The greyhound as a breed holds a unique place in history. Back in early times, the birth of a greyhound was second in importance only to the birth of a son in the Arabian culture and the Persians believed that greyhounds were allowed in the next world to give information about mankind. To top this all off, greyhounds are the only canine mentioned in the entire Bible (Proverbs 30:29-31).

However it was left to the Egyptians to get the greyhounds racing for sport. The first evidence of this comes from the tomb of Amten, in the Valley of the Nile. Accredited Egyptologists date the three unmistakable greyhound carvings as belonging to the fourth dynasty, which in modern chronology would be between 2900 and 2751 B.C.

Moving forward to the 10^th Century, King Howel of Wales made killing a greyhound punishable by death. King Canute of England was just as staunch when he established the Forest Laws in 1014, setting aside large rolling areas of the country for hunting by the nobility and upper class of the day. Only such persons could own greyhounds; any commoner or peasant caught owning a greyhound would be severely punished, even possibly beheaded!

Greyhounds almost became extinct during famine in the Middle Ages but thankfully they were protected by the clergy of that era for the nobility and breed as a whole, survived intact.

It was at about this time that greyhounds were first mentioned in English Literature, in Geoffrey Chaucer's famous 14^th Century book, The Canterbury Tales.

During the 15^th Century, the Greyhound really became a symbol of aristocracy and wealth. Coursing races, in which dogs chased live rabbits, became popular during the 16^th Century. Queen Elizabeth I of England had the Duke of Norfolk draw up rules to judge competitive coursing in the latter part of the 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I dubbed it the “Sport of Queens”. These rules established such things as how far a head start the hare would get and the ways in which the two greyhounds’ speed, agility, acceleration and concentration would be judged against one another. Winning was not always dependent on catching the hare – although that was the aim and it did score very highly.

Also around this time the nobility started betting on their champion canines and to this day the tradition is still very much alive and well. These original rules were still in effect when the first official coursing club was founded in 1776 at Swaffham in Norfolk, England. The rules of coursing have not changed a great deal since this time, which shows just how simple the greyhound game is and has remained free from any outside interference in all these years.

It was in the 18^th Century that established breeders began to keep proper pedigrees of their dogs and they can still be traced back to this very day, with virtually every racing greyhound coming from this original stock.

This is none so more prevalent than Lord Orford; an English nobleman who began carrying out experiments which included crossing a greyhound with a bulldog to increase stamina. Some of the greatest dogs currently racing can trace their bloodlines back through Orford’schampion coursing bitch Czarina, who had bulldog blood in her veins.

Perhaps the most famous of races around the world is the Waterloo Cup, established in England in 1837 and considered for over a century to be the ultimate test of the coursing greyhound. The Waterloo Cup has been held annually ever since its inception, with exception of the war years, when most sports were put on hold.

Some of the most celebrated of many famous greyhound owners in history were General George A. Custer. Custer was especially fond of his greyhounds and travelled with a hound pack that numbered about forty. One book reports that Custer's dogs were about to run a matched race the day before he left on his fatal expedition to Big Horn River in 1876.

W.F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) bought a greyhound dog and bitch pup during his visit to England in 1889 with his ‘Wild West Show’. Several pups from the resultant matings appear in the American Stud Book to this day.