Afghan hound racing

2009 October 20
tags: , ,
by retrieverman

Source.

I have no commentary. I’ll leave that to the sight hound experts.

from → dog breeds

18 Responses leave one →
  1. 2009 October 20
    Jess permalink

    What, are you baiting me? Here are some racing afghans, bred specifically for speed:
    http://www.afghanen.at/startseite.htm?info.htm~hauptframe

    The video is a little funky, but watch the movement of the dogs, specifically, how the legs move, and the motion of the head. Contrast that to the movement in the video you posted. Click around and look at the pictures.

    a very famous racing afghan:
    http://www.afghan-hound.net/nphp/2003/html/azhar.html

    famous racing kennel:
    http://www.taziban.ch/

    Contrast the structure on the racing dogs with the skeletal construction here:
    http://clubs.akc.org/ahca/standard.htm

    and the structure of the dogs here:
    http://www.afghansonline.com/

    and the structure of the dogs in these old photos:
    http://demonpuppy.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-patterned-afghan-hounds.html

    and my perennial favorite:
    http://www.afghanhoundsoz.com.au/Afghan_Gait.htm

    I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about which dogs are more functional. Remember, these dogs were bred to catch fast game. Which of the modern dog types do you think would have a better chance of that? Racing dogs or show dogs?

    I don’t think I need to say anything about the coats, do I?

    Note that if you mention racing afghans in certain circles, you will be told that they were crossed with Salukis for speed. Of course if you mention racing Salukis in certain circles, you will be told that they were crossed with Greyhounds for speed.

    Reply
    • 2009 October 20
      retrieverman permalink

      It was in my spam filter for some reason.

      Reply
      • 2009 October 20
        cyborgsuzy permalink

        Probably because of all the links. Glad you caught it, though. These are very interesting.

        Reply
    • 2009 October 20
      retrieverman permalink

      They have very poor economy of movement. They move so much, yet seem to get nowhere.

      I bet it looks good on a show dog.

      Reply
      • 2009 October 20
        Jess permalink

        Here’s the real question, at least in my mind: which type is doing a better job of preserving the ‘breed type’ of the COO hounds? Show, or racing dog?

        Reply
    • 2009 October 20
      Pai permalink

      Oh, they look just like the ‘original’ Afghans! I like them a lot more than the show dogs. They look much more reasonable to upkeep, grooming-wise.

      Reply
      • 2009 October 20
        Jess permalink

        There are differences. In a way, the COO dogs sit between the race and show types. The racing dogs tend to have less pelvic tilt and a longer, more arched loin than the COO dogs. The show dogs a very short, flat loin, short back, very long hind legs, very upright head carriage (this is why the dogs heads in the video bob so much) and very straight fronts.

        I love the coats on the race dogs. That is what I’m going for with my crosses, except I’d like a dog with conformation closer to a COO dog. I got pretty close in my second generation. also, I have a deal with my husband that the dogs must be pretty.

        Reply
  2. 2009 October 20
    PBurns permalink

    My Jack Russells run faster than those dogs. Sad.

    Reply
    • 2009 October 20
      retrieverman permalink

      They are wasting so much movement and energy.

      Reply
      • 2009 October 21
        Jess permalink

        You can find video on youtube of afghans that run well. ‘Runs well’ becomes relative when compared to other sighthounds, however, as they are significantly slower. I don’t know why, since their basic anatomy is not hugely different than many Salukis (remember, I am a land race person.)

        Reply
      • 2009 October 22
        Pai permalink

        When I watched that first clip, I was reminded of rocking horses… just the exaggerated bobbing movement.

        Reply
        • 2009 October 22
          retrieverman permalink

          Have you ever seen them walk in the ring?

          They have a springy gait that is really hard to describe.

          Reply
          • 2009 October 22
            Jess permalink

            ‘Spring-loaded’ is about the best I can do. Like the joints are under tension and almost snap back. A good Afghan should have what I call the ‘boing’, be able to jump up a great distance vertically, jump up and down on the hind legs easily, jump obstacles easily. They should not have movement that involves flinging the feet about, and it should not be so exaggerated as to become inefficient. The extreme upright head carriage preferred in the ring is actually detrimental to running, there should be a balance between the characteristic springy movement, head carriage, and the running ability.

            Reply
  3. 2009 October 20
    Jess permalink

    I posted a reply last night with a bunch of links in it. It must’ve gotten an error, I’ll try again.

    Reply
  4. 2009 October 21
    Rinalia permalink

    I am certainly no sighthound expert, but I’m surprised that black dog in the first clip didn’t just collapse beneath all that coat! I can’t imagine any rabbit would be impressed.

    I remember seeing a video a couple years ago of Afghans hunting in, well, gosh, I think was Afghanistan. I could tell they were Afghans, but they were such a far cry physically and in their movement from the few Afghans I’ve met in person (who were all hair).

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS