We love and exhibit the Sloughi, the rare breed of sighthound from northern Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria, and we are passionate about preserving the authentic North African Sloughi—its type, temperament, and hunting instinct. Over the decades, we have imported more country-of-origin Sloughis than anyone else in the United States, believing firmly that thoughtful, ethical importation is essential to maintaining the breed’s authenticity and genetic diversity.
My love of the Sloughi began in 1990 when I saw a classified advertisement in the back of Dog World magazine for the breed. I first stepped into the ring in a Sloughi specialty show in Ontario in 1998 and again in Lompoc, California in 1999. I have been active in the American Sloughi Association since 2002 and have served continuously as an officer or a board member since that time. I currently serve as the President, AKC Delegate and Judges’ Education Chair.
My husband, Andrew, and I have spent time in Morocco and have traveled throughout the country seeing Sloughis in their homeland and participating in traditional hunting. We have mentors and relationships with multiple breeders in North Africa, some of them multi-generational families of Sloughi breeders. In 2019, we collected 100 DNA samples from Sloughis throughout Morocco for the Dog Genome Project at the National Institute of Health.
Today, the Sloughi is at a crossroads. In its native homelands, the breed is increasingly threatened by crossbreeding and the loss of purpose as hunting becomes illegal or impractical—most notably in Morocco, where hunting wild game is now prohibited and the lifestyle of rural hunters is vanishing. Without function, the Sloughi risks becoming a shadow of itself. In the West, the breed faces different but equally serious challenges: decisions driven by ribbons rather than performance, breeding without regard to hunting instinct and ability, and the silent spread of genetic diseases that some breeders have been unwilling to acknowledge and/or disclose. True preservation begins with honesty, transparency, good health and temperaments, and an unwavering commitment to the Sloughi as it was—a capable, sound, functional hunting hound.
We have bred and/or owned every AKC Grand Champion in the breed, along with 18 National Specialty winners. Among them is GCHB Itri Ocerico BCAT FITB, the top-winning Sloughi in AKC history and the only Sloughi to ever earn an AKC Best in Show. Itri is also a four-time National Specialty winner, and three-time Westminster Best-of-Breed winner, with 78 AKC Hound Group placements (including seven Group Firsts) — a record that remains unmatched.
The top-winning Sloughis in the U.S. for every year from 2005-2024, the first AKC Best in Show Sloughi, Reserve Best in Show Sloughi, AKC Champion, the first AKC Grand Champion, the first AKC Hound Group winning and Hound Group placing Sloughis, Best in Miscellaneous Class (BIMC) and Certificate of Merit Sloughis, the first UKC Grand Champion Sloughis, the first Westminster Best of Breed Sloughi, and the most titled Sloughi in US history are all owned or bred by Ocerico Sloughis. We have owned and/or bred more AKC Group placing Sloughis than anyone else in the history of the breed in the US. We are the only AKC Breeder of Merit Sloughi breeder, and we adhere strictly to the Code of Ethics of the National Parent Club, the American Sloughi Association.
We believe deeply in purpose-bred Sloughis and the extraordinary bond that forms between them and the people who love and work with them. Our Sloughis are not just show dogs, but family members who live in our home. For this reason, we breed only rarely, and our Sloughi puppies are lovingly raised under foot using the Puppy Culture system.
All of our Sloughis are DNA tested and OFA CHIC registered prior to breeding. Our Sloughis do NOT carry the gene for long hair, which is not characteristic of the breed and is a disqualification in every permutation of the standard.
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