It was beautiful weather for a dog show this past weekend in Galloway Township. Aside from my white bull terrier Kabuki doing some winning, I always enjoy looking at the other breeds and learning about where they come from. A breed that has been catching my eye lately as being simply elegant and graceful is a recent addition to the AKC called the Azawakh dog.
Pronounced “as-a-wok,” this breed is of ancient origins. The Azawakh hails from the Southern Sahara region of Africa, specifically the area known as the Valley of Azawakh, and can still be found there doing what it has done for hundreds of years: hunting, guarding, and being companion dogs of the nomadic tribes in the area. The Tuareg tribe is attributed to introducing the Azawakh to Europeans when, in the early 1970s, a Yugoslavian doctor named Dr. Pecar, who was working in the area, killed an aggressive elephant bull that was terrorizing their people. As a thank you, Dr. Pecar was gifted one of their prized Azawakh females. He returned to Europe with the dog. Later, when French troops stationed in the area also started bringing Azawakhs home with them from Africa, breeding programs were started, and France has since become the patron country of the breed. They arrived in the United States in the early 1980s. However, they were only recently recognized by the American Kennel Club in 2019, when they were admitted to the Hound Group.
The Azawakh is a graceful sighthound, which means it hunts by using its vision and not by scent like other hounds. They are also built to be fast with legs that are longer than their bodies. Their lean bodies allow for maximum speed when hunting gazelles and catching their prey. Azawakh male dogs weigh, at most, 55 pounds, and females about 44 pounds. They have somewhat of a similar physical appearance to a greyhound. They come in a variety of colors. To assist with being aerodynamic when running, their coats are short, and their skin is very tight to the body.
Like most sighthounds, the Azawakh has remained true to its origins and does have a strong prey drive and need to run. They are fiercely loyal to whomever they choose as their person and can be rather aloof and standoffish with strangers whom they feel do not belong in their territory. I was told that if they decide to acknowledge you at all, they will be very affectionate toward strangers. That is, if they decide to accept you! They were also described as a “warrior class” dog that was raised to protect their tribes from danger and will do so with all of their heart to this day. As we lack gazelles for Azawakhs to chase here in the United States, they are currently thriving in the Agility, fly ball, and Fast Cat rings where speed counts.
I really enjoy watching this graceful dog move; no breed of dog has a more beautiful silhouette. Spend a few minutes on YouTube watching these graceful, while at the same time intense, sighthounds in action.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
