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Origin
Azawakh is
also known as the African Sighthound or as the Tuareg's Hound. The breed's
origin is almost as mysterious as the one of the Tuaregs.
The Tuaregs are a tribe of Nomads from the South of Sahara.
Azawakhs, similarly as
Sloughi, Saluki, or Afghan Hounds, have oriental roots, as it is possible
that the Tuaregs have come to Africa from Asia and inhabited the Southern
part of Sahara called Sahel. Today this region spreads through parts of
Mali, Niger and a small part of Burkina
Faso. Despite Azawakhs being commonly associated with Tuaregs they are
also bred by other tribes like Puelh, Bella, or Husa.
Azawakhs have appeared in Europe exceptionally late, only in the 1970's.
This was possible owing to one Yugoslav diplomat once on mission in Africa.
He received a gift from Tuaregs, two dogs, who initiated the career of the
Azawakh breed in Europe. Approximately at the same time the first Azawakhs
appeared in France. Therefore when referring to the European cradle of
the breed usually two countries are mentioned: Yugoslavia and/or France.
For sure the Azawakh breed gained much more popularity in France. However,
at their beginnings the breed was not separately recognized as such. It
was rather treated as a variation of the Arab Hound Sloughi and referred
to as Sloughi-Azawakh, without a separate FCI standard. Though an amateur
could spot the differences between Sloughis and Azawakhs, such situation
took place until 1981 (some sources mention 1984), when a dedicated FCI
standard was established and the Sloughi- prefix dropped out from the name.
This date marks the start of clear blood Azawakhs, as no cross-breed
activities between Azawakhs and Sloughi took place any longer. France took
official patronage of the Azawakh breed.
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