The Patterned Afghan Hound
3:15 AM
What I would like to accomplish with my crossbreeds is to breed a mountain type Afghan hound with a desert type coat, somewhat longer than the halfghans grow, with a naturally clean face and short saddle. The mountain type coat has been bred to be, in my opinion, non-functional. It's too heavy, over-heating the dog even in winter, grows too long, and some dogs no longer have a natural slick saddle and clean face, they must be clipped or stripped. Too much hair on the legs interferes with their movement. The coat does not shed out in the summer, making the dog too hot. I have always preferred an Afghan with a patterned coat, and when I saw how our halfghans turned out, I knew I could use them to produce a heavily patterned Afghan, within a few generations. Patterned Afghans are not usually bred for, they are not popular in the show ring, where coat is king. Breeding patterned Afghans together would take many generations to produce a dog with a coat similar to Mio.
The Afghan Hound Association of the UK wrote in one of the very first standards for the breed (no longer used): "The whole appearance of the dog should give the impression of strength and activity, combining speed with power. The object of the dog is to hunt its quarry over very rough and mountainous ground, a country of crags and ravines." That is what is in my mind when I look at my dogs; do they match this description? Could they hunt over rough country? Appropriate coat is a part of that. I am hoping that our current litter will take me farther down the road to what I want in an Afghan.
