A form of the adjective moderate appears four times in the Saluki standard. As a topic of discussion (Colley, 1986; Carlyle, 1993; Wassenaar, R & Wassenaar J, 1993; Sighthound Review, 1993; Chato, 1993; and Perkins, 1996), many have attempted to bring meaning and understanding to the forms. These discussions assume the understanding of the grammatical role. However, in these discussions, the grammatical significance of those words is weak. I would like to explicitly state the correct and limited usage of the forms, and propose some models for the application of the terminology to the Saluki standard.
The Adverb
Three out of the four times the adjective moderate is used in the standard, it is used as an adverb. Each time the adverb moderately is modifying an adjective which, in turn, is modifying a noun. With the noun as the subject of the sentence, and the predicate adjective as an adjective complement, the sentences could be rewritten:
The skull is moderately wide between the ears.
The chest is moderately narrow.
The stifle is moderately bent.
In each case the predicate adjective modifies the subject of the linking verb "is". If the adverb is removed, the sentences read:
The skull is wide between the ears.
The chest is narrow.
The stifle is bent.
What the Saluki standard asks for in these three parts is clear. The skull is wide between the ears; the chest is narrow; the stifle is bent. When viewing the Saluki these characteristics must be present. With a command of the English language, the writers of the standard modified these adjectives with an adverb- moderately. The skull is wide, but moderately wide; the chest is narrow, but moderately narrow; the stifle is bent, but moderately bent.
The Adjective
The fourth time moderate occurs as an adjective is in the adjective phrase, "of moderate length", describing feet. The adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase that modifies, in this case, the noun "feet". The sentence rewritten reads: The feet are of length. The feet are to have length, but the length should be a moderate length.
The Discussion
I purposely did not change any of the words in the standard above. Following the rules of diction, I rearranged the words. I did not replace the words with their dictionary meaning, as that would have demanded that I, the author, and you, the reader, would have to agree on the definitions. In this section, I will talk about the implications of grammar to understand the standard.
For those who do not know how moderate is moderate, please err in the direction of the adjective. This would be in keeping with the wishes of the writers of the standard.
The Skull
Skulls are becoming too narrow between the ears in the breed. Although the head is described first as long and narrow, the second phrase clearly states that the skull is wide, moderately wide. If one is to breed and judge correct Salukis, the wide concept is in the standard. Too often, Salukis with wide skulls are losing to narrow-skulled Salukis. Salukis with narrow skulls are clearly atypical. There are many pictures of top views of Saluki heads where the sides of the heads form parallel lines. This is impossible if the head is to be long and narrow and wide, moderately wide, between the ears. If a skull appears wide, the concern may be more in the length of the head, especially the muzzle (Watkins, 1995), rather than the width of the skull. A long, narrow head without a wide, moderately wide, skull is incorrect.
The writers of the standard did not use the comparative form, wider, of the adjective wide. The use of wider between the ears could allude to the present narrow skulls. As it is physiologically impossible to get the sides of the head to be absolutely parallel, the writers of the standard chose the adjective wide as a warning to not have narrow heads with the skull wider. Here a wider skull could be a narrow skull as the skull is more wide than the leather of the nose. It is very easy to breed and judge the correct skull which is wide, moderately wide, between the ears.
The Chest
The chest is narrow; the chest is moderately narrow. It is likely that the writers of the standard mean as viewed from the front. The front view of the chest, or the width between the legs, should be narrow.
The standard clarifies the narrowness of the chest by also including that the chest should be deep. If the chest is deep and narrow, moderately narrow, then the internal organs have space within which to function.
I caution against the barrel chest where the ribs are neither narrow nor deep. Also the slab-sided chest, where the chest may be deep, is a concern. It is not moderately narrow, rather it is narrow. Err, again, on the side of a Saluki with a narrow and deep chest. However, the Saluki has a chest which is moderately narrow. This suggests some spring of rib.
Do not confuse the distance between the front limbs with the chest width. The width of the front limbs concerns muscle attachment. The front is a muscle attachment rather than a skeletal attachment to the chest and the rest of the dog. Except for the illusion the wide fronts can give that the chest is narrow, the state of fronts on today's Salukis is another issue.
The Stifle
The stifle is bent, moderately bent. In the stack, this is assessed with hocks perpendicular to the ground. Extremes in the direction of bent become problematic. First, the less common bent stifle occurs when the feet are under the hip joint when the hocks are perpendicular to the ground. If this is true, the topline slopes up towards the rear of the dog downhill posteriorly on the move. The second extreme is the bent stifle where the feet are far behind the upper thigh when the hock is perpendicular to the ground. Here, the topline slopes posteriorly or the rear pops up and down as the dog moves, giving the appearence of running downhill anteriorly. When the hock is perpendicular to the ground, a correct moderately bent stifle is where the front of the toes of the rear foot would be on the same line as a line running down the posterior of the upper thigh (Carlyle, 1993). A correct moderately bent stifle would cause a free standing Saluki to be almost unperceptively slightly high in the rear. A bend in the stifle which results in a rear too far up under the dog, I would penalize. I would, between the two, err in the direction of set under the rear.
When the Saluki begins to gait, it should lead off with the front feet clearing a way for the back feet to place upon coming forward. The dog with a slung out rear usually moves its rear feet forward in order to correct its imbalance which is often induced by the handler. The front foot then follows. For people concerned with wasted motion, the moving forward of the rear foot before the dog begins to move as a unit is wasted movement.
The stifle is the most straight forward of the moderate sections of the standard. Most deviations form the ideal can not be masked by the handler. The dog, especially in its initial movement, shows its bend of stifle. A dog with a slung out rear will move its rear end first, if its initial movement is from the stack. Free standing, a slung out rear has a pronounced high rear. For the set under rear, there is no difference in the free stand and stacked rear. If the handler wants to overstack an insufficiently bent stifle, the rear will cause a sloping topline or the back feet will initiate the forward movement.
The Feet
Feet- of length; feet- of moderate length.
This characteristic is without question the most difficult to articulate, or illustrate in photographs or drawings. Salukis which have minimal, but sufficient, long hair between the toes will get penalized more than those with profusely feathered feet. Judges and breeders do not take time to examine what is under the hair. Assuming that a thorough examination is conducted, the feet must be long, far from the rounded cat foot. As the gazelle is a broad genus, the hare is a broad genus. There is no one hare foot. I would err toward the hare rather than a cat foot. Let the feet have length, moderate length, but even more important let the Saluki have good solid feet. Feet are upon what the Saluki moves. Enough attention should be given to feet. They should be closely examined. Poor feet would portray a poor running Saluki or poor feet result in a poor running Salukis.
The Closing
In discussing the Saluki, place the adverb moderately and the adjective moderate in their proper perspective. Do not change the parts of speech so that moderately or moderate become the noun moderateness. The words modified are the important words in the standard. This should not be replaced by the bad or sloppy grammar of common spoken English or vernacular English. More important than the words themselves, breeders and judges need to study photographs of Salukis that were in existence when the standard was written, not what is the late twentieth century Saluki winning in the show ring. Read the standard as a description of what the founders of the Western European Saluki had imported. The use of the words moderately and moderate denote cautions for the aspects about which they had concerns.
The standard was written based upon imported Salukis from a time different and distant from today. With variations few in number (Waters & Waters, 1969; Gorske, 1986; Kuhl, 1995), the gene pool is limited, but not necessarily insufficient to continue the breed. The Salukis of origin of the 1980s and later are from another time, culture and politic. They have been bred and selected based on different cultural and political paradigms in time. These Salukis of later origin may conform or not conform to the Saluki of the writers of the Saluki standard as approved by the American Kennel Club in 1927. Thus the historical context of the standard from its beginning, from directly after World War II in Great Britain, and more uniquely, from the Saluki in the United States from its beginning until possibly the last 30 years is the most important. Photographs of these Salukis should always be beside the standard when read or used as a reference. These are the Salukis portrayed in the standard that, as a breeder and owner, I try to preserve.
Reference
Carlyle, M. (1993) "Moderation". The Classic Saluki 3(1), 44-47.
Chato, R. (1993). "Moderation and Saluki Judging". Sighthound Review. 10(6), 46.
Colley, C. A Reply to Elaine Yerty. The Saluki Quarterly. 8(7), 15, 18.
Evill, M, (1995). "Type". Saluki International 3(6), 20-21.
Gorske, M, (1986). "Saluki Type". The Saluki Club of America 1986 Yearbook, 42-44.
Kuhl, C. (1995) "They Are All Salukis". The Classic Saluki. 3(2), 60-63.
Perkins, K., (1996). Dear Editor. The Saluki, Crufts Issue 1996, 4-5.
Warriner, J and Griffith F. (1995) English Grammar and Composition: Complete Course. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Wassenaar, R and Wassenaar, J. "The Saluki- Form and Function". Sighthound Review, 10(1), 24.
Waters, D and Waters, H. (1969). The Saluki in History, Art and Sport. Newton, Abbot, Devon, Great Britain: David & Charles.
Watkins, V. (1995). Saluki: Companion of Kings. Hagerstown, MD: The Copper Beach Press.
"What is functional? How moderate is moderate?". The Review. 10(3), 62.