Daemion	Litter Box	About Me
Lavender	The Show Ring	Links
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Echo	Coat Colors	Letter about Afghans
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Litter Announcments

To our saddness, no spring puppies! We will be trying again around June. If all goes well puppies will be born in the fall.

Interested in a puppy?

You can email me at icyhound@yahoo.com. I will add a phone number as soon as I know we have puppies on the way.

Please know that if you are interested in a puppy I am interested in speaking with you. Afghan Hounds are wonderful dogs and a joy to have. However, I care about the dogs that I produce and my goal is to match you with the proper puppy. I have no problems with scheduling visits to meet the puppies and the adults once they are six weeks of age.

Deposits will be taken in order of interest.

March 2006 Litter

Good! I think they are a fantastic breed. However, they are not a common breed so this is a list of questions you may have if you are thinking about an Afghan Hound.

What is their personality like?
How much space do they need?
How much exercise do they need?
What about grooming?
What do they eat?
What about training, I heard they where dumb?
Should I crate train?
What about vaccinations?
Are they good with other dogs?
Are they supposed to be skinny?

What is their personality like?

Affectionate and Independent. Your Afghan Hound will love you. They may take a few days to warm up to their new home. They are not a breed that blindly hands over their loyalties and they expect you, their person, to prove yourself to them as much as they are supposed to do the same to you.

However, they are a very sweet dog with thier family. They are good with children and protective of the home. They may not be interested in strangers until they get to know the people. This is the aloof aspect of the Afghan’s personality. They can be handled but they will not hand out their affectionate with ease. Some are outgoing and some are not.

My catch name for it is ‘companion’ temperament. They are great dogs to have around. They are sweet and easy going and easy to have. They tend not to be in your face and they don’t need you to occupy their every moment of existence. However, if you want a dog to go out and play fetch with they may not be the breed for you. They will chase the stick but they are not retrievers so don’t expect them to come back with it.

How much space do they need?

Not much. Afghans are large dogs but they do not take up a lot of space. They make wonderful city or apartment dogs. They are NOT outside dogs and they tend to follow you around the house. Having sixteen bedrooms makes no difference to your dog. The only bedroom thy are interested in is the one you are in.

How much exercise do they need?

Not as much as you may think. Sight hounds are couch potatoes. Young Afghans have more energy but a good walk or a romp around the yard and they are ready to come inside. If you do not have a yard a fenced tennis court or baseball field work wonderfully. Beyond that their main race will be to your couch.

What about grooming?

Afghan Hounds do require a lot of grooming. But there is a simple choice. Have them groomed or cut their hair off. Don’t do anything in between. Having a fully coated Afghan Hound is a joy. They are exquisitely beautiful unlike any other breed. However, if you don’t keep up with that work you can come across a host of other problems such as matts and tangles and sores and just a filthy dog that doesn’t smell good.

Remember, you can have the dog professionally groomed. Rates vary from groomer to groomer. An Afghan Hound needs to be bathed and blow dried and brushed out. They don’t need to be clipped unless you want less hair. They don’t need a sanitary trim because their hair is naturally short around the anus. If you brush between grooming they won’t be tangled.

They should always be bathed in a high quality shampoo. I use human shampoo but there are some quality dog shampoos that can be used if your groomer is uncomfortable with human shampoo on dogs. I can recommend some of these for you.

If you are going to groom your Afghan Hound at home I recommend you invest in a pin brush without ball tips, a greyhound comb, a slicker brush, guillotine nail clippers and a grooming table. The grooming table may be one of the most important purchases you make. Thy run from 40-70 dollars and they are invaluable. Grooming on the floor is horrible. I did it for years. Its back breaking and unpleasant stuff. The table will revitalized your concepts of grooming. When was the last time you saw a groomer without a grooming table of some sort?

What do they eat?

I feed Purina ProPlan. It works for the dogs. Puppies are fed puppy food until three months of age. I then switch them to the adult version with beef or chicken. I do not feed lamb due to excess amounts of taurine. There are many other quality foods out there. My other favorite is Canidae and I highly recommend it.

What about training, I heard they where dumb?

Should I crate train?

Yes. I crate all of my dogs. If your puppy is old enough before it leaves I will start crate training them. Crates are a source of comfort and relaxation for the dog. All of mine will voluntarily sleep in open crates. Crates also stop a puppy from getting into things they do not need to get into. It helps you with potty training the dog and it is a safe environment for when you leave the house. Puppies are puppies and Afghan Puppies can be very curious. They are tall and agile puppies as well so things on high shelves may not be as high and far away from them as you think.

What about vaccinations?

All of my puppies receive their first vaccination at seven weeks. Their second is given at eleven weeks. The third is given at fifteen weeks. Basically the vaccines are 4 weeks apart and I do three sets. I use ProGuard 5 for my vaccine of choice. Each puppy goes home with a puppy pack that marks vaccination and deworming schedules. I take the label off the vaccine vile and put it onto the chart so that your veterinarian can see what vaccine was used.

Are they good with other dogs?

Yes.

Afghan Hounds are Hounds. Hounds are very social animals. They tend to like other dogs. They should still be properly socialized by you. If you are scared of other dogs then your Afghan Hound may become tense in the presence of other dogs. At my home they are socialized with each other and the other dogs in the house. My friends also bring dogs over when the puppies have started their vaccinations so that they can meet and interact with dogs outside of their ‘pack’.

They should be watched with small dogs. Afghans are good tempered but they are a large breed of dog and can accidently hurt a toy dog with overly exuberant play.

Are they supposed to be skinny?

Yes! They should not be emaciated but you will see ribs and hip bones on an Afghan Hound. Afghan Hounds have prominent hip bones that are higher then their spine. The tips are supposed to be apparent, even in puppies. If you can’t see the hip bones than the dog is obese. Remember, sight hounds routinely carry only 3-5% body fat. They are skinny dogs with a lot of muscle, built for speed.

If your vet does not have any history with sight hounds they may think the dog is underweight. This is not the case. Also, because of their low body fat sight hounds do not do well under anesthesia. Make sure your vet is up to date and well versed in anesthetization of sight hounds.

An adult male Afghan Hound weighs about 60 pounds and a female 50. They are tall dogs but not heavy.