If you have ever seen one, you will know them-they look totally different from most other breeds of dogs. They are very striking, and a well-groomed afghan is a beautuiful dog! My question: can you keep one in a small house with a small yard? Are they affectionate? And, do they get along well with other dogs?
They are sight hounds and related to greyhounds and whippets. While former racing greyhounds are reknowned couch potatos, I don’t think the same is true of the afghan. In fact, this site says “It needs a minimum of 30 minutes of free galloping per day.” It ain’t gonna be galloping in a small yard.
I’ve never owned one but a friend did.
I can tell you two thing:
- She could stuff pillows with the shed hair.
- They regularily killed vacuums, burning out the motors on the hair. (including my Hoover which they borrowed.)
FWIW - B
They tend to be very difficult to train. I’ve known some owners that swore they were complete idiots, and others that said they were smart enough, just not interested in doing what you wanted. I believe this includes housebreaking, if you get a puppy.
They need a fair bit of grooming. I think they recommend bathing them at least once per week.
I don’t think they’re affectionate in the same way most dogs are, if that’s what you’re looking for.
That’s all I’ve got. Google “afghan hound” - there’re tons of websites.
FTR, the site I linked to mentioned once a week for show dogs. It doesn’t need to be that often for a pet. Of course my cite also says not to brush their hair when it is dry as that leads to matting - that seems counter intuitive to me, but I’m not a dog expert.
They bear an uncanny resemblance to Cher.
What Belrix said about the hair coat is daunting. However, long-haired dogs don’t have to be kept in the dust mop show cut. They’re much easier to live with if a groomer gives a “puppy cut” every six weeks or so.
We adopted a Lhasa Apso last year. In dog shows, you see Lhasas with a coat that drags the floor, and the handler is endlessly fine-tuning the coat. Ours has hair about an inch and a half long, except on the face and tail. We brush her once or twice a week, and there’s not much hair on the brush afterward.
They are supposed to be among the dumbest of dog breeds if not the dumbest. Apologists will say that is because the ranking is by trainability and they just don’t want to be trained but that is like saying your brother is a genius because he flunked out of school because he skipped it all the time.
Yes, like all sight hounds, this may be true, but definitely not “impossible.”
We owned a wonderful Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound), the largest of the sight hounds. The breeder told us the same thing. When we took her back after about six months for a visit, I put her through a few of the 15 or so commands she had been taught, and the breeder was astonished.
It takes time, patience and persistence. As with most, the commands have to be reinforced on a regular basis, or they will be ignored after a while.
All sight hounds are runners, and they really need a lot of exercise. In fact most large dogs do, and it is not fair to get one if you can’t let it run, or at least walk a lot.
What you should do is go to a breeder and spend some time with the dogs. Just because you like their looks does not mean that any breed is right for you.
Dogs within any breed differ in temperament just as humans do, but all in all, Afghans are friendly and make excellent pets. They do have to be exercised and groomed, and they sure do gotta a lotta hair!
Borzoi, greyhounds and whippets have much less hair and also are wonderful animals.
Finally, if you have any qualms about an Afghan, think seriously about contacting a greyhound rescue organizations, as retired racing dogs also make wonderful companions.
We had an Afgan in a small house with a small yard for 3 years (they don’t live very long). It wasn’t the best environment for the dog, but he survived without much distress. We would not have chosen such a dog for our house, but the alternative (for him) was being put down-the original owner obtained him as a puppy with no conception of what going to happen. It was either us or the pound.
In sum, it is by no means ideal-but entirely doable.
One warning though. Simon (our Afgan) was a big dog and was very puzzled by our newborn. He was curious and investigated a lot. Made mom nervous. But as soon as Travis was old enough to stand Simon got the picture and was fine with the new addition. Our second child was no problem at all. Rebecca could pull hair and collapse on top of him without a problem. Crawling wasn’t any concern with our second.
I has a Saluki (another Sighthound and rather rare). Wonderful animal,affectionate but not enthusiaticly so, largish but acted dainty. Very clean.
KlondikeGeoff is giving some great advice. I’d third that they need to RUN!
Greyhounds enjoy short spurts of running, but they do not require a lot of extended time running around. They sleep a lot.
I had an Italian Greyhoud (about 9.5 lbs) for many years. He wasn’t very bright, but was very affectionate.
This breed tend to be loyal to only one person in the house. I recall a quote from a famous divorce attorney who was himself getting a divorce and fighting with his future ex wife over posession of their I G’s. He was quoted as saying “I don’t know why she wants the dogs- they don’t even like her!”
Anyway, he was a very attractive dog and we were stopped daily for years by people who said “Wow! Is that a deer or a dog?” All of these dogs attract much attention for their unusual look.
You might like to consider a retired racer from a dog track. They are similar in apprearance to Afghans but without all the extra hair and maintenace. They are nicknamed “the world’s fastest couch potato”. They do like to exercise every day. Be warned that they will likely chase (cats, squirrels, etc) things.