The Afghan Greyhound: published in the
"Dog's life" Magazine in July 1967.
(Our thanks to Rafa at Jatabe Afghan Hounds, Basque Country, Spain, for sharing this article, Dec 2017)
Every breed of dog domesticated by man is beautiful in one way or another. If they had not, they would not have been domesticated at first. For some abundant hair, such as the, it is beautiful; for others the slenderness and elegance of the borzoi is to admire. For others even, the beauty of a race may be determined by its usefulness, temperament or noble nature. Beauty, after all, lies in the eye of the one you look at.
But of all the race that man knows, there are few who can match the aesthetic beauty of the afghan greyhound. Many races are created to be beautiful for the taste of the judge understood by Hairdressing Arts, but few pass the cotton test.
The Afghan is a rare exception. It's aesthetically beautiful. The Silhouette and its proportions; the hair; it is this long or relatively short; the subtle features, together and one or two intangible qualities - bearing and elegance - and the final result must be precious.
Many will not agree with this, of course, because opinions differ, particularly when they concern an issue like this. But the meteoric rise in popularity in the last years of the race,* (1967, today is the opposite), it is indicative of the fact that many dog lovers actually see this dog with this Sensitivity.
The Afghan belongs basically to the type of, but the diversity of tasks for which he was raised in his native land, has endowed him with a harmonious balance between the dog for the guard, more solid and powerful, and the extreme slenderness of the dog Racing.
The Greyhound, as a group, is generally considered among the oldest canids, and there is little doubt that the afghan is one of our oldest races. It has been attributed to him that he was the breed favored by Noah and the one who accompanied him in his ark. Whether this is true or not, figurative engravings of Afghans have been found in columns and cuneiform writing tables in temples of the ancient middle east.
Like many of the hunting whippets, the afghan has changed little over the centuries. In their native land, which not only includes Afghanistan, but also most of the middle east and North Indian countries, was raised by the heads of the desert tribes, which were great sportsmen. Like the saluki, which was raised in the same way, the most selected lines of sports dogs were jealously guarded, so upbringing was extremely selective. If a certain tribal chief thought a dog from a nearby line could improve his, he would just steal it, if he saw that he couldn't get it for other more normal means. His dogs were precious, to the pair of fond possessions, and lived in a splendid royal.
A testimony of his intelligent capacity for custody appears in the "Hutchinson dog encyclopaedia" (1936). It was written by a visitor to Chapman, one of the main border military posts in Northwest India. It seems that the only commander in chief ordered a post up there, communicated by a narrow line railway from a nearby population. The settlement was protected by two adobe forts with an Indian Infantry company composed of a cavalry squad with dogs.
The writer said, " what hits the newcomer by entering any of the strong, at any hour of the day, are the extraordinary and enormous creatures, who lie everywhere and fall asleep right away. In size and structure remember a large greyhound, but that slight resemblance is dissipates with the tufts that adorn everyone; some in the ears, others on the feet and others even in the tail "-
-"are known as baloch-hounds... and they will have nothing to do with any stranger, black or white"-
-"when the touch of recall sounds, the pack wakes up, yawns, and all to one, they march in solemnity out to take position next to the newly arrived night guard shift"-
-"it seems as if they were not under command, as soon as the order was given to the patrols, a couple of dogs joined every patrol and stayed with it, respectively, until the relief of the following morning".-
-" if we bear in mind that these extraordinary whippets have never had any kind of training; and that their duties are completely self-imposed, - since no human being has the least control over them - the perfection of their organization and calm with The one who does his chores, leaves the simple human with his mouth open ".-
The Afghan was brought to this country (U.K.) in the early 20th century and was considered to be a curiosity. In their native land they found two different types - north and south. The differences between the two were well evident by the type of hair; one had it shorter, denser and woolly while the other had it longer and silky. Although the two types were mixed in this country, we can still see the longest fur and the fur, with the shorter hair in comparison.
It is only after 20 years after his arrival that the afghan achieves some degree of popularity. One of the first greyhounds brought here was a property of the Shah of Persia named Mustapha. The first news of an afghan at exhibitions in the UK was a dog named Zardin, owned by Capt and Mrs. Barff, which won the class of foreign races at Crufts in 1907. The "Afghan Hound Association" later based its standard of points on this specimen and was proclaimed as the perfect model of the race. At his death, his body was stuffed and exposed at the British Museum. * (we do not know this fact, in the British museum we only find Shahzada, a male "Bell Murray" or desert type. ). (**Aht Ed note - details of Zardin's demise are not known, but his body was not donated to the BrItish Museum,).
It was not until 1920 that the afghan won the public's attention. After that date, I'd never stop doing that. Race attracts men and women alike. The Afghan is one-owner dog and is not afraid to defend his convictions. He's reserved and maybe a little suspicious of anything that's not familiar to him. He'll tolerate strangers, but he'll make an exception if someone gets out of line.
He is adored by women at first for their beauty. It has been the subject of countless photos and advertisements for clothes, furniture and many luxury items of the the century. The popularity of the race is sure to increase; let us hope that so much interest is not to the detriment of the health and magnificence of this adorable Oriental Greyhound.
Related content:
Jatabe Afghan Hounds, Basque Country, Spain
Ghazni UK Afghan Hounds Section
The Hyland Painting
The Origins Section
(Shahzada and Mooroo) (Constance Miller c. 1970/And From Dennis Mccarthy book)
The Afghan Hound Is An Ancient Breed. Evelyn Denyer (KAF) 1925
The Barukhzy (Afghan) And Allied Eastern Hounds. (Extract) by W. D. Drury 1903
Robert Leighton on Mrs Amps Ghazni 1926
UK - KAF (Bell Murray) Afghan Hounds, A Croxton Smith,
Country Life 1926 (extract)
Extract on The Afghan Hound from "The Practical Dog Book by Edward C Ash m.r.a.c (Dip. Hons.) 1931
The Barukhzy (Afghan) And Allied Eastern Hounds (Extract) from "British Dogs,
Their Points, Selection, And Show Preparation", by W. D. Drury 1903
Afghan Hounds In India, Steve Tillotson, 2012
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