The first specimen of this breed were imported to Europe at the beginning of seventies to the then Yugoslavia. The picture shows the first Azawakh brought by Mr. Zdravko Pecar, a Yugoslavian diplomat in the then Upper Volta. At that time, some dogs were also imported to France by people who had worked in the Southern Sahara countries, however such dogs were not registered in any kennel club. The Azawakh as a breed was unknown in Europe, as well as reliable information concerning the regions of origin was lacking then. Such dogs were considered to be Sloughis and were registered as such. However, the distinctive differences of the AZs from the Sloughis could not go unnoticed. In shows, the AZs sometimes won, sometime lost, depending on judges´ personal understanding of the Sloughi standard. There were AZs that, for example, won CACIBs as Sloughis, and later on, after the recognition of the AZs as a breed, won some more as Azawakhs, and on the basis of such titles, awarded in fact to two different breeds, such dogs were awarded FCI International Champion titles.

The decision to recognise a new breed was taken in the WDS in Verona, Italy, in 1980. In 1981, the first FCI standard entered in force. There was still only little information at hand when the first version of the standard was created. Over a relatively short period time, the standard has been amended several times, but such amendments, unfortunately, have not taken into consideration new facts on the breed found and duly evidenced so far.

A scientific literature or research into history, geographic occurrence and ethnic and social and culture background of the breed were almost non-existing in the past. Anthropological publications or documentary films reflecting the life in the region denoted as a place of origin of the Azawakh do not include any references to this sighthound. Written documents on sighthounds focused on the Azawakh rely mostly on second or third-hand information, general conclusions, often misleading and based on different speculations and personal interpretations, tailor-made to the current situation in breeding or show-rings.

The thesis of Francois Roussel, a French veterinarian, is one of the few sources focused on the breed. It was published in 1975. In 1974 (which means at the very beginning of the European breeding of the Azawakh), the author took a journey to the Sahel region. On the basis of his findings, he states that “the Azawakh is a sighthound of the Sahel nomads, bred and used by all the cattle-breeding people in the region; it is a breed belonging in the same manner to the Bella and Peul tribes as well as the Touaregs and their different confederations.“ According to the veterinary doctor Roussel, the Azawakh is not a breed of only one Touareg tribe, which is a misleading piece of information often given and almost “romanticising” the breed. Roussel’s conclusions were confirmed also a decade later, when, at the beginning only individual breeders, started travelling to the Sahel region in order to obtain dogs to enlarge the European gene pool used for breeding, as breeding, due to a low number of specimen at hand, was based mostly on inbreeding or a very close line breeding. A very comprehensive material concerning the current situation of the Azawakh in Africa has been collected since the beginning of the nineties directly in the Sahel region during a research carried out by the ABIS organisation (Association Burkinbé Idi du Sahel), founded by Dr. Werner Röder and some other people from Germany. The objective of this organisation is, besides humanitarian aid and vaccination of dogs against rabies, the documenting and importing of quality specimen for the purposes of breeding all over the world.

Some Thoughts on the Colours

“A Good Dog has no Colour” – an answer of the Touaregs when asked by the Europeans which colour is the best for an Azawakh

Due to historical reasons, at the seventies and early eighties, we were used to see Azawakhs of sand or red colours, with absolutely minimum white markings. At that time, only one FCI standard existed for both the Azawakh and Sloughi, and the then breeders, quite logically, tried to breed dogs corresponding to the Sloughi at least as far as the colour was concerned, as white is undesirable for this breed. Puppies with large markings were put down and dogs with  more extended white markings could be seen neither in shows nor used for breeding. After the recognition of the Azawakh as an independent breed, dogs with white markings started being used for breeding and white markings began to appear more often and at larger scale. The very first FCI standard for the Azawakh also mentioned the brindle colour as one of the permitted colours; however, in the following amendment, this colour was not mentioned any more. Fortunately, in 1994 the brindle colour was included in the FCI standard again. In the second half of the nineties, when Azawakhs imported directly from Africa started being used more frequently for breeding, such a tendency became even more evident. Also colours began to appear which are current in Azawakhs in Africa, however which unfortunately are not taken into consideration in the FCI standard. The Azawakhs have all types of colours in their region of origin. White markings range from quite minimum or missing to extension of a different range. This is so called “Irish spotting” the inheritance of which is known not just to experts but hopefully also to breeders of all kind of other breeds for which such markings are typical. The endeavour to achieve an absolutely exact limitation and placement of such markings through breeding is simply impossible due to the genetics of such markings, and it goes against the basic genetics laws and maybe against a common sense, too. Colour, according to the results of published and widely-documented observations made both by Roussel and during almost two decades of other private and organised expeditions of well-known Azawakh breeders, has nothing to do with the quality of the Azawakhs and by no means it is an evidence of crossbreeding the Azawakhs with other breeds, as it may be sometimes heard in Europe. Such a fact was taken into consideration in the USA when creating the breed standard. The USA standard takes over the morphological description in the FCI standard, however, maybe due to “being free from the superstitions of the past” and due to the wide evidence coming from the region of origin, it respects the wide range of colours currently existing in the Azawakh as a purebred sighthound during the course of its centenary existence.  The exact wording of the currently binding FCI standard is as follows:

Colour: Fawn with flecking limited to the extremities. All shades are admitted from light sable to dark fawn. The head may or may not have a black mask and the blaze is very inconsistent. The coat has a white bib and a white brush at the tip of the tail. Each of the four limbs must have compulsorily a white "stocking", at least in shape of a trace on the feet. The black brindling is admitted.  

The FCI standard rather describes minimum white markings without mentioning the exact maximum range of these. At present, such an incorrect interpretation of the standard and unfavourable evaluations of dogs with larger-than-minimum markings by some judges in shows leads towards a discrimination of high-quality specimen of the breed in shows and also towards the exclusion of these from breeding. In such a manner, the small genetic base of the breed thus becomes even more reduced. The same negative effect may have the fact that the show judges, regardless of obvious anatomic problems of the dogs, sometimes almost blindly prefer only a certain colour  and markings, without taking into account the overall quality of the dog.

Some Thoughts on Breeding

The Azawakh is a breed with a limited number of specimen and responsible breeders and whole clubs are aware of the fact that it is necessary to enlarge the genetic potential of the breed in order to guarantee the breed’s healthy existence in future, and they deal with this problem on different levels. According to information supported by absolutely no proofs and based only on personal feelings and interests, rumours have appeared saying that the Azawakh does not exist in Africa as an original pure breed any more. According to such statements, the animals imported to Europe and other parts of the world during the last decades, are just some “varieties” of the original Azawakhs, imported to Europe at the beginning of the seventies. There is quite a large photographic and video documentation and statistic research proving quite the contrary. Such a material has been obtained directly in the Sahel region during a research carried out by the ABIS organisation. Another strong argument in favour of newly-imported azawaks, comprehensible even for non-experts, is a marked success of the gets of the imported dogs (or of the imported dogs themselves) in show rings and coursing and racing tracks in Europe and North and South America. As it can be seen and evidenced in many photos accessible to the general public, such dogs are of the same type as those imported at the beginning of the seventies. Their morphology is perfectly in compliance with the FCI standard. Thanks to Mrs. Corine Lundqvist, a French Azawakh breeder (azawakhs De Garde Epée), there is a publicly accessed database of the vast majority of Azawakhs imported and bred in Europe and other parts of the world since the very first moments of an arganised breeding of the Azawakh outside Africa. Such a database, accompanied in the majority of the cases by photographic documents, gives a perfect picture of what has been going on in the breeding of the Azawakh and where the organised breeding is heading to. When studying this database, an observer may notice that just on the contrary, often it is the stylised Azawakh of a European type which has gone too far from the standard. The breeders and those who import dogs from their region of origin currently insist in adhering to the existing standard in terms of the morphology of the breed, such as format, angulation, straight legs, strong enough chin, correct and firm upper line, etc.

As it has been mentioned several times, the Azawakh is a rare breed. It would be ideal to use as many quality Azawakhs as possible for breeding in order to assure its capacity to survive as a breed in the future. Any exclusion of dogs just and only due to the range of markings based on a current fashion or personal arbitrary and incorrect interpretation of the official standard, tailor-made to the objectives of some breeders of influence, is very dangerous for the breed. At present, when fast changes and disintegration of historical social structures has been occurring in the region of the origin of the Azawakh as a result of globalisation, we are facing a unique opportunity to participate in the preserving of a cultural heritage of the region, which may disappear during the course of time if we do not help. In my opinion, we have enough reliable evidence and materials at hand nowadays in order to be able to review our approach towards this unique breed.

With the consent of the authors, I took over the data presented from lectures of Dr. Röder, from written documents published by him, as well as I based my arguments on the reports from the expeditions to the Sahel region; I also used information contained in an article published by MVDr. Gabriele Meissen and materials compiled during almost two decades by the ABIS organisation. In the same manner, I used information obtained during my personal encounters with breeders who have been with the Azawakhs almost since the first years when the breed came to Europe, such as Mrs. And Mr. Kupka, and members of expeditions to the Sahel region, as well as I based my conclusions on the wide photographic documentation belonging to private archives of Azawakh breeders both from Europe and the USA which I had the possibility to see. Last but not least, the currently valid and binding FCI standard was a great source and inspiration for me.

A video made by ABIS (courtesy of Mrs. Corine Lundqvist, Azawakhs de Garde Epee, who adapted it for publishing)

A full version of the video made by ABIS: Azawakh in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, approx. 1 hour film

African Azawakh Family (made by ABIS, courtesy of Corine Lundqvist)

©Jana Vrbacká, 2010

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ORIGIN : Mali.

PATRONAGE : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 22.08.1994.

UTILIZATION :  Sight hunting.  The nomads considered the dog equally as a « show piece » and as a companion.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. :                       

Group  10     Sighthounds.

Section  3    Short-haired Sighthounds.

Without working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : It is an African sighthound of afro-asian type which appeared in Europe towards 1970 and comes from the Nigerian middle basin, among others from the valley of the Azawakh.  For hundreds of years he has been the companion of the nomads of the South-Sahara.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Particularly high in the leg and elegant, the Azawakh sighthound gives a general impression of great fineness.  His bone structure and musculature are transparent beneath fine and lean tissues (skin).  This sighthound presents itself as a racy dog whose body fits into a rectangle with its longer sides in vertical position.

 IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :

 -   Length of body/height at the withers = 9 : 10.  This ratio may be slightly superior in the bitches.

-    Depth of chest/height at the withers = about 4 : 10.

-    Length of muzzle/length of head = 1 : 2.

-    Width of skull/length of head = 4 : 10.

 BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Quick, attentive, distant, reserved with strangers and may even be unapproachable, but he can be gentle and affectionate with those he is willing to accept.

 HEAD : Long, fine, lean and chiselled, rather narrow, without excess.

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : It is almost flat, rather elongated.  The width of the skull must definitely be inferior to half the length of the head.  The directions of the axes of the skull and the muzzle are often slightly divergent towards the front.  The superciliary arches and the frontal furrow are slightly marked.  On the other hand, the occipital crest is clearly protruding and the occipital protuberance marked.

Stop : Very slightly marked.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Nostrils well opened.  The nose is either black or brown.

Muzzle : Long, straight, fine towards the front without exaggeration.

Jaws/Teeth : Jaws long and strong.  Scissor bite.

Cheeks : Flat.

Eyes : Almond shaped, quite large.  Their colour is dark or amber.  Eyelids pigmented.

Ears : Set quite high.  They are fine, always drooping and flat, quite wide at the base, close to the skull, never a « rose ear ».  Their shape is that of a triangle with a slightly rounded tip.  Their base raises when the hound is attentive.

NECK : Good reach of neck which is long, fine and muscular, slightly arched.  The skin is fine and does not form a dewlap.

BODY :

Topline : Nearly straight, horizontal or slightly rising towards the hips.

Withers : Quite prominent.

Loin : Short, lean and often slightly arched.

Hip bones : Distinctly protruding and always placed at an equal or superior height to the height of the withers.

Croup : Oblique without accentuated slant.

Forechest : Not very wide.

Chest : Well developed in length, deep but without reaching elbow level.  It is not very wide but must have enough space for the heart, so, the sternal region of the chest must not abruptly become narrow.

Ribs : Long, visible, slightly and evenly curved down to the sternum.

Underline : The sternal arch is accentuated and joined without abruptness to the belly which is tucked up very high below the lumbar arch.

TAIL : Set low, long, thin, lean and tapered.  Is covered with the same type of hair as that of the body and has a white brush at its extremity.  Is carried hanging with the tip slightly raised, but when the dog is excited, it can be carried above the horizontal.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS :

Seen as a whole : Long, fine, almost entirely vertical; legs perfectly well-set.

Shoulders : Long, lean and muscular and only slightly slanting seen in profile.  The scapulo-humeral angle is very open (about 130°).

Forefeet : Rounded shape, with fine and tightly closed toes; the pads are pigmented.

HINDQUARTERS :

Seen as a whole : Long and lean; legs perfectly vertical.

Thighs : Long with prominent and lean muscles.  The coxo-femoral angle is very open (about 130°).

Stifle : The femoro-tibial angle is very open (about 145°).

Hock : Hock joint and hock are straight and lean, without dewclaws.

Hind feet : Round shaped.  Pads are pigmented.

GAIT / MOVEMENT : Always very supple (lissom) and with particularly high action at the trot and the walk.  The galop is bouncy.  The Azawakh gives a great impression of lightness, even elasticity.  The movement is an essential point of the breed.

SKIN : Fine, tight over the whole of the body.

COAT

HAIR : Short, fine, down to none on the belly.

COLOUR : Fawn with flecking limited to the extremities.  All shades are admitted from light sable to dark fawn.  The head may or may not have a black mask and the blaze is very inconstant.  The coat has a white bib and a white brush at the tip of the tail. Each of the four limbs must have compulsorily a white « stocking », at least in shape of a trace on the feet.  The black brindling is admitted.

SIZE AND WEIGHT  :

Height at the withers : Dogs: between 64 and 74 cm.

                                 Bitches : between 60 and 70 cm.

Weight : Dogs: about 20 - 25 kg.

              Bitches: about 15 - 20 kg.

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.

·       General appearance : heavy.

·       Skull too wide.

·       Accentuated stop.

·       Body too long.

·       Hip bones placed distinctly lower than the withers.

·       Distinct depigmentation of the nose.

 ELIMINATING FAULTS :

·       Timid character, panicky or aggressive with attack.

·       Lack of type (in particular when showing a recent crossing with another breed).

·       Strong non-accidental anatomical deformation.

·       Disabling anomaly - not acquired.

·       All obvious redhibitory vices.

·       Upper or lower prognathism.

·       Light eye : i.e. bird of prey eyes.

·       Ribs curving in at the base of the chest which thus takes on the look of « violin box ».

·       Coat not conforming to the standard.

·       Harsh or semi-long coat.

·       Absence of any white marking at the extremity of one or more limbs.

·       Size out by more than 3 cm from the standard measures.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum