As an entity, the ISWS has always been very forward thinking and progressive about utilizing advances in the modern era to ensure that as sound a breed as possible is brought forward. Early on, the breed club started requiring parental DNA verification for all breeding Silken Windhounds, so all Silken Windhound pedigrees are accurate via testing. Nearly all of the breed's early and ongoing genetics are also stored as samples at the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at U.C. Davis. The breed has, or is participating in, ongoing studies with several universities, and has a terrific relationship with the scientific community. 

The Silken Windhound was created in the early 1980's and through the generations, was selected not only for conformation, but for an easy, gentle, intelligent, and companionable personality, paired with high drive and ability in the sporting fields. These breeding ideals exist today and are shared by Silken Windhound breeders worldwide.

The breed club, the International Silken Windhound Society, has been influential in developing this breed into a recognized part of the sighthound community in the United States and abroad. The breed has dual registry with the ISWS and the United Kennel Club.

Photographer: Emily Buerger

This breed enjoys calling the world its home, having spread far beyond its U.S. origins, with a sizable population in Europe, the majority of the population through the Americas, and many in Asia. 

This is an elegant, companionable, adaptable, athletic and uniquely American sighthound

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