Dog Breeds: The Afghan Hound

Sometimes called the Tazi or the Baluchi Hound, the Afghan Hound is one of the more glamourous of the large breed of dogs. It stands about 25 to 29 inches tall (63-74 cm), weighs 50 to 60 lbs (23-27 Kg) and has a life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.

It has a beautiful long coat and comes in just about any colour. This long coat has one drawback as the dog tends to develop hairballs from grooming itself. There have been incidents where some of these dogs have choked to death on a large hairball, so owners are encouraged to groom Afghans daily to remove any loose hair.

The dogs originated in Afghanistan, hence the name, but they can now be found nearly everywhere. As well as being used as pets, show dogs and herd dogs, because of their strength and speed, Afghans are frequently used in dog races in many countries. They are also highly regarded as excellent competitors in agility trials.

Afghans have an Oriental expression and their eyes appear to look right through you, presenting a very aloof and dignified temperament. Some owners find this breed's Oriental or Eastern personality hard to handle. As well, with their strength and speed, they require extensive obedience training which can be difficult as they have a reputation of being difficult to train. In spite of this, many people hold these dogs in very high regard. One way to ease the difficulty in training is to utilize this breed's strong pack allegiance. Since a daily walk is required to prevent the dog from developing behaviour problems, the Afghan should be made to heel beside or behind the person holding the leash. This will reinforce the dog's natural instinct that the “pack leader” always goes first. In this way the dog will learn that the human is always first and must be obeyed because they are the “pack leader”. With this in mind, the owner should also teach their Afghan to enter and exit doorways after the human.

Afghans have four very distinctive features. Many have a ring (tight curl) at the end of their tail and a saddle of short course hair from the front shoulders to just in front of the hind quarters. Most also have a long topknot and all have high hip bones.

Afghan owners should be aware that this breed has a very high prey drive and as a result they usually do not get along with other small animals, so they should be tightly controlled when around small pets.

So, if you would like a large regal looking dog, you should consider the Afghan Hound as one of the top contenders.

Until next time,

Teia