Page 26 - ShowSight Presents- The Afghan Hound
P. 26
MAJESTY IN MOTION:
The AfghAn hound
DUANE BUTHERUS
My wife Connie and I live in Clin-
ton Township, New Jersey. This area
has a high concentration of dog peo-
ple—there are probably a dozen or so
good dog breeders/exhibitors within
a 10-mile radius of our home. I was a
research scientist at Bell Laboratories
until I retired several years ago. Since
then, I have been teaching Chemistry at
New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. We got our first Afghan Hound in 1968 and started showing that year. I started judging in the early 1990s and only judge Afghan Hounds.
HELEN STEIN
My life with Afghan Hounds
began in 1974 when I bought my
first dog, a grandson of Ch. Dureigh’s
Golden Harvest. I immediately
joined the local specialty club—the
Afghan Hound Club of Southwestern
Ohio—and met people who are still
my friends 42 years later. I met my
husband, Bob, at that first meeting.
I have been so fortunate to have shared my life with many wonderful Afghan Hounds over the years and plan to do so forever. I live in North Carolina, have 42 years in the breed and have been judging since 1994.
ROBERT STEIN
Robert Stein of Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, has over fifty years in the
sport. He became interested in show-
ing in 1955, when he acquired his first
Afghan Hound. A year later, after he
acquired his foundation bitch, he found-
ed his Charaj Kennels. Mr. Stein has
had an excellent breeding and showing
career marked with many champions,
specialty and group winners, as well as having the top-pro- ducing Afghan Hound bitch in the country in 1970. In addi- tion to Afghans, Mr. Stein owned and bred Salukis and has owned Chinese Cresteds and Affenpinschers.
1. Describe the breed in three words.
DB: Elegance, athleticism, coat and pattern (guess I snuck in an extra word!)
HS: Aloof, elegant and athletic. RS: Elegant, functional and sound.
2. What are your “must have” traits in this breed?
DB: Smooth, floating, stylish gait; square flat-topped outline with a properly set-under front and balanced, driving rear assembly; adequate coat, naturally patterned, with
an abundant topknot; capacious chest and well- conditioned musculature.
HS: Long, sound legs, a correct square outline, prominent hip bones and a well-angled croup with a long, low-set tail. Strong, athletic movement—a dog light on his feet without being bouncy. Strong topline. A head that
is not exaggerated.
RS: Solid topline. Light movement. Correct sloping croup
with a low-set, long tail.
3. Are there any traits in this breed you fear are becoming exaggerated?
DB: No, over the years there have been several swings in type and structure that if uncorrected would have been destructive. Fortunately, thoughtful breeding for the most part has brought the exaggerations back into line. We have observed dogs getting too large and hairy, too small and refined, too long, sloping toplines, unbalanced front and rear movements, weak and poorly structured neck and shoulder assemblies, etc. Some of these exag- gerations produced flashy, attractive features that won support and are still observed, but on the whole, the breed has not swung too far afield.
HS: Movement: 1) Exaggerated reach and drive are not functional. 2) This breed should move with purpose— you cannot achieve that if the dog’s body is going “boing! boing! boing!” every time his feet touch the ground. Both faults may look flashy to ringside, but the dog is not mov- ing like the hunter he is. Heads: While I find many styles of heads pleasing (and there is more than one correct “style”), I abhor those with no stop; at least a hint of stop is needed to prevent a downfaced look.
RS: Heads. Incorrect, exaggerated movement.
4. Do you think the dogs you see in this breed are better now than they were when you first started judging?
DB: I don’t think that the breed is necessarily worse-off than at times in the past. We can still see dogs that can be compared positively against the best dogs of the past. Maybe because of the smaller entries, there seem to be
