new azawakh standard

This is the original article, I save it here to have a safety copy
https://loyalazawakh.com/a-new-standard-of-the-azawakh/?fbclid=IwAR1DAsm_N0M70CtUk9fuiv8Vq8XREYiBtZfCxI-BjSmESruXVCI6IdXrBXo


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A New Standard of the Azawakh
In early 2009, I worked with Daoud Abdullah Abdullah (David Moore) to draft a new Standard of the Azawakh that is based on field research by ABIS and others and is descriptive of the natural breed in the vein of the Saluki standard. Our hope was to promote reform of the FCI and draft AKC standards. I’m republishing it here because I am no longer involved with the site that originally hosted this document and it is offline.
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The Standard of the Azawakh
HISTORY
The Azawakh serves three distinct yet inextricably inter-related functions for the peoples of Africa’s Sahel and Southern Sahara: guardian, hunter and status symbol. Its morphology has been shaped both by the aesthetic criteria of Sahelian cultures and the harsh environment in which it has been isolated for thousands of years.

GENERAL APPEARANCE
With a skeletal structure that is distinguished by straight, architectural lines and extremely open angles of the joints, the Azawakh gives an overall impression that is sere and harmonious. The Azawakh appears tall as a direct result of having long legs and a relatively short back; however it is a medium-sized hound with typical heights ranging from 22 to 28 inches (55 to 71 cm) at the withers and weights from 30 to 55 pounds (13.5 to 25 kg).

HEAT TOLERANCE
The Azawakh is superbly adapted morphologically to withstand the intense heat of the desert. Its muscles are dry, flat and attached obliquely to the bone for maximum cooling surface area. Its skin is fine and highly vascular, functioning as a radiator cooling the blood. Its hair is short, its body devoid of excess fat. The overall morphology, economy of motion and an ability to efficiently radiate accumulated heat provides for a dog with both speed and great endurance. An Azawakh is able to course game repeatedly in extreme heat.

TEMPERAMENT
An Azawakh is typically a “one master” dog and its territorial instinct is highly developed. Suspicious and avoidant, even after thousands of years of domestication, it continues to display feral behaviors. Highly independent and emotionally resilient, it can also be quite sensitive and very affectionate with those it accepts. In Sahelian culture an Azawakh is prized for “djikku”—intensity of character—which is considered a sign of nobility. Extreme gregariousness is atypical.

HEAD
The head is moderately long and somewhat narrow, skull moderately wide. The ears are pendant and flat; quite wide at the base and extremely mobile. There is great width between the eyes to optimize binocular vision. The eyes are obliquely set, large and almond-shaped with pigmented eyelids and range from dark brown to light amber in color. Teeth are strong and large with a scissor bite. The nose is pigmented.

NECK
The neck is straight, lithe and set high. The moderate length of the neck enhances the overall impression of a long-legged, short-backed dog.

FOREQUARTERS AND CHEST
The bones of the forelegs are attenuated and vertical, dense and bladed, with no hint of weakness. Withers are prominent, the ribs long and flat. There is conspicuous distance between the point of the elbow and the base of the chest, due to a very open scapular-humeral angle combined with a highly placed base to the chest. The sternum is short and rises abruptly at its distal point to a high tuck-up, giving a distinctive keel-shaped underline. These combined distinctions reinforce an overall impression of generalized elegance and loftiness.

HINDQUARTERS
Hipbones are quite prominent and the croup steeply sloped. The steep angle of the croup mirrors the steep angle of the scapula. The stifles are open-angled and very high, the hocks set very low to the ground. The vertical alignment, when standing, of the hip joints and feet of the Azawakh—which gives an impression of sickle-hocks—is archetypal of animals well adapted to economical movement in a desert environment.

LOIN AND BACK
The topline descends from high iliac crests into the withers, giving the illusion that the hips are higher than the withers. The withers and hips are actually at the same height. The loin is short, lean and flat.

FEET
The feet tend to be cat-like, strong, of moderate size, and have obvious and high knuckles.

MOVEMENT
Movements are elastic, graceful and efficient, characterized by a feral quality which echoes the primitive origin of the dog. There is a freedom in the shoulders and hip-joints which allows for unimpeded forward motion. At a trot, the paws barely rise above the surface, without any excess lifting of the legs; the back feet fall directly beneath the center of the back, providing a lissome, balanced gait. The vertical format yields a very upright, double-suspension gallop.

COAT
Hair is short and fine and may be absent from the belly.

TAIL
The tail is thin, tapered and set low, extending to the point of the hock, and covered with the same type of hair as that of the body. The tail may be curled but a sickle-shaped tail is preferable. >

COLORS
Any combination of colors and markings, including the absence of markings, is acceptable.


ORIGINAL HERE 


A New Standard
An open letter from Daoud Abdullah Abdullah to the world Azawakh community.

February 4, 2009

Dear Friends: I would like to explain in more detail why we have crafted a new and hopefully improved standard for the Azawakh—a standard that differs, in many ways fundamentally—from the document crafted by the authors of the Standard of the Azawakh accepted, presented and promoted by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI).


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Tagola, a bitch imported from Sahel by ABIS in the year 2007 for Mrs. Christiane Thier-Rostaing,the Agg Amaias kennel, Germany

Our motivation for crafting a new standard stemmed primarily from our belief that the FCI standard is (a) outdated and (b) fails to satisfactorily describe the Azawakh as it exists today and has existed historically in its homeland.  France is the recognized patron country for the Azawakh by the FCI but there should be no confusion: Africa was the well-spring and both the ancestral and contemporary homeland of the Azawakh.  All Azawakh, including specimens bred and raised outside Africa, are by default African dogs.


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Tagola, a bitch imported from Sahel by ABIS in the year 2007 for Mrs. Christiane Thier-Rostaing,the Agg Amaias kennel, Germany

We feel lucky that in crafting the new standard we had the advantage—an advantage unavailable at the time of the crafting of the first standard—of basing part of our criterion upon the field research conducted by The Association Burkinbé Idi du Sahel (ABIS) of the dogs and peoples in the land of origin of the Azawakh:  the Sahel zone of West Africa (the modern countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Southern Algeria).

Some history on the original crafting and later revisions to the first western-authored Azawakh standard is in order.


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Tagola, a bitch imported from Sahel by ABIS in the year 2007 for Mrs. Christiane Thier-Rostaing,the Agg Amaias kennel, Germany

The first standard was authored by members of the Sloughi Club of France in the 1970s and based on only 7 aboriginal Azawakh that had been exported from the Sahel to France. It is now common knowledge that most if not all the dogs brought back to France (primarily by French civil servants returning to France when France lost political control of what was then French Colonial West Africa) came from the same general locale and that they were probably closely related, a supposition reflected in and supported by their relative homogeneity of morphology, color and markings.


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An example of a successful integration of desert-bred bitch Tagola into the European breeding: from the left: Bastien´s Wanjala, Tagola, Agg Amaias Faara Fidat, Agg Amaias Fouad. Bastien´s Wanjala, a beautiful, really versatile male with numerous conformation and performance titles and a lovely character, bred by Mrs. Sylvia Gaischnek, Bastien´s kennel, Austria, sired Tagola´s litter. Their offspring have proven to be quite successful conformance and performance dogs.

For various reasons—some practical and some purely political—the authors of the standard were primarily preoccupied with delineating characteristics which would clearly differentiate, for FCI show ring judges, the Azawakh of the southern Sahara and Sahel from the Sloughi of North Africa and the Saluki type sighthounds of the Middle East.  At the time of the introduction of the Azawakh to Europe, the Sloughi and Saluki were already recognized as distinct breeds and firmly established in western kennel clubs and registries. In fact, the Azawakh was originally considered a type of Sloughi called the Tuareg Sloughi while others argued that both the Sloughi and Azawakh were essentially smooth strains of Saluki.   Revisions (for example the hallmark “keel-shaped underline” was changed to “rounded”) were introduced by politically-connected European Azawakh breeders to make the standard conform to the dogs bred by them.


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F1 generation of Tagola: Agg Amaias Fandou Kireé

We, and by accounts many others, believe that the FCI standard contains so many errors and omissions—partially a result of the sampling error caused by basing their criteria on only 7 dogs, combined with the contemporary political environment, as well as honest mistakes—that the continued sole adherence to its tenets endangers the future health and longevity of Azawakh bred in the west.  To their credit, several Europeans breeders have tried to introduce corrections which would have improved the FCI standard, but their improvements were dismissed. Those breeders fought a hard battle and deserve our respect. They recognized that strict adherence to and judgment of the dogs based upon a dogmatic interpretation of an incorrect standard had caused and continues to cause an alteration of the breed in general; an insidious drifting further and further from the aboriginal African type.  It has now reached a point where the resemblance of many western-bred Azawakh (dogs bred specifically to “win” in a show ring and thereby increase the pride, reputation and ego of their breeders) to the dogs of the Sahel is purely superficial.


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F1 generation of Tagola: Agg Amaias Fouad

But back to history…

Azawakh breeding outside of the Sahel was founded on only 13 aboriginal dogs exported from Africa to Europe in the 1970s and early 1980s.  From the onset these dogs were “canonized” by what could be considered an elitist clique of Azawakh breeders and owners who considered only these 13 dogs “pure” and all other Sahelian-bred dogs—both specimens living in and outside Africa—to be “impure”.  The result was a generalized disinclination for breeders to use anything other than the descendants of the original 13 Azawakh in their breeding programs.  This result has proved quite unfortunate for the breed in the West.


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Tagola and her daughter Agg Amaias Faara Fiddat

Three separate “strains” or “lines” were established using those first 13 Azawakh: the French (founded on 7 specimens), the Yugoslavian (founded on 3 specimens-It bears noting that two of the three specimens were littermates) and the Coppé (founded on 3 specimens).  The Coppé line was developed later than the French and Yugoslavian lines and could be considered an “out-cross” to the other lines. The Coppé line was really the beginning of a new wave of imports that ABIS continued.  The Coppé line is included in the “canon”  because of the fact that dogs of this line are now heavily integrated into western breeding programs.  Other Sahelian imports of the late 1980s contemporary with the Coppé imports were less utilized, primarily because of the stigma of being somehow “impure”.


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F1 generation of Tagola: Agg Amaias Fehed

(c) FotoMelle

The intense line-breeding using mainly these 13 dogs led not only to a “type drift”, which is relatively easily corrected, but more unfortunately to some serious health problems in the western bred Azawakh. Most notably heritable idiopathic epilepsy nearly destroyed the Yugoslavian line until the breeding of these dogs “pure-in-the-strain” ended with the willingness of their breeders to introduce dogs from other lines into theirs. There is no longer a “pure” French or “pure” Yugoslavian line.  Luckily all three lines have now been crossed together and several “New African” Sahelian-bred dogs have been introduced, thereby increasing the genetic base and options for future breeding.  For some it is common sense, but as an example of what can happen when trying to breed forward from an insufficient number of foundation specimens, I borrow from Elisabeth Naumann’s article concerning the loss of ancestors caused by uninterrupted line-breeding (from Elisabeth Naumann’s 2004 publication). It clearly shows a dangerous “bottle-necking” trend.

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Figure 1: © 2003 Elisabeth Naumann: “Inbreeding Coefficient (IK) plotted vs. Ancestral Loss Coefficient (AVK) in French Azawakh Breeding”


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Tagola´s F1 generation: Agg Amaias Fa´izah, a beautiful racey bitch with countless show and coursing and racing titles, the German Champion for Conformance and Performance

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Agg Amaias Fa´izah and her daughter Harzawakh´s Ashanti

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Harzawakh´s Afiya

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Harzawakh´s Ashanti

In Autumn 2016, Fa´izah gave birth to a wonderful litter in the Harzawakh´s kennel in Germany - Harzawakh´s "A" litter, Tagola´s F2 generation

(c) Nicole Weber

AZCA strongly advocates support for the work of the aforementioned ABIS, the non-profit organization dedicated to studying and supporting the aboriginal dogs and the peoples who breed them in the Sahel.  Again, we are grateful to ABIS for all their work on behalf of the Azawakh, and most specifically for importing the majority of the recently imported Sahelian-bred specimens.  Since ABIS’s inception they have mounted 15 expeditions to the Sahel and the next and possibly final expedition leaves in February 2009.  We hope that ABIS will find a way to continue to import desert bred specimens, as importation is becoming increasingly challenging (for example young puppies can no longer be exported directly from Africa to Europe because of overly-strict EU importation regulations).  We also promote and encourage the intelligent integration of these dogs into the western gene pool as, again, we believe the health and longevity of the breed in the west is dependent upon continued and increasing integration of Sahelian-bred stock.


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Tagola´s F2 generation: Agg Amaias Huwaidah (Agg Amaias Faara Fiddat x Tombouktou´s Sahel)

Unfortunately, the reality is that the integration by breeders of Sahelian-bred specimens is challenging if not extraordinarily difficult due primarily to the fact that the FCI standard does not satisfactorily conform to the dogs bred by the peoples in the Sahel, the correct and fortunately available source of aboriginal breeding stock.

As it has been extremely difficult to make the most minor and necessary improvements to the FCI standard, we decided that the best course was to craft a new standard:  again, a standard based on extensive empirical observation of the dogs in Africa and interviews with their traditional breeders.  The AZCA standard was crafted to allow for inclusion of as much phenotypic and by default genetic diversity as possible by delineating the range of typical specimens found in the Sahel as well as providing a hint of the cultural and environmental context for their unique characteristics.


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Tombouktou´s Jattay


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Tombouktou´s Jakootah


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Tombouktou´s Jinaki

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Tombouktou´s Jufayyar at Afrikamoon

Tagola´s F2 generation: Siblings of the Tombouktou´s "J" litter bred by Dr. G. Meissen (Tombouktou´s Amazzal x Agg Amaias Fehed)

(c) MVDr. Gabriele Meissen

We believe developing a new standard based on empirical research was the most constructive course of action.  We encourage any and all to read and study our new Standard of the Azawakh.  Interpretations will no doubt vary and it could be kept in mind that a standard be considered only one tool for increasing one’s understanding and appreciation of the dogs.


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Tombouktou´s Kalitay

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Tombouktou´s K´Akhtal

Tagola´s F2 generation: Siblings of the Tombouktou´s "K" litter bred by Dr. G. Meissen (Tombouktou´s U´Tidet x Agg Amaias Fehed)

(c) MVDr. Gabriele Meissen

Therefore we ask that any standard be accorded its appropriate perspective as we, the friends of the Azawakh, in solidarity, move forward in our efforts to preserve this ancient and noble breed of dog.


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Wasim Ak Ilaman, a perfectly built male bred by Dr. Michael Rackl, F2 generation of 2 desert-bred bitches: Sikara and Kela

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Daoud Abdullah Abdullah (David Moore) – a US-based preservationist breeder well-known in the international Azawakh breeders and owners community. His goal is to breed dogs in such a way as to promote increased awareness and appreciation of the aboriginal azawakh (In the course of time he has bred under the following kennel names: Al Ifriqiya; Idyiiat-es-Sahel; n Aidhan wa n´Tafouk).


AZCA - Azawakh Club of America (set up in 1998)

ABIS – a non-profit organisation aimed at the support of the Azawakh and the peoples of Sahel who breed and own the Azawakh

Photos selected by Daoud Abdullah Abdullah (ABIS) and Jana Vrbacká

Comments under the pictures: Jana Vrbacká

Acknowledgement: May I express my gratitude to Daoud Abdullah Abdullah for his kind permission to publish his text on my webpage. My thanks go also to Mrs. Christiane Thier-Rostaing, Agg Amaias kennel, for her permission to publish pictures from her private archive, to Mrs. Penny Karaspilios for providing pictures of her beautiful Fehed, to Mrs. Nicole Weber for providing pictures of her fabulous Fa´izah and her lovely litter (it was not easy to select only a couple of pictures), and to MVDr. Gabriele Meissen for providing pictures of marvellous dogs bred by her. Last but not least, I am also very grateful to the ABIS organisation for all it has done for the preservation of my beloved breed.


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HUN (ez csak google ferdítés)


Azawakh új javasolt standardja

TÖRTÉNELEM
Az Azawakh három különálló, mégis elválaszthatatlanul egymással összefüggő funkciót lát el Afrika Sáhel és Dél-Szahara népei számára: gyám, vadász és státusszimbólum. Morfológiáját egyrészt a száheliai kultúrák esztétikai kritériumai, másrészt a kemény környezet, amelyben évezredek óta elkülönítik, alakította.

ÁLTALÁNOS MEGJELENÉS
Az egyenes, építészeti vonalakkal és az illesztések rendkívül nyitott szögeivel megkülönböztetett vázszerkezettel az Azawakh nyugodt és harmonikus általános benyomást kelt. Az Azawakh magasnak látszik, mivel hosszú lábakkal és viszonylag rövid háttal rendelkezik; közepes méretű kutya azonban a marmagasság 22–28 hüvelyk (55–71 cm), súlya pedig 30–55 font (13,5–25 kg).

HŐTŰRÉS
Az Azawakh morfológiailag kiválóan alkalmazkodik a sivatag heves hőviseléséhez. Az izmok szárazak, laposak és ferdén a csonthoz vannak rögzítve a maximális hűtési felület elérése érdekében. Bőre finom és erősen érrendszeri, a vért hűtő hűtőként működik. Haja rövid, teste nem tartalmaz felesleges zsírt. Az általános morfológia, a mozgástakarékosság és a felhalmozódott hő hatékony sugárzási képessége a kutyának gyorsasággal és nagy kitartással jár. Az Azawakh képes extrém hőn ismételten játszani.

VÉRMÉRSÉKLET
Az Azawakh általában „egy mester” kutya, területi ösztöne magasan fejlett. Gyanús és elkerülendő, még a háziasítás több ezer éve után is folytatja a vad viselkedését. Nagyon független és érzelmileg ellenálló, ugyanakkor meglehetősen érzékeny és nagyon szeretetteljes lehet azokkal is, akiket elfogad. A zsidó kultúrában az Azawakh a „djikku” - a karakter intenzitása - elismerése, amelyet nemesség jeleként tekintnek. A szélsőséges lelkesedés atipikus.

FEJ
A fej közepesen hosszú és kissé keskeny, a koponya közepesen széles. A fülek függőek és laposak; meglehetősen széles az alapnál és rendkívül mobil. A szem széles látószögű, hogy optimalizálja a binokuláris látást. A szem ferde beállítású, nagy és mandula alakú, pigmentált szemhéjakkal, sötétbarnától a világos borostyánszínig terjedő színűek. A fogak erősek és nagyok, olló harapással. Az orr pigmentált.

NYAK
A nyak egyenes, lágy és magas. A mérsékelt nyakhosszabbítja a hosszú lábú, rövid hátú kutya általános benyomását.

ELÜLSŐ VÉGTAGOK és Mellkas
Az elülső lábak csontaink gyengültek és függőlegesek, sűrűek és pengesek, a gyengeségre nincs utalás. A marka kiemelkedő, a bordák hosszúak és laposak. A könyök pontja és a mellkas alja között szembetűnő távolság van, egy nagyon nyitott derék- és test sarok miatt, a mellkashoz magasan helyezve. A szegycsont rövid, és disztális pontján hirtelen megemelkedik egy magas felhajlásig, megkülönböztető jellegű kel alakú aláhúzást adva. Ezek az együttes megkülönböztetések megerősítik az általános elegancia és a magasztosság általános benyomását.

Hátulsó rész
A csípőcsontok meglehetősen kiemelkedőek, és a kereszte meredek lejtőn van. A kereszteződés meredek szöge tükrözi a lapocka meredek szögét. A gócok nyitott és nagyon magas szögűek, a csordák pedig nagyon alacsonyan vannak a talajhoz képest. Az Azawakh csípőízületei és lábai függőleges helyzetbe állítása - amely sarlócsontok benyomását kelti - olyan állatok archetipikus alakja, amelyek jól alkalmazkodnak a sivatagi környezet gazdasági mozgásához.

ÁGYÉK ÉS HÁT
A felső vonal a magas lábszárnyílásból a marokba ereszkedik, és azt az illúziót hozza fel, hogy a csípő magasabb a marnál. A marmaga és a csípő ugyanabban a magasságban vannak. Az ágyék rövid, karcsú és lapos.

Mancsok
A lábak általában macskaszerűek, erősek, közepes méretűek, nyilvánvaló és magas csontokkal rendelkeznek.

MOZGALOM
A mozgások rugalmasak, kecsesek és hatékonyak, és vad jellegük jellemzi, amely visszatükrözi a kutya primitív eredetét. A vállak és a csípőízületek olyan szabadságot élveznek, amely akadálytalan előrehaladást tesz lehetővé. Ügetésnél a mancsok alig emelkednek a felszín fölé anélkül, hogy a lábak túlzottan megemelkednének; a hátsó lábak közvetlenül a hátsó középpontja alá esnek, fárasztó, kiegyensúlyozott járást biztosítva. A függőleges formátum nagyon függőleges, kettős felfüggesztéssel történő vágást eredményez.

KABÁT
A haj rövid és finom, és hiányzik a hasa.

FAROK
A farok vékony, kúpos és alacsonyan helyezkedik el, a csánka pontjáig nyúlik, és ugyanolyan típusú hajjal van borítva, mint a test. A farok hullámos lehet, de sarló alakú farok előnyösebb. >

SZÍNEK
A színek és a jelölések bármilyen kombinációja, beleértve a jelölések hiányát is, elfogadható.

Új szabvány
Daoud Abdullah Abdullah nyílt levele az Azawakh világközösségnek.

2009. február 4

Kedves Barátaim: Részletesebben el szeretném magyarázni, miért dolgoztunk ki egy új és remélhetőleg továbbfejlesztett szabványt az Azawakh-ra - egy olyan szabványt, amely sok szempontból alapvetően különbözik az Azawakh Szabvány szerzői által elfogadott dokumentumtól.