"OUR AFGHANS"
The Independent Voice of the Afghan Hound Breed
45th Year Of Publication
The Eta Pauptit Letters
The Afghan Hound Standard In Detail Page3
As Published In "Our Afghans" Magazine August 2002.
(Compiled by Steve Tillotson)
The Afghan Hound Standard In Detail Page3
(Eta Pauptit, "Our Afghans", August 2002
About the feathering, the mountain type Afghan Hound is more heavily coated without being bushy, so it is best to stay as close as possible to the Standard in that respect. Maybe some day tails will be more uniform, but it seems difficult to breed out this old heritage. The hindquarters must have that "good turn", an old expression from former judges in Great Britain as they tried to understand this exclusive oriental breed. To me it says, just right the zigzag of the bones from pelvis to toes, long bones and heel very near that ground, with feet placed well under the legs. All four pasterns not upright as in the desert type, but halfway down and flexible. The four feet stable on the ground and all toes well arched, going up in the middle like a hawks beak, broader fore as back, but all four long. The desert types are more upright all over, not quite as arched and higher in heel, but nevertheless they still had sort of a camel foot and not the cat feet one sees nowadays in the ring.
The desert type coat is more feathered, with some of the older ones with a real coat, but it was never the wooly undercoat of the mountain type, growing through the top coat and giving us that typical outfit from trousers with big feet with that break in between and the smooth saddle. Certainly the smooth hounds had only smooth coats, like the Saluki's among the Asian breeds. In fact, it is a pity that our standard forgot to mention the smooth variety that is listed in the Saluki standard.
The mountain type coat is more wooly, with a slight tendency for the light wave that holds more air. The crossbreds had lots of goat like texture and a harsh bobtail like appearance, others got straight silky kinds of coats. This may have come down from Rampur who, while smooth, had a satiny coat. In my opinion, only the mountain type coat was waterproof.
Now to colors. It has been said many times that Afghan Hounds come in black, black and tan, which are mountain type colors, maybe from crosses with Mastiffs, as well as reds with masks or solid rich golden coloration. The desert types seem to breed true for fawn or sand color, with shaded masks, white, ivory and so on. For me, the blues and off colors fail apart from dilution factors, in the heritage of Rampur, I saw in old descriptions that old pure Rampur types (not rebuilt with grey) had wonderful shining blues, mouse greys and satin reddish coats. I saw a few myself. Now that we also have brindles, I'm not sure where that comes from. Some sloughis do have some brindling. Personally I am not fond of it in Afghans. About white markings, many of the old imports had white feet, white spots on their faces and a more recent direct import for my own breeding produced a new row of white markings. It seems to be part of the makeup of the genetic heritage, and we can only decide whether we like it or not. It has nothing to do with harmony of movement and structure of our beloved creatures of nature - so this is a matter of personal preference. I have seen a few parti colored Afghans. Did that come from a Saluki cross> Or a Borzoi cross? Or some old cross with an Afghan watch Dog?
I don't know or care. Eye color is also no problem to me, for I've learned that a lighter colored eye is better for a hunter, though I have no proof for that allegation, certainly, most of the original Ghazni imports and their offspring I had, had golden or brown eyes, while I got darker eyes from the desert types. But in crossing these strains, I saw many eyes with a light ring, which makes an eye look rather round. While visiting Afghanistan, I saw two mountain type Afghans, one red and one blue, both with medium dark eyes up to golden in the red ones. I admit that two dogs are not a true example, but at least it tells me that those two hounds had the same eyes as those seen in Af's in the early Twenties.
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OUR AFGHANS Magazine -- Publication No. 703040 -- is published monthly at a subscription rate of $30.00/year, in the U.S, $37.00/year in Canada and overseas by WEDDLE PUBLICATIONS, 22235 Parthenia Street, West Hills, CA 91304-1348. Periodicals Class postage paid at Canoga Park, CA O1304-1348
