The Kangaroo Hound, the Australian greyhound that is probably extinct

Throughout history there have been many changes in the breeds of dogs, And it is that if we see old photos, of how the breeds were at the beginning of their existence, with the first crosses, to how they are now, a lot of changes can be seen. Today we are going to talk about one of the greyhound breeds that was created with a specific objective, like many other dog breeds, and that when it ceased to serve, it ceased to be of interest. Today we talk about the Hound Kangaroo, the Australian greyhound that is probably extinct.

And it is that in The Blue Greyhound, from time to time we like become aware of the reality in which we live. In addition to talking about some breeds of greyhounds, such as the Saluki, the oldest greyhound. But if with this type of article we can help races stop being created by human capriceWe will continue doing this work. With a lot of doggy love What we still have left to give.

What is a Kangaroo Hound and what do we know about it?

Like many other races, the Kangaroo Hound is a type of greyhound, which was created by crossing two other breeds existing greyhounds among themselves. Although when we say the word greyhound, the typical spanish Greyhound, That used for hunting and luckily, more and more is rescued. There are a lot of greyhound breeds that have evolved over the years.

A breed of which less information is currently available, is precisely the Kangaroo Hound, since this type of greyhound was created with the aim of hunting kangaroos in Australia. At the end of the 19th century, they decided in this country to create a breed of dogs that would be able to chase kangaroos and stop them, since they posed a threat to the population.

Characteristics of the Kangaroo Hound

The greyhound of this Australian breed was initially intended to be a kind of giant dog that hunted marsupials. And for this they decided to unite two breeds of greyhounds already known and existing at the time. It was created from english greyhound and irish greyhound. And it is no coincidence that they chose these two breeds to unite them, since they have good characteristics for hunting.

english greyhound

This type of greyhound is one of the most used for racing. Its maximum speed can reach asexceed 70km/h, has longer and more abundant hair than the Spanish greyhound and is somewhat more corpulent.

The speed it reaches is not due to its external physical complexion as such, but it has biological reasons. And it is that the greyhound has more red blood cells than normal, so it can oxygenate its blood at a much higher rate than other dogs. Your blood transports oxygen faster and therefore may have higher capacities. The negative side of this is that the abundance of red blood cells replace the white blood cells. So this makes it prone to disease often, so your immune system is quite weak.

Irish Greyhound or Wolfhound

He Irish Greyhound or Irish Wolfhound, is a species that physically has little to do with the greyhound we know. With a height between 70 and 80cm, is considered one of the biggest dogs out there. And in addition to this, its long hair and muscular body make it different from the rest of sighthounds.

Has a very short life expectancy about 7 years old, and is a descendant of the Scottish greyhound. Although they are usually quite tame, Like most greyhounds, it has been used throughout history for hunting.

Kangaroo Hound Design and the Dangers of Manipulated Breeds

Uniting the characteristics of these two dogs, it was intended to create a race that reached the speed of kangaroos, and that was strong enough to hunt them. And it is that with the good lungs of the greyhound, and the corpulence of the irish greyhound, practically a custom race had been designed.

The problem with this design breeds and handling, came when kangaroos began to be considered endangered animals. So this kind of dog it was no longer needed and therefore demanded. And it is that for reasons like that it began to become popular and celebrate the day of the greyhound, whose origin we explain to you in a previously written article.