Afghan Hound

Skull: Long, not too narrow with prominent occiput. Well balanced and mounted by a long “top-knot”. Stop: Slight.

Nose: Preferably black, liver permissible in light-coloured dogs. Muzzle: Long, with punishing jaws. Jaws / Teeth: Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Level bite (pincer bite, edge to edge) tolerated. Eyes: Dark for preference, but golden colour not debarred. Nearly triangular in appearance, slanting slightly upwards from inner corner to outer corner. Ears: Set low and well back, carried close to head. Covered with long silky hair.

Long, strong with proud carriage of head.

Back: Level, moderate length, well-muscled. Loin: Straight, broad and rather short. Croup: Falling slightly away to stern. Hipbones rather prominent and wide apart. Chest: A fair spring of ribs and good depth.

Not too short. Set on low with ring at end. Raised when in action. Sparsely feathered.

Shoulder: Long and sloping, set well back, well-muscled and strong without being loaded. Upper arm: Long and sloping. Elbow: In profile vertically below the withers. Close to rib cage, turning neither in nor out. Forearm: Forelegs straight and well boned. Metacarpus (Pastern): Long and springy.

General appearance: Powerful. Great length between hip and hock, with comparatively short distance between hock and foot. Stifle (Knee): Well bent and well turned.

Forefeet: Strong and very large both in length and breadth, and covered with long, thick hair; toes arched. Pads well down on ground. Hind feet: Long, but not quite as broad as forefeet; covered with long thick hair; toes arched. Pads well down on ground.

Smooth and springy with a style of high order.

Hair: Long and very fine texture on ribs, fore and hindquarters and flanks. In mature dogs from shoulder backwards and along the saddle, hair short and close. Hair long from forehead backwards, with a distinct silky “top-knot “. On the foreface hair short. Ears and legs well coated. Pasterns can be bare. Coat must develop naturally. Any evidence of clipping or scissoring should be penalized.

All colours acceptable however white markings on the head or collar are highly undesirable.

Ideal height at the withers: Males: 68 – 74 cms. Females: 63 – 69 cms.

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.

• Aggressive or overly shy dogs. • Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities. N.B.: • Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. • Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.