During the 1970s, when their beauty, grace and hairstyling fit in with the fashion trends of the era, Afghan Hounds were subjected to a major population explosion. At this time the breed became excessively popular and was catapulted into the limelight in a most unsuitable manner for any breed. The result of popularity of this kind, with any type of dog, is that the breed is acquired for aspects that are appealing to the public en masse, and many aspects of the breed are overlooked by prospective owners. The result for the Afghan Hound was that many people who purchased these dogs completely misunderstood them, and the breed gained a reputation that was often unfair and untrue. It has distressed me, over the years, to hear the Afghan Hound labeled as a stupid and difficult breed, since the truth is that they are, in general, totally the opposite.
Young Afghan Hounds pass through an adolescent phase as they develop the physical traits and appearance of a mature member of the breed.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Afghan Hounds are large, graceful, beautiful dogs. The body of this breed should be balanced and possess total soundness of construction. The chest should be relatively deep and well sprung to allow plenty of room for lungs and heart. The Afghan Hound should be a well-muscled dog, without coarseness, the whole dog being built for speed and power. This breed should be capable of tremendous strength and turn of speed when running. The graceful, balanced movement is a great feature of the breed. The AKC standard describes the Afghan Hound in motion as “of great style and beauty” with a “smooth, powerful stride.” The typical Afghan Hound moves with a unique light yet strong, springy true step. With his tail and head raised, the moving Afghan Hound draws the eye totally. As with any hunting breed, soundness of movement is essential to enable the dog to function within his original skills.
The short coat on the Afghan Hound’s face makes the breed’s unique expression easy to see.
The head of the Afghan Hound is a very interesting feature of the breed. Since Afghan Hounds are short-coated on the face, all of the expression is clearly visible. The bone structure is, or should be, very beautiful, with the different planes and bone lines giving an effect of the head’s having been chiseled. Coupled with this and largely because of the bones around the eyes, the eyes should be almost triangular in shape, with the inner to outer lower edge slanting somewhat upward to achieve this shaping. The eyes are often relatively deeply set, adding to the expression. The true Afghan Hound expression of aloof disdain and the impression described in the standard of “eyes gazing into the distance” are yet more additions to the individuality of the breed. The head also has another distinctive requirement, that of a prominent occiput. This is the bone at the back of the skull, which is less noticeable in many other breeds.
SHEDDING SEASON
When an Afghan Hound sheds, the coat forms mats, so always expect extra work with the brush at this time.
Although the Afghan Hound is generally considered aloof and not demonstrative, he does show those close to him how much he loves them.
Female Afghan Hounds showing the typical short-coated face.
A unique feature of the breed is the coat pattern. This is most amazing to those who have not seen a typical coat pattern in an Afghan Hound before. The coat on the face, sides of the neck and saddle (a saddle-shaped area on the back, elongated to include the whole of the spine from the nape of the neck to the root of the tail) is short and close. There may also be areas of short coat (which may be under the silky long coat and not seen unless exposed by lifting the longer coat) on the pasterns, the wrists of a dog. Since these areas of short coat are combined with long, silky fine coat over the rest of the body, the whole dog is quite remarkable to look at. There are variations in coat pattern, as some Afghan Hounds will never gain a saddle, even as an adult, and some will only have a saddle after coat-loss periods. Some will lose an excessive amount of the silky coat, carrying only a sparse sprinkling of this coat type and far more areas of short, saddle-type coat than is generally seen. This type of coat pattern, more common before the 1960s and 1970s, was generally referred to as the Bell-Murray coat pattern.
One of the fascinating sides to the breed is the variation in colors that occur. Gold cream, with or without a black or shaded mask (face), and black, with gold, tan or silver markings (on the face, pasterns and tail root, for instance), are among the more prevalent colors. However, all colors are accepted by the breed standard, and some of these change throughout the dog’s life in a fascinating way. For instance, a silver brindle Afghan Hound as a puppy, may change to a dark grizzle color in old age. To add additional interest to that of the actual color, very often there will be a variation of type (a term often, perhaps erroneously, used to describe the various nuances in head shape and expression or familial variations, for instance), which typifies the different colors. One of the interesting colors is the domino, which gives the dog a reverse coloring to the black-masked dog. A domino Afghan has pale coloring on his face and darker coloring on the body, often with a “widow’s peak” (a cap-like area over the skull) descending onto the forehead in a point.
FORM AND FUNCTION
The Afghan Hound is unusual in being a breed where rather prominent hip bones are required by the breed standard. These bones should be seen and felt, despite the dog’s being of satisfactory weight and in good body condition. The bones referred to are those at either side of the dog’s spine a few inches above the root of the tail. These pronounced bones are the start of a correct croup formation, which is so important in the tail carriage and in the whole action and construction of the dog.
The ring on the dog’s tail is a unique breed characteristic, with the degree of the ring varying from dog to dog.
FUNCTIONAL FEET
The feet of the Afghan Hound should be large with well-arched toes and may look quite ungainly in the baby puppy. Large feet are better able to cover the original ground on which Afghan Hounds lived in their native Afghanistan.
Possibly one of the most distinctive features of the breed is the typical ringed tail. This is most beautiful in the correct form. One of the aspects that determines the tail carriage is the distinctive hip placement of the Afghan Hound. The typically prominent hip bones are quite an unusual constructional requirement. From these hip bones there is a slope of the croup to the root of the tail. The tail is then held at a raised angle when the dog is aroused or moving, or held down in repose with, in its typical form, a full ring on the end. This is a most unusual requirement for a dog and is another of the unique aspects that distinguish the Afghan Hound. There is a variation of the degree of ring on the tail of Afghan Hounds; some possess only a curve or sickle shape toward the end of the tail. Often the ring of the tail is not fully developed until after the puppy has completed teething; sometimes it is visible from early puppyhood.
Although
