Khattaf
Imp. Syria
Born 5.10. 2004
Breeder - Mish'al al-Barazi
Owner - Micaela Lehtonen

In the spring of 2004 my Syrian friend Basil Jadaan gifted me a Syrian Saluki bitch named Basma. To my surprise Basil had mated Basma with his stunning male Ghazal. In Finland however an ultrasound revealed that the mating had not taken, and Basil felt that he owed me a Syrian male so that I could breed a pure Syrian litter if I wished.

In late 2004 Basil called to say that he had found the perfect male, a red black-masked puppy named Khattaf (snatcher). Basil's friend Fuad Al-Azem had found Khattaf's litter in Hama with the breeder Mish'al al-Barazi. He would not have parted with the pick of the litter, but since Fuad was his friend and relative he was given Khattaf anyway. Fuad passed Khattaf along to Basil and from then on constantly reminded him that Khattaf is an exceptionally fine Saluki and has to be cared for and valued accordingly.

Basil brought Khattaf to his townhouse in Damascus, where he stayed until the age of 5 months. He lived in he enclosed garden where he had his own little doghouse. The garden is routinely visited by some of the semi-wild cats that can be found all over Syria. Basil puts out food for the cats and so Khattaf had some competition at mealtimes. In the beginning he was smaller than the cats but soon was adept at running them off with a vengeance!

One of Khattaf's favourite pastimes was picking up the tortoises that wandered into the garden. He would carry them to the steps of the house, turn them over and lie on them until they suffocated! Basil's daughters played with the little rascal and his son's huge Rottweiler too got its share of Khattaf's antics. During these months Basil arranged for Khattaf's dewormings, vaccinations and paperwork, as he was registered in the Syrian Arab Horse Associations Saluki registry.

In March 2005 Basil invited me to a magical Saluki tour of Syria and I was of course particularly excited to meet to meet my little Khattaf. It was love at first sight for both of us. We immediately set about wrestling in the garden and then Khattaf was to stay outside while we went in to have tea. Or at least he was SUPPOSED to stay putside, but he kept sneaking into the house time and again – quite the Wild Child! As we were leaving Khattaf snuck out of the garden gate and onto the pavement, where he sat expectantly in front of my car door as if to say he was coming too ;)

On my trip I had the good fortune of meeting Khattaf's relatives as well. His dam Tayra is a lovely red bitch, a tiny girl with beautiful curvy lines. She comes from the village Almishirfeh near Homs and is from the same lines as my Basma – lines that in turn go back to another Tayra, a famous hunting Saluki owned by Makram al-Barazi. Khattaf's sire is a crop-eared cream smooth from Ain al-Arab near the Turkish border – another area well known for its exceptional hunting Salukis. Both parents and some of Khattaf's siblings have since been sold to Saudi-Arabia, as rich Saudis were buying up good hunting hounds during our trip.

During our visit Khattaf was 5 months old and was moved from Basil's garden to his farm just outside Damascus, where he spent several months together with Basil's Salukis and Kangals. It was difficult to leave Syria without Khattaf, but the new Finnish regulations demanded that he stay behind for several months until all the antibody tests had been completed.

In September 2005 the first “Saluki show” was held in Damascus in conjunction with a horse festival. Sir Terence Clark was one of the judges and 22 hunting Salukis were shown in two classes, dogs and bitches. Khattaf too took part but as Sir Terence later told me he was much too immature to compete with the muscular adult hounds. Crop-eared Salukis were allowed to take part in this first ever show, but by next year they will be banned from exhibition, as Basil strongly feels that cropping goes against the teachings of the Qur'an. The SAHA organisation worked hard to preserve traditional breeding practices and desert animals, pure bred Salukis among them. Syria was well equipped to do so, as hunting traditions were alive and well there. Time will tell what the situation is when the war ends.

In late October it was finally time for Khattaf to come home. He was sent as freight to Denmark where I fetched him so we could fly together to Finland. It was quite a journey with many difficulties, but we got home safe and sound thanks to the efforts of Basil and my other dear friend Kristina Strålman who was so helpful in Copenhagen. My brother Sami picked up Khattaf and myself at the Helsinki airport. It was midnight so we were to spend the night at Sami's and his wifeKatriina's apartment in Vuosaari. As we walked up to the their apartment door I wondered how loudly Khattaf would scream when he saw their huge Newfoundland Jakke – would he wake the entire building? I needn't have worried, Khattaf merely bowed his head slightly as Jakke bounded toward us, and the boys wer soon fast friends. I slept on the couch with Khattaf on a doggy bed next to me. When Khattaf spotted Jakke lying on the other side of the lliving room table, he crawled underneath it and lay his head on Jakke's enormous paws.

It was a touching sight. The following day Sami drove us to our home village in Hauho, where Khattaf met my other 7 Salukis. Soon the entire pack was racing around the property. It was fun to see Khattaf and Basma meet for the first time. It seemed more like a reunion, as though they instinctively knew they were fellow Syrians and relatives.

Khattaf is a stunningly handsome beautifully coloured male with an engaging character and beautiful, light movement. He perfectly represents my favourite Syrian Saluki type, the kind of lithe yet strong Saluki that I saw so well represented in Syria. Like our other desert breds he is unbelievably swet and cuddly yet selfassured and with a great, mischievous sense of humor - a true companion.

Khattaf sired his first litter, the Qashani S-litter, 2007, as I mated him and Thurayah, a.k.a. Lublub. In 2008 he sired the Qashani K-litter, this time out of my other Syrian import Basma. His third litter, The Non Serviam E-litter, was born in 2015 out of Non Serviam Amanita Citrina.

Khattaf made his show debut at the Saluki Specialty on June 10th, 2006 under English judge David Graham (Daxlore salukis), receiving a "very good". He was officially measured at 65 cm at the same event.