#ISWS: international silken windhound society

[intriga-hounds]

IT HAPPENED!!!!! milo finished his ISWS championship today with a BOB win over 13 other silkens. i am so excited to be DONE SHOWING HIM FOREVER!!!!! 😂😂😂 i am also so proud of him and so glad i didn’t chicken out of showing on a hot day. shows are expensive, and going to pick milo up for every show has been…a lot. but i’m glad i kept trying.

milo is now:

BISS ISWS CH KadlecStarfyreMtLassen@Intriga BFAST

(it’s a mouthful, i know)

not bad for a dog that only gets out to events like 3-4 times a year! and has also only been eligible to compete for almost exactly 2 years!!!

i’m glad sivi made me one good dog at least. 😅

[bandizoi]

if someone bred a purebred windsprite to a purebred borzoi, would that automatically make it a silken? if no, how would one achieve recognition and registration for that litter of mixed puppies? it’s something i would like to pursue in the future if it’s needed but idk where to start.

Nope! One cannot just go out and make a brand new line of silkens. They’re not like designer dogs.

Only borzoi and whippets are approved outcross dogs, they cannot be bred together— a whippet had to be bred to a registered silken or a borzoi has to be bred to a registered silken— and first generation (F1) puppies cannot be registered at all.

The International Silken Windhound Society has specific protocol for accepting new diversity projects, and another set of protocol for registering F2+ puppies. I’m unclear on the process for approving new founders, but for registering dogs from a new project, it’s something like this:

Dog is at least F2

Dog has to be evaluated by 3 people who have each been ISWS members for at least 5 years and each bred at least 5 litters

Dog passes health testing

Dog is within height standard

Photographs are submitted of the dog, stacked at various angles, including headshots and at least one photo where a yard stick is up against the dog to confirm height.

All forms and photos submitted to ISWS

ISWS accepts or rejects.

That’s my rough understanding but @intriga-hounds is actually going through this process now with her F2 puppies.

If you are interested in silken diversity projects, I would encourage you to join ISWS. Get involved in the breed, read the official documentation, talk to the genetic diversity committee, make it known that you are either interested in a new project line or that you are willing to house F1s. Thats one of the biggest roadblocks— finding homes for F1s who are willing to keep them intact. Better yet, get involved in borzoi or whippets too. Learn about all these breeds, their structure, the health problems, and really think hard about what it is you want to contribute to silkens beyond just diversity. :)

[bandizoi]

So after reading the history it sounds like silkens are pretty inbred? But I've also been told they are a pretty healthy breed. What has been done for the genetic diversity of silkens?

Initially, yes, they were. Francie didn’t imagine them being an established breed when she started her project, so widespread diversity wasn’t on her mind. In the 90’s-2000’s it became clear that there needed to be more widespread diversity. So while the silken windhound studbook is technically closed, new genetic diversity projects can and are being approved by the International Silken Windhound Society (ISWS).

Most of the time this consists of bringing in a borzoi, making sure that borzoi is as healthy as possible (no one wants to introduce new diseases into such a healthy breed). Only F3s (meaning the borzoi was a great grandparent) can be registered with ISWS as silken windhounds, and it requires an approval process. One breeder is starting a new diversity project right now! :). Mostly it’s just a matter of breeders willing to take the time to do it.

The other cool thing is that the entire genome back to the founders is being studied and tracked via UC Davis. It’s one of the requirements of registering any silken; to send 4 cheek swabs to UC Davis. “The Silken Windhound would become the first breed to have a digitized whole-breed genealogy that documents all dogs from the time of the breed’s inception.”

You can read more about the genome study here.