Afghan Hound. Bryony Harcourt-Brown
Sandy Carey, Isabelle Français, Bryony Harcourt-Brown, Carol Ann Johnson, Bill Jonas, Paul Lepiane, Joan Ludwig, Alice Roche, Steven Sourifman, Kent Standerford and Alice van Kempen.
Illustrations by Renée Low and Patricia Peters.
The author would like to thank Betty Stites for information on the breed’s history in the US and grooming and Dr. Malcolm Willis for information supplied regarding hip dysplasia.
The Afghan Hound is one of the most beautiful and graceful, as well as one of the fastest, breeds known in the world of canines.
The Afghan Hound is a unique and noble breed that traces its ancestry back through history as a dog bred for strength of limb and soundness of movement. These dogs are fleet of foot and capable of dramatic turns of speed when running. The Afghan Hound is a sighthound, which means that he is a dog that hunts by sight and not scent, as opposed to a scent-hound such as the Bloodhound. The Afghan Hound will frequently survey the far horizon with an intent stare, appearing to see objects that are out of a human’s range of vision. The hunting instinct is still present in some Afghan Hounds; small game such as rabbit is of particular interest to an Afghan Hound in the mood for fun!
The typical Afghan Hound is a most amazing dog, unique in so many aspects of his physical and mental being. For those who love and understand the breed, having once lived with an Afghan Hound it is hard to find another breed that matches the companionship of one of these dogs.
ORIGINS OF THE BREED
Afghan Hounds were originally found in Afghanistan, a country of extremes in both terrain and temperature. The similarities of the Afghan Hound to the Saluki, in both body and head, have led to the belief held by many experts that the Saluki was the forerunner of the Afghan Hound. Both breeds have been likened to the Greyhound, the Afghan Hound actually having been called the “Persian Greyhound” historically.
The Albanian Wolfhound was known in ancient times as a fierce, fast and extremely ferocious breed that was used in hunting and protection. This illustration derives from an ancient Greek vase.
In the canine history of Afghanistan, various hound-type breeds seem to have been popular among the indigenous peoples. Over time, various strains, which were used for various types of hunting, are reputed to have formed; these dogs were often collectively referred to as Tazis. Early Afghan Hounds became highly prized for their qualities as hunting companions.
One can only wonder at the impression that these wild and independent hounds must have made on Westerners who were lucky enough to have seen them in their own territory. These dogs, so fleet of foot and dramatic in demeanor, must have appeared to be most amazing creatures to people seeing them for the first time. The coat pattern, with the short coat on the face, back and pasterns and the long silky coat on the top-knot, ears, body, legs and feet, coupled with the beautiful expressive head, must have left a lasting memory.
THE AFGHAN HOUND GOES TO BRITAIN
Despite a number of imports into Britain from as early as the 1880s, the first dog to really make a major impression on the British dog-showing fraternity was Zardin, who came to the country in the early 1900s. Zardin was used as the model for the British Afghan Hound breed standard, the revised version of which is still used in the UK today.
The next major event in the history of Afghan Hounds in Britain began in the 1920s with the return from Baluchistan of Major Bell-Murray and his family. Major Bell-Murray had acquired a number of Afghan Hounds while living in India on the Afghanistan border. Also living in India around this time was Mrs. Amps, while her husband Major Amps was in Kabul. Major Amps acquired a male Afghan Hound for his wife, who showed the dog in India. Other Afghan Hounds were obtained by Major Amps to build up the foundation of the Ghazni kennel.
Major and Mrs. Amps returned to Britain with their Afghan Hounds in the mid-1920s. In Britain, the Ampses’ hounds continued to be registered under the kennel name of Ghazni. It is thought that the Ghazni hounds originated mainly from the more mountainous regions of Afghanistan around Kabul, whereas the Bell-Murray hounds reputedly came mainly from the plains or desert areas around the border of Afghanistan and India. There were differences in type between the dogs of the two kennels, the Bell-Murrays’ being longer of leg, finer of head and sparser of coat, and the Ghazni dogs being stockier, more heavily coated and stronger in head. These differences in type led to some friction among devotees of the Afghan Hound at this time, and for long after this Afghan Hounds would regularly be labeled as being of either Ghazni type or Bell-Murray type, and both have merit in different ways. Today both of these types have been merged, due to breeders’ bringing both strains together in their breeding programs.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Afghan Hound was known as the Barukhzy. The name was taken from the name of the royal family of Afghanistan. Mrs. M. Wood’s Westmall Tamasar, shown here, shows the typical head of the breed at that time.
SIGHT AND SCENT
Afghan Hounds have a reputation for being known as the “scented hound.” This is due to another remarkable phenomenon of the breed, the production of a scent from glands on the sides of the cheeks. The scent is quite intoxicating on dogs that carry it to its most concentrated level, especially when the dog is damp. The pleasant scent is a musk-like smell and adds yet another facet of interest to these wonderful hounds.
The first Afghan Hound champion in Britain was Eng. Ch. Buck-mal, bred by Major Bell-Murray and owned by Miss Jean Manson. Eng. Ch. Sirdar of Ghazni was another highly influential early Afghan, who won eight Challenge Certificates (three are required to obtain the title of champion in Britain). By the 1930s, both of these famous kennels were no longer active in Britain, with Mrs. Amps suffering from ill health. The Bell-Murray hounds, in the hands of Miss Jean Manson, originally the Bell-Murrays’ governess, and under the kennel name of Cove, visited America.
In Hutchinson’s Dog Encyclopaedia, the Afghan Hound was compared to the Saluki and described as “larger and stronger and with a much heavier coat.”
THE AFGHAN HOUND COMES TO THE UNITED STATES
BY BETTY STITES
For all intents and purposes, the history of the Afghan Hound in the US officially starts in 1931, although a few had made their way here before that time. In 1926 Miss Manson arrived from England, bringing some of her Bell-Murray hounds to the East Coast. Their arrival caused the American Kennel Club (AKC) to open its stud books to Afghan Hounds and in 1927 to feature two of them on the cover of the American Kennel Gazette. Also in 1927 the breed made its first appearance at the Westminster Kennel Club show. Two of the entrants were owned by Jean Manson, but neither went Best of Breed; that honor went to a dog named Zun o’Valley Farm, owned by Valley Farm kennels. For the most part, few people had ever heard of the Afghan Hound at this time, and those who had thought the breed bizarre, to say the least. The dogs in 1927 left no lasting impression on the breed in the US, and their bloodlines appear to have been lost.
In 1931 a chain of events began that would put the Afghan Hound before the US public in a most dramatic way. The comedic Marx Brothers were making a film in England, where Zeppo Marx and his wife saw an Afghan Hound. They were fascinated and became determined to find a pair to take back with them to California.