As an Azawakh breeder and judge I would like to make a few comments on the recently proposed Azawakh standard. First of all I want to say that in my opinion it is very welcomed. At the first glance, the major change which caused so many disputes between SLAG, the mother club of the breed, and those breeders which used to take advantage of the present inexplicit standard to breed rainbow Azawaks, is in fact not a real change but a necessary clarification. In Azawakhs , the only accepted alel of the “Self” alel line is “Si” (irish spotting) which mathematically means from 1% up to 20% white.
The more dominant alel “S”, which means 0% white, as well as the recessive “sP” which means more than 20% white, are both uncommon for what in the last 40 years, in the FCI, we call Azawakh. For anyone who understands the concept of a breed and knows some elementary genetics, this was always obvious but it was not clearly stated in the standard as it will be from now on. Anyway, for the sake of the judges, I would like a shorter description, as:
Azawakh Color
All
shades of fawn with or without black brindling, with or without black
mask. The tail must have a white tip. All four limbs must carry white
socks or stockings at least in the form of a trace but not extending
above the elbow and the hock. A white blaze on the muzzle, a small white
bib on the back of the neck and white on the anterior side of the neck
are acceptable. This colour description is very well completed in the
new standard at the eliminating faults, where the limits of the white
are clearly defined. The judges always remember the disqualification
points !Now that we are through this sensible and ridiculous story, I want to point out the good changes and to suggest others, regarding the description of some anatomical regions which are much more important in my opinion than the coat colour soap opera. The chest is described in the new standard as: “chest deep and well dropped down, sternal region narrowing gradually: three characteristics of a distance runner's thoracic capacity” I find this change very good. In the present standard it is written that the chest should not reach the elbow level. I find this to be wrong. Many of our present top quality show Azawakhs have quite a deep ribcage, well reaching the elbow level. Even an elbow reaching chest is not necessary a condition for an excellent dog, should neither be a fault. If there should be a limit I would say that the depth of chest should reach the elbow level or to be max. 2 cm above it. Refering to the pads, I find also to be very good to change this part from “pigmented” to “partially pigmented.” It is obvious that dogs with white socks or stockings would often have partially pigmented pads and nails.
Azawakh
Azawakh Croup
In
the present standard as well as in the newly proposed standard, the
croup is described as follows: “croup oblique, without accentuated
slant” I find this wrong. With a coxo femoral angle of 130 and a low set
tail, as it is stated in the standard, the croup has quite an
accentuated slant comparing with other breeds ! I believe this part of
the standard should be made clear and rewritten as follows: “oblique
croup slanting from the hip bones (spina iliaca superior) to the point
of buttocks (tuber ischiadicum) at an angle of 130-135 with the
horizontal line” (or just oblique croup at 45).
Azawakh Tail
In
the proposed standard is stated only “set low” which I find to be
insuficient, so I propose the following description: “set low, aprox at
the middle of the croup (half distance between the hip bones “spina
iliaca superior” and the point of buttocks “tuber
ischiadicum”)...followed by the standard description.
Azawakh Gait
it is stated that the Azawakh has a “high action at the walk and trot.” but it is not mentioned that
the so called “hackney action” is a fault. I sugest a more elaborate
description of this high movement, as follows: “The high action is due
to the extension of the humerus (upper arm) from the shoulder joint and
not due to an extreme flexion of the Radius from the elbow, which is «
hackney action » and which is a fault”
Azawakh Dog
Azawakh Jaws
It is written that the Azawakh should
have a scissor bite. Upper and lower prognathism are both eliminating
faults but nothing is mentioned about the more common level bite. I
suggest to add it at the “Faults”, so the judges will understand that
this is not a reason for disqualification but neither a quality. All
together, the necessity of a new breed standard is evident. First of
all, the real Azawakh breeders should be confident that
the standard is protecting their work against the new wave of african
mongrels registered in Europe as Azawakhs. Beside this, as I wrote
above, there are some anatomical aspects which are not clearly described
in the present standard and which are of most importance for those
which are judging this beautiful breed.
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