The origin of the Sloughi remains shrouded in mystery and may be lost in the sands of the north African desert. The Sloughi is originally the Sighthound of the Berber people. Representations of dogs resembling sighthounds date back to the 8th-7th millennium BCE.

The Sloughi hails from the north African countries of Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia and Libya , where it is the only dog allowed into the family tent, treated as a family member, and mourned like a family member upon death. The Berber people revere the Sloughi as a noble animal compared to the other mongrel and local dogs, and both Berber and Bedouin women would sometimes breast feed Sloughi puppies in order to provide relief for nursing bitches. Sloughis were often adorned with jewelry and amulets, and their legs are sometimes branded. In its countries of origin, the ears of the Sloughi are also sometimes cropped to prevent them from being damaged while hunting jackals.

France invaded Algeria on June 14, 1830 and officially annexed Algeria on July 22, 1834 . Under French occupation, hunting with sighthounds became outlawed and sighthound-type dogs were shot on sight. An epidemic of rabies ensued. The Sloughi population was nearly decimated during this period.


Nonetheless, in the middle 1800s the first detailed descriptions of the breed and its purposes in its countries of origin came to light in the writings of General Daumas while he was stationed in Algeria . At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the Sloughi was imported into France and the Netherlands . In 1925, the French Sighthound Association published the first official Sloughi standard. Morocco is now considered the official country of origin by the FCI.

In 1973, the first Sloughi was imported to the United States .