The kangaroo dog or kangaroo hound is an Australian type of sighthound purposely crossbred from a variety of sighthound breeds to produce a hunting dog.
Kangaroo dogs were first bred by colonial settlers in Australia from as early as the 1830s, the aim being to create a sighthound fast, strong and robust enough to outrun, catch and hold a kangaroo without being injured or disembowelled by the animal's powerful, clawed hind legs.[1][2][3] From the 1830s onward, colonial hunting clubs were established across Australia's colonies, with native kangaroos, wallabies or dingoes pursued by mounted hunters and their kangaroo dogs.[1][4] Originally, these dogs were bred from British sighthound breeds, principally the Greyhound and Scottish Deerhound, with occasional Irish Wolfhound blood; later, the Borzoi was also used and more recently the Saluki as well.[1][2][3][5]
Hunting of native species with sighthounds is now banned in Australia; however, kangaroo dogs are still bred for hunting invasive introduced species, such as feral pigs and red foxes.
^ abHancock, David (2012). Sighthounds: their form, their function and their future. Ramsbury, Marlborough: The Crowood Press Ltd. pp. 104–105. ISBN978-1-84797-392-4.
^ abMason, Walter E. (1915). Dogs of all nations. San Francisco: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition. pp. 40 & 123.
