I like the look of the Afghan Hounds-a rather different breed than most. They can run like the wind…but people have told me of their bad points:
-they take off and sometimes get lost
-difficult to train
-sometimes rody inside the house-that tail just sweeps stuff offof coffee tables!
So, for you AH owners…are these dogs good pets?Or is the breed best avoided?
Are they difficult to groom?
Er, this seems weird for GD, but Afghans are sight hounds, so they have different behaviors from many dogs. I’ve heard sight hounds described as the cats of the dog world.
Grooming should probably be done every day on such dogs.
And that’s all I know.
Julie
Get a mutt from a shelter; save a life.
AH are the drag queens of the dog world, and require about an hour a day in front of the makeup mirror.
You want a dog to pose on your victorian fainting couch and help you pick up old opera queens, or you want a dog to throw a ball and go camping with?
There’s no way to really answer this question without knowing a lot more about what kind of personality you’re looking for, how much time you’re willing to spend grooming (that long silky coat takes a lot of work unless you want a dog with dreadlocks), how much shedding you can stand, etc… Even with the sighthounds, there’s a lot of variability–borzoi tend to have very different personalities then greyhounds, for example.
That all said, if you’re looking for a beautiful dog with an independent personality and you’re not looking to win any obediance trials, the sighthound group isn’t a bad place to look. I say that has a sighthound owner. 
If you’re considering a purebred dog, I highly recommend the book The Right Dog for You. It’s exhaustive, objective (this is not a feel-good “all dogs are beautiful” book. If there’s a problem with a breed, you’ll know about it), and well-regarded. I used it to find my current dog–and one of the first breeders I spoke to did as well.
Once you’ve picked a breed, it’s time to start talking to breeders and owners. Find the national or local breed club for whatever you choose–they’ll usually have some kind of referral service.
Good luck!
I had an afghan hound, and she was a dolt. They are very tough dogs to housetrain, and they are hyper sensitive. Have you seen that simpson’s episode with the screaming worm? That’s her. And every so often she would walk up and bite me for no reason that I can tell, that was the only time I ever saw her tail wag. They have to be brushed daily and I have heard that they should be washed twice a month.