Greyhound Dog History: Part 4 of 4

It is our desire that you took pleasure in our 'short-course' concerning the history of Greyhounds up to now. In this article we will finish our four part series by continuing from the time in history when Elizabeth I, a coursing enthusiast, shaped the "sport of queens" in which she fashioned the Greyhound breed as the noted race dog.

Enthusiasts from this sport came from all walks, including a man named Lord Orford, whom in the late 1700's set out his objectives on improving the Greyhound by combining or mixing them with other canine breeds. As a loyal fan of coursing himself, the objective was to produce faster and more agile dogs from the practice of cross breeding. Of course, he was not always victorious. At one time he bred a Greyhound with a Bulldog, which back in those days looked like the today's Pit Bull.

Unsurprisingly so, this mix breed did not do well on the course and caused mockery from Lord Orford's competitors. Due to this contempt, he later worked intensely at breeding mixed breeds with Greyhounds for seven whole generations. And subsequently, in the end shocking his competitors, Lord Orford used what he considered his most excellent crossbreed and won all courses he sported. It was his hybrid "Czarina" which could not be beat. It can be said that every current day Greyhounds may very well stem from this mix of Bulldog and Greyhound of the past.

Talking about today's Greyhound, America was introduced to the dog breed when the Spanish brought them during their expeditions in the early 1500s. During the times the European explorers would travel cross country, it was fairly common to be accompanied by a Greyhound dog for the complete trip.

The Greyhound breed actually became a huge dog population when the settlers began to set up home and farm in the Midwest. Crops that were grown became overrun by jackrabbits and the best solution at the time was to bring Greyhounds from Europe as 'vermin control'.

And obviously, the velocity and dexterity of the Greyhound caused the sport of coursing to start here in American also. A common activity for the settlers was to watch the coursing of coyotes, jackrabbits, and other animals by the quick Greyhounds. An interesting fact you maybe did not know is that General Custer owned a sizeable quantity of them. As well, Teddy Roosevelt being an avid hunter, also had many Greyhound dogs for hunting?

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