AZAWAKH ARA N'TATRIT 

1. - Am I patient enough? Be aware that you should have the load of 200% of standard human patience.
2. - Do I get discouraged easily if the dog does not follow my orders? - An Azawakh will make a couple of attempts at getting away with his or her way. If you once fail to resist the "puppy charm", all your teachings will come in vain as such dog would not want to learn any more.
3. - Am I able to dedicate at least 3 to 4 hours a day to educate the dog throughout 3 beginning months? In practical terms it is all the time when an Azawakh puppy does not sleep… One should watch its every step and teach the puppy, and socialize it, and teach it, and socialize it, and so on…
4. - Do I like long walks few times a week? An Azawakh that does not go out quite often may act nervous and can be unbearably active at home.
5. - Am I a resolute/stable and consistent person? It is central to combine these qualities with calmness and patience. Consistency of conduct and resoluteness achieved by force and aggression are worthless here.
6. - Do I think of a dog as a sensible and sensitive being? If not, forget about any dog, an Azawakh especially, as this breed requires exceptional empathy and approach due to its fairly complicated yet delicate disposition. One faulty move might bring the Azawakh back to its primitive, "wild" version.
 

However I am a dedicated lover of the Azawakh breed, I remain quite cautious with recommending these dogs even to the people who had dogs before. Undeniably, Azawakh is not a good breed to somebody who has never had a dog before. Having an Azawakh would constitute a challenge even to previous owners of more "standard" breeds of dogs. It might be easier, though, to these who had or currently have a sighthound, cat lovers, "northern" breeds of dogs' enthusiasts, or the fanciers of the Basenji breed.
Unfortunately, owing to its beauty, elegance and distinguished looks Azawakhs have become fashionable dogs at certain point in time. It does not serve any breed right.
Azawakhs have become a nuisance to those who bought them without the necessary preparation and a bit of imagination. I've heard a story of a puppy female that jumped out of the balcony on a high floor. The owner didn't really want her after the accident; she changed the home a few times. I don't really know how the story ends… Another sad story describes a dog, which had not been consistently taught to come back when ordered to do so. As soon as it grew up a little, it ran away during a walk. And despite that Azawakhs have a very good orientation, he never got found again. Probably a car hit him. These stories sound sad. Not only when we think about the people who got disappointed with Azawakhs, but especially when we consider these poor dogs. However one looks at these sad stories, they have helped the breed on the other hand. The breed significantly lost popularity and only the keen Azawakh lovers are interested in having such a dog. Common opinion about them, despite being unfavorable stating that as such Azawaks are aggressive and insubordinate, works in the benefit of the breed in a way. It scares off inappropriate people and those who just look for a beauty dog that would serve as a fancy 'item' in trendy interiors…