Azawakh African Sighthound Of South-Sahara
Azawakh The Azawakh is an African sighthound of afro-asian type which appeared in Europe towards 1970 and comes from the Nigerian middle basin, among others from the valley of the Azawakh. For hundreds of years he has been the companion of the nomads of the South-Sahara. The first pair imported in 1968 into Europe was R'Eheouel and Reylane, by Gervais Coppé, then another pair (including Gao), was brought back by a Yugoslav diplomat from Mali to be delivered to Marshal Tito. This pair was at the origin of Mrs. Sekalec's lineage. Other dogs were imported later in France, and even today we import dogs of varying quality from Mali, Niger, Algeria and Burkina Faso.
There is a lot of controversy between breeders and clubs because of the recent imports which brought not just new genes, beneficial to the genetic health of the breed, helping the European breeders to surmount the inbreeding crisis, but also new colors, not yet accepted by the standard. As judges we cannot have more than personal opinions about it. The French Breed Club is the only club authorized [by FCI] to change the [FCI] standard. Some of the dogs imported in the recent years are of excellent quality but not all of them. In the rush to introduce new genes, dogs of less quality have been used for breeding and the result can be seen in shows : overangulated hindquarters, tail set to high, short tail, long coat, too wide head, atypical expressions, atypical movement, and the worst : wrong type.
Particularly high in the leg and elegant, the Azawakh sighthound gives a general impression of great fineness. His bone structure and musculature are transparent beneath fine and lean tissues (skin). This sighthound presents itself as a racy dog whose body fits into a rectangle with its longer sides in vertical position.
Azawakh
BEHAVIOR
The Azawakh is closer to the proud <>
than to the fully obedient dog. One must have a strong personality to
be accepted as the master. It is hard to believe for those who have
never had an Azawakh, but it can be very affectionate with its owner,
when no <> is within sight.True, this dog is very suspicious, but personally I like this trait. It might take some days before an Azawakh habituates itself to a new person, and even more for its acceptance of the new person] in its environment. The Azawakh is the one that makes the approach and never the opposite. This is the reason it is not good to touch them when we judge them, especially the young ones, because it stresses them and makes them detest dog shows from the very beginning. If a judge cannot understand how or why anyone would accept this behavior in a dog, it is only because he has never had an Azawakh. Personally I cannot imagine a totally and unconditionally obedient Azawakh, or one which is too friendly. I like this temperament, and this is one of the reasons I love this breed. Nobody likes fallen beauties, but we all love the mystery and dignity of natural beauties, even wildlife. Let’s keep them pure.
The Azawakh has front angulation which is as open as its rear angulation but it should never have totally straight hocks. The metatarsus should be vertical, but in dogs that have a little longer second thigh, the angle between the metatarsal bone with the second thigh is less than 145. Obviously the metatarsal is not more vertical. This should not be considered a major fault if it does not affect the general appearance and the gait. Hocks that are too straight or have too much angulation that affect the distinctive type of Azawakh movement are not desired and should be penalized. The front legs should be perfectly straight, but more often are turned outward about 5-10 degrees, which should not be considered a serious fault. The hind legs are perfectly straight.
Always very supple (lissom) and with particularly high action at the trot and the walk. The gallop is bouncy. The Azawakh gives a great impression of lightness, even elasticity. The movement is an essential point of the breed.
The Azawakh has very open angulation which makes it impossible for a great extension of its limbs, but this is offset by the long legs that allow it to cover the terrain. An over-angulated dog may also have a spectacular gait but will not have the characteristic movement and should not be preferred. Looking at the front legs (at the trot) we see that they have a high action due to the extension of the humerus (upper arm) and not due to an exaggerated flexion of the radius that would be a <> and must be penalized. This is a very common judging fault in the Azawakh. A dog that has all the features of the standard but has a heavy trot or a hackney action cannot be considered for a championship certificate. At the walk, on hard ground some Azawakh may flex their elbows more and lift their feet high, like a hackney action, but the same dog can have a good trot if the proportions and angles are good. This is a strong reason for us to judge their movement at a trot, where all the movement faults are obvious.
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