Ixion

It's been awhile since I've been on, so thought I'd give an update on the going on's of the other breed in the household.


Taboo has been at several shows this fall, got close but not close enough for points. >.< And now we have to wait for her coat to come back after she just blew more then half of it.....gotta love those SUPER patterned girls! LOL!





A stack photo of her BEFORE she lost her pretty hair **sigh**



I've also been working with her in agility, she has now earned both her AKC NJP & NAP titles, plus she has one Q towards her OJP. Hopefully we have some good luck at the end of the month at a couple trials we'll be attending!





Calypso, my 8 yr old afghan girl, has been having fun being brough out in the show ring again. I showed her for the first time in 3 yrs at a specialty in Veteran Sweeps. She went BOS and after all the nice comments on her, I think I'm going to try for her GCH this spring! After almost loosing her early last year, it's so nice to be able to go out and just have fun with her! She's my special girl! ^.^





Plus my crazy girl loves agility! LOL I can't ever seem to get someone to help me get good weave shots of her, she does them so fast but the delay timer setting doesn't work so well for action shots. >.<

Quossum

Gorgeous hounds! You've had some amazing success with them.

--Q

tokipoke

Beautiful! Love the photo of the kiss on the cheek

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plumcrazy

OK, yer killin' me here!!! I've been researching Afghans recently after attending a show in Minnesota where there were a LOT of them! They seriously took my breath away - even my husband was intrigued!

I went to the Greater Twin Cities Afghan Hound Club's specialty show last summer and met some fabulous hound people! I applied for membership in the club and was just voted in last weekend (YAY for ME!!)

My dream is to have a show Afghan someday - I've been talking with the president of the GTCAHC and we may be able to do business sometime next year - if it happens, it will be very nice to have a mentor within 7 hours of me!! Her kennel name is Inisfree

Inisfree Kennels

Your kids are gorgeous!! When I dream of my future hound, I see a blue/cream domino - but I haven't seen a color that I don't love!

Thanks for sharing your pictures and stories and keep 'em coming!! I love learning all I can about the breed! I even asked Yung if there was an Afghan Forum I could haunt, but they don't have one so I joined the facebook one!

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phrannie

OMG, she looks like a movie star!! I LOVE all sight hounds, but Afgans are SO beautiful!! Gorgeous girl you have

p

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Ixion

Thank you everyone for your nice comments on my girls! :-)


Plumcrazy, good luck with your future afghan! I love the breed, they are awesome dogs! ^.^ I don't think with you already knowing how to groom a poodle that you should have any issues learning afghan grooming, overall it's pretty straight forward and as long as your afghan is naturally saddled, not a lot trimming/striping involved. Dominos are my favorite too......took me awhile to get my girl, the color is a double recessive trait, so it can be hard to get unless the breeder knows they have it in their lines, hope to always have a domino around, both my girls have great personalities, but Taboo, she's a thinker. Drives me nuts as she figures out how to open doors (sliding ones too >.<), draws, etc not much is scared with her, LOL!!! They make really good performance dogs, so if you are interested in lure coursing or agility both are a lot of fun with this breed.....the main thing to remember with training an afghan.....is make sure to keep a sense of humor. I don't know Anna Tyler personally but have seen ads for her dogs in the past on afghansonline, she has some nice ones. Maybe one day I'll run into you at the afghan nationals!

The only forum I know of is the one on afghan hounds international.....although it isn't very active. The list on FB though, definitly is......some INTERESING topics come up on there to read on, LOL!!

plumcrazy

Anna is fairly certain she'll have dominos with one of her litters this summer/fall... I would like to show in conformation if possible, and I'm pretty stuck on getting a bitch, so we'll assess what she has available and see if I'll be getting a puppy from her (fingers crossed!) I'm not in a big hurry - I want whatever happens to be right, not quick! I'll be living with this dog for a dozen years or more, after all!

I also agree with the training angle - it's a good thing I ALWAYS have a sense of humor!! I practice Parelli Natural Horse.Man.Ship with my horses and I've learned to laugh at some of the stuff they pull because it doesn't do one bit of good to try to force a 1,000+ pound animal!! Some of my barn friends are shocked when I chuckle at my gelding's sassy attitude - but they're the ones who get angry and frustrated at THEIR horses when they do something unexpected. I don't ever get frustrated anymore (not that I ever really did - my personality is more laid back than that) but I understand frustration and anger will sabotage any positive results. I'm sooo looking forward to the challenge of training a sighthound!!

I've read opinions that while Standard Poodles are #2 smartest breed, Afghan Hounds are purported to be the "least intelligent"... I beg to differ!!! What I understand is that Afghans are as far from unintelligent as one can get (your Taboo lends credence to that!) but since they are bred to think for themselves (instead of blindly following commands) they won't always obey... You know what??? That's OK with me!! I'll find it a fascinating opportunity to get my future girl to WANT to do what I'd like her to - it's more of a partnership that way, instead of a dictatorship; and MUCH more satisfying!

I attended a lure coursing trial in Minnesota last summer and it was great! I'd love to get my hound involved with performance, too. Since my husband and I are currently pursuing titles on our Standard Poodles in Rally Obedience, it will be a natural extension to add the Afghan to our training schedule for that activity, too!

Are you active on the FB Afghan page? I agree there are some very interesting stories/topics/opinions that pop up, aren't there?? I'm a member there under my real name - Barb Plum - and I try to only comment when I have something nice to say!

Maybe I'll be sharing pictures and stories about my new hound later this year - that'd be awesome!

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tokipoke

Afghans fascinate me. I did see that they were listed pretty low on the list of dog intelligence... I think they are listed LAST! Is it because they are so independent? Are their personalities like cats? The Basenji is second to last on the list and this was the breed I wanted till I researched them and realized it wouldn't be a good fit. Can Afghans ever be off leash? I'm so intrigued by them but feel like they are the opposite of the people-pleasing Velcro poodle!

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plumcrazy

MEEE too!

They are independent thinkers. Because of what they were bred for (coursing, hunting), they needed to be able to make decisions on their own once they were far from their owner's control. They couldn't stand their and wait to find out what the next command would be, or their prey would be long gone. Because they are independent thinkers, they don't always feel it's in their best interest to do everything a human tells them to do at all times. They'll decide if they want to follow instructions and if they want to - then they will... I'm looking foward to the challenging interaction with my future hound!

I've heard them described that way - but I LOVE cats, too, so that's no problem for me! They're described as aloof, dignified and accepting of affection on their own terms (sounds a lot like cats to me) But I've also talked to people whose hounds are comedic clowns and will do anything for a laugh!! I've also heard they're notorious counter surfers!

This is also a matter of opinion and individual dogs... Personally, I would never want to "test" the theory. We have a large fenced yard and a huge local dog park (with three separate fenced areas) so I'd never have to have my (someday) hound offleash except in a fully enclosed area. Again, what I've heard is that Afghans typically don't come back when called, but WILL come back eventually - the problem is the danger of traffic or other mishaps that could occur on their way back... If I ever decide to do lure coursing, I'd love to do it in the facility where I saw it last year in MN. It was a HUGE, HUGE securely fenced area and the dogs could run full out! It was awesome!

When I was at the GTCAHC Afghan Specialty show last summer, one of the showdogs broke his lead and was loose!! The show organizers were very smart and had the Afghan ring located in a separate area than the rest of the show, and this area was completely fenced! I wondered why they were so set apart, until the dog got loose, and then I understood! The dog would not come to anyone - ran like the wind - until he was able to be cornered within the owner/handler/groomer tents that were set up.

Opposite doesn't mean bad!

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ArreauStandardPoodle

Your Afghans are simply glorious! Thank you so much for sharing them with us all. Stunning photos of stunning creatures!

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