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My first Sloughi
How - Slugi? Good heavens! How do I spell a word I have never heard
of before? How astonishing it was when our Boss had proclaimed:
"Now I have a Sloughi". Obstinate inquiries and according
information on his part proved that it was neither a new car nor
a designer-suit. No, it was clear, he talked about the Hound of
the North-African Tuareg-Nomads, the Sloughi. As a result of our
Boss' explanations and our own interpretations it must be a very
skinny, hectic creature, which will probably not be able to survive
over the East-Westphalian winter also due to his rather thin coat.
All the same, we were in suspense, of course. A few days later the
Hound had his Introduction by appointment at our house, by the way,
his name was "Said". And lo! behold! a strong, light-coloured
Sloughi-male-dog, 2 years old, with a black mask and dignified appearance
made his entry into our establishment. In spite of a detached reception
he could be pleased about a fast growing sympathy.
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| One of the last photos of "Said", Foto: S. Hintz |
Over the years the Boss's Sloughi became my Hound. How come? Now,
if you take charge of a hound "just so over the weekend"
or "only a few days on vacation" or "we have a new
Baby, can you take our hound for a few weeks?", - it happens
very fast. Said was now my/our house-companion and moved house into
an elderly-flat in the City-centre. His favourite place was the
sofa in the entrance-hall whereby he had everything under control.
When the door-bell rang he barked loudly and audibly although Said
belonged - more or less - to the "silent majority". Walking
in the City and through the bordering public gardens he enjoyed
very much, and some dog-friendships but also quarrels provided for
a change. As usual he accompanied me to work, permitted the colleagues
to stroke him, and he inspected the dustbins for eatables There
is a story, among others, one still likes to tell, when he once
had a dustbin hanging around his neck running loudly screaming through
the offices. That's why Said was the dear good soul of the office,
apart from a certain shyness towards strangers.
That he could be different Said indeed showed when men in a blue
overall came, when one drove with him in the car through the car-washing-establishment
or when he had to stay back in the car alone. No one was allowed
to get closer than half a meter to the car - then there was Sloughi-alarm.
But these were exceptions. He liked children, the whole family and
he was really an ideal casting for the hound-part. Also then when
we decided to get a second hound, an Azawakh - male-dog, 6 months
old. But this is a different story.
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