Afghan Hound

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The Kennel Club Picture Library - © David Dalton.

General Appearance
Gives the impression of strength and dignity, combining speed and power. Head held proudly

Characteristics
Eastern or Oriental expression is typical of breed. The Afghan looks at and through one.

Temperament
Dignified and aloof, with a certain keen fierceness.

Head and Skull
Skull long, not too narrow, with prominent occiput. Foreface long with punishing jaws and slight stop. Skull well balanced and mounted by a long ‘top-knot’. Nose preferably black, liver permissible in light-coloured dogs.

Eyes
Dark for preference, but golden colour not debarred. Nearly triangular, slanting slightly upwards from inner corner to outer corner.

Ears
Set low and well back, carried close to head. Covered with long silky hair.

Mouth
Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Level bite tolerated.

Neck
Long, strong, with proud carriage of head.

Forequarters
Shoulders long and sloping, set well back, well muscled and strong without being loaded. Upper arm long and sloping. In profile this brings the elbow vertically below the wither. Forelegs straight and well boned, elbows close to ribcage, turning neither in nor out.

Body
Back level, moderate length, well muscled, back falling slightly away to stern. Loin straight, broad and rather short. Hipbones rather prominent and wide apart.A fair spring of ribs and good depth of chest.

Hindquarters
Powerful, well bent and well turned stifles. Great length between hip and hock, with comparatively short distance between hock and foot. Dewclaws may be removed.

Feet
Forefeet strong and very large both in length and breadth, and covered with long, thick hair; toes arched. Pasterns long and springy, pads well down on ground. Hindfeet long, but not quite as broad as forefeet; covered with long thick hair.

Tail
Not too short. Set on low with ring at end. Raised when in action. Sparsely feathered.

Gait/Movement
Smooth and springy with a style of high order.

Coat

Long and very fine texture on the ribs, fore and hindquarters and flanks. In mature dogs, from the shoulder backwards and along the saddle, hair short and close. Hair long from the forehead backwards, with a distinct silky ‘topknot’. On the foreface hair short, ears and legs well coated. Pasterns can be bare. Coat must develop naturally. Any evidence of clipping or scissoring should be penalised.

Colour
All colours acceptable.

Size
Ideal height: dogs: 68-74 cms (27-29 ins); bitches: 63-69 cms (25-27 ins).

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

This was taken whe she was about 2yrs old

The rest taken from the age of 8yrs to 10years







Sue

Ok, i will have a go, but this one is totally out of my comfort zone

Love his colouring, you don't see many brindle's around.....nice straight back falling away in the right place, no evident saddle , is that optional for showing ? nice kind eye.
Nice straight forelegs, and good feet, good length between hip and hock, and desired short length from hock to foot.

Looks nice on the move, although you cant see him tracking up completely in the pic, (just caught him at the wrong point) but looks to keep his balance in movement.

Lovely dog.........how did I do, way off mark

Thank you Jackbox, well done.

In the first picture all the bright brindle is saddle and she even had bare pasterns. The other pictures have been taken since she was speyed and unfortunately in Afghans the hair grows profusely and the saddle has gone.

Sue

Not a breed I know well, but my aunt had one and I do think they are stunning to look at, so here goes:
Good straight back falling away nicely to stearn. Hind leg length of good proportion between hip and hock and hock and foot. Well bent stifle.
Good deep chest.
Lovely head of good proportion, well defined ociput (judging from first pic). Lovely dark, well set eyes.
Good tail carriage and stylish movement.
Gorgeous coat colour. Coat long and flowing and looks to be in great condition. A well balanced bitch, aging gracefully.

Thank you Gaspode
Sue