Rare Surprises
Now and then an Afghan Hound breeder can be quite surprised by a most unusual puppy in an otherwise normal litter ..
Perhaps
a pup with a large amount of white marking (almost like a parti-color), or even
a smooth-coated puppy. Both
characteristics are recessive in modern-day Afghan Hounds, but still occur
occasionally, as those rare gene combinations are still in the lines.
Three smooth puppies (from coated parents) have “surprised” their breeders in Holland in the last few years … one of them from old Dutch lines … the other two combined with some American breeding.
Years ago Molly Sharp spoke of a smooth that was born in one of her “Chaman” litters, and Han Jungeling had photographs of a smooth born in Sweden. The “Afeena” kennel of Mrs. Rylatt in England had one smooth male puppy from coated parents, who then sired a litter with a coated niece … the result was a litter of half smooth and half coated pups.
Smooth Afghan Hounds have been found in many other parts of the world. In 1976, “Zuki” was born in northern California, and another smooth was reported from southern California. Conni Miller wrote that she believed there were smooths born in California that had been put down because their breeders feared that the litter was not pure-bred .. now we know better … once in a great while a smooth is to be expected.
Smooth
Afghans have been recorded in Germany, Austria and France. 
The French President G. Pompidou was presented with a pair of smooth
Afghan Hounds while on an official visit to Kabul. The male came from the kennel of Sardar Ahmed Wali Khan in
the Bakwa desert … the pair was later bred and all of the pups were smooth.
In the newspaper “Kabul Time” published in 1962, a Mr. Gowber wrote that three types of Tazis existed in Afghanistan :
Ø Bukmal – also called Mukhmal and fully coated
Ø Kalagh – also called Kosa and feathered
Ø Luckbak – also called Loghaar and smooth
Wahab Abdul Kamal confirmed this as recently as 1997 in an interview also published in “Kabul Time”. How nice to find echoes from the past!
Many kinds of sight hounds lived and still live in Asia and Africa … a few of these types are the roots of our present-day Afghan Hounds. Although it seems like a miracle, now and then we find those roots are still alive.
Saluki
breeders don’t have as complicated a time, as Salukis are either smooth or
feathered, and it is not
as
difficult to know what to expect in a litter.
This is not possible with Afghan Hounds, as most of them come down from a
few imports some 80 years ago. Molly
Sharp was surprised with a smooth pup from those early imports.
Years later a few more dogs were imported and appeared in Afghan Hound
Pedigrees, but the possibility for smooth pups was already there.
It was rumoured that the old kennel “of Kaf” bred some smooth Afghan Hounds, but as far as I know they were all feathered desert Afghan Hounds. Most of the reported smooth Afghan Hounds have been females, but in addition to the male from Mrs. Rylatt’s litter in England there was one born in Australia who was euthanized by his breeder in spite of efforts by the Martinihaim Kennel in Holland to import and breed him to their beautiful smooth bitch.
The
first Afghan Hounds imported to Europe were mostly smooth coated with feathering
that varied from sparse to heavy. The
soft woolly coat grew through between the stiff hair, and at that time children
on the street referred to them as “dogs
in pyjamas” … no one would
refer to them in that way anymore, as the original Afghan Hound coat pattern has
mostly disappeared (due to breeding so long for profuse coats) ... even the hair
structure itself has changed.
My research to date has located eleven smooth Afghan Hounds born from coated parents … only one per litter. Others must have been born in litters from two smooth parents, and it’s anyone’s guess how many more there really were. I just received a photo of a nice black and tan male born in Australia, and would love to add many others to my collection of “rare surprises”.
Eta Pauptit
Epe, May 2001
Copyright(c) 2001