About Us

Srinagar Salukis is one of the most influential Saluki kennels in the world. Founded in 1958 by Dr. Winafred Blake Lucas — psychologist, visionary, and lifelong lover of the breed — Srinagar is widely credited with bringing the Saluki to wider recognition in America: helping this ancient, aristocratic breed become known, available, and understood by those singular individuals whose lives they are meant to grace.

Dr. Winafred Lucas was not only a breeder of extraordinary distinction; she was a founding force in the Saluki world — instrumental in establishing the American Saluki Association, now an international organization, co-founding the San-Angeles Saluki Club, and playing a pivotal role in bringing Open Field Coursing into recognition as a legitimate sport. Her vision shaped not just a kennel, but a breed's enduring presence in this country — and a deeper appreciation for what the Saluki truly is: one of the oldest breeds known to humankind, a dog of ineffable beauty, sensitivity, and devotion, whose nature has remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years — and above all, the supreme athlete of the dog world, whose speed, agility, and endurance have no equal.

Over more than six decades, Srinagar has produced more than 500 Champions internationally — across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, South America, India, Africa, and the Middle East — in conformation, lure coursing, open field coursing, obedience, agility, and freestyle. Built on a foundation of Jen Araby bloodlines woven together with the great English kennels — Burydown, Daxlore, Knightellington, Sedeki, and Windswift — and the Swedish Best in Show winner Zanande, whose influence helped shape the Srinagar type, Srinagar's reach extends across the world. Among the most distinguished of these placements, several Srinagar Salukis have been sent to the royal family of Saudi Arabia — a testament to the caliber and authenticity of the breeding program. Afton continues Srinagar at her Los Angeles home, threaded into the oldest and most storied living history of the breed itself. Throughout all of this, one standard has remained constant: a Srinagar dog must be as magnificent in the home as in the ring — a devoted, deeply bonded companion as much as a champion.

Srinagar is now carried forward by Dr. Winafred Lucas's daughter, Dr. Afton Blake — Jungian depth psychotherapist, artist, and writer — who has stewarded the program for decades with the same exacting standards and deep commitment to the whole dog: health, temperament, intelligence, and beauty in equal measure. For Afton, as for Winafred before her, the Saluki is not simply a breed to be managed but a living link to antiquity — a sacred trust, to be honored and carried forward with integrity, so that future generations may know these ancient dogs as they have always been. A creature of extraordinary grace whose presence in the right home is nothing less than transformative.

Srinagar Salukis are especially known for their warm, extraverted temperaments — open, affectionate, and social by nature. While the Saluki as a breed can tend toward reserve, Srinagar dogs meet the world with enthusiasm, greeting visitors and strangers with a warmth and openness that surprises and delights those who expect the more typical Saluki reserve. They bring both the ancient elegance of the breed and a joyful, outgoing presence into the homes they grace.

Each Srinagar litter is bred with intention and placed with care. These are ancient dogs — noble, sensitive, and singular — shaped by thousands of years of desert life, human devotion, and an intelligence that is entirely their own. They are not for every home. A Srinagar Saluki bonds deeply and completely, and thrives on closeness — they are not a dog to be kenneled apart from family life, but one that asks to be at the very heart of it. Finding the right match — the right home, the right family, the right life — is taken as seriously as the breeding itself. Those who have lived with one rarely imagine life without them — and one, it turns out, is rarely enough.