Afghan Hound

 

If you do not like cats, you might not enjoy the Afghan Hound since they have very similar personalities. If you love the hyper, goofy, happy go lucky chase after a Frisbee dogs, you are interested in the wrong breed. If you want to go to the park and expect your Afghan Hound to jump in the water after a ball as a Golden Retriever or Black Lab, you have picked the wrong breed. More likely is if you do any of the above, the Afghan Hound will look at you and expect you to entertain them by running after a Frisbee or jump in the pond yourself to get the ball.

The Afghan Hound is a hunting sight hound. For many of them, if it moves, it belongs to them. While some can live in a household with cats and ferrets, many others cannot. No matter how well trained they are, they can still be very unpredictable and rely on instinct. That is why they should never be trusted off leash since if they have an eye set on a target, they have a sudden auditory problem. They may come back but as they leave a trail of dust in your face you will hear them say, yeah, when I’m done…maybe.

They are also not apartment dogs and require a yard and a six-foot fence. Even with that you will see many a front paws on the top of a six-foot fence as they jump to get a squirrel. In order to keep them from getting bored and destructive, they require exercise and walks and usually do better in pairs. Most can be very stand-offish with strangers. They also require a great deal of grooming and do not just look like “those dogs with all that beautiful hair” without a great deal of work. The favorite spot is either the bed or the sofa and they have extendable paws if you have left something on your kitchen counter you had planned on eating.

While they are a breed that can push many to a padded cell, they also have some of the most wonderful aspects to their personality you will find in the Hound Group. They are very loyal to family members and very loving, affectionate and playful in the household. They love attention, enjoy being lapdogs and since they know they look good, enjoy strangers cooing over them as they look away in distain. They excel at training you and learn very quickly how to wrap you around a paw. Oddly, they usually win and most people once hooked on the breed find that there is no other breed they would live with.