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RNSWCC Official Lecture to the Judge's Training Scheme
Wendye Slatyer (Calahorra Afghan Hounds, Australia)
(Page 5)

AFGHAN HOUND AUSTRALIA NEWSLETTER
(VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 SPRING 1996)
PUBLISHED BY SAHJOBE PTY LTD, 501 LAWS FARM ROAD, LOWER PORTLAND
NEW SOUTH WALES 2756, AUSTRALIA, TELEPHONE 61 45 791 266
FACSIMILE 61 45 791 255, EMAIL (sahjobe@eagles.bbs.net.au)
HEAD EYES EARS MOUTH

        HEAD                    EYES                    EARS            MOUTH


Skull long, not too     Should be dark for      Set low and well back   Level
narrow with a           preference but golden   carried close to the
prominent occiput.      colour is not debarred  head. Covered with
Foreface long with      Nearly triangular       long silky hair.
punishing jaws and      slanting slightly
slight stop. The skull  upwards from the inner
well balanced and       corner to the outer
surmounted with a long
top-knot. Nose 
preferably black but
liver is no fault in
light coloured dogs.


This  dog  shows all the
attributes of a good 
quality head -
  Skull not too narrow
  Prominent occiput 
  Punishing jaw. 
  Slight stop 
  Triangular  eye

No matter how good he is elsewhere, an Afghan Hound MUST also have a correct head and expression. He is just as unique and special in this respect as he is in so many others

Firstly, he MUST BE BEAUTIFUL. Unlike other Asiatic breeds, whose standards often ask for heads to be reminiscent of Chinese temple statues, Afghan Hound heads (and their close cousins Salukis) are required to be long overall, with foreface and skull of approximately equal length. Afghan heads must be finely modelled and well chiselled with tight, fine skin, slight stop and absolutely no flewiness or throatiness. The direction of the veins should be visible. Heavy, common, plain heads with definite stops usually also have frontally placed, round eyes. These heads are almost invariably associated with too-heavily-boned dogs.

There IS also a fashion for breeding down-faced Borzoi type heads in Afghans, impossible to reconcile with the breed's actual requirements. Also to tolerate downright UGLY heads, which unfortunately appear to be on the increase.

You will see blocky heads, totally lacking chiselling, which look like hammers. Short heads, blunt muzzles, short back skulls with little domes like tennis balls, no chins.

And eyes, frontally placed in a flat plane so that they resemble those of a tortoise, or a lizard. Nor should they be koala-bear-like, soft, full and buggy. Instead of the classic Afghan looking down its nose, you will find some with eyes on the side of their heads like grasshoppers, but focused down to the ground instead of gazing into the distance as they should.


Afghan Hound Australia                                         Spring 1996

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