Afghan Hound

About the Afghan Hound

The Afghan Hound came out of the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, where tribal hunters used it to run down gazelle and hare over ground no horse could cross. The huge feet, the prominent hip bones and the flowing coat are all working equipment rather than decoration, designed for grip on rock and for shelter from a climate that swings between furnace and frost.

Dogs stand roughly 68 to 74 cm and carry a long, fine coat with a short saddle of hair along the back, in almost any colour. The breed's reputation for being difficult is really independence: it was bred to hunt out of its handler's sight and settle matters for itself. In a stud, look for a dog that is self-possessed rather than nervy, and for a coat of genuine texture, since a heavily prepared show coat tells you very little about what a litter will inherit.

Health questions worth putting to the owner begin with hip scores under the BVA/KC scheme and a current eye certificate, as juvenile cataract turns up in the breed. Ask about thyroid function, and about how long the dog's parents and grandparents lived. As with all sighthounds, low body fat changes how these dogs handle certain anaesthetics, which any vet treating the offspring will want to know.

Health & breeding

We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.