offspring came to be known as kangaroo dogs, but it appears that in the early days any running sight hound in New South Wales was called a greyhound. The kangaroo dogs were perfect long-distance runners, thick-skinned with damage resistant coats, and they were powerful. It was these dogs that would supplement the colonys rations and ward off starvation.