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Disposition
Azawakhs are not 'typical' dogs. They are of primitive, wild disposition.
They are lively and attentive, and stay reserved even towards the people
they know. However, they are calm, tender, and dedicated to those with
whom they would make friends. Azawakhs have strong character and would
always try to dominate, also if they live in the same household with other
dogs or cats. This subtle breed requires careful and fair yet firm
treatment should one try to maintain hierarchical order without disputes
and fights between the co-habiting animals.
Tuaregs give high notes to these dogs both as companions in hunting, end
even higher when considered as guards to animal herds and tents. Therefore,
if an Azawakh puppy is raised among family and other animals, he will
treat his co-habitants as a herd and would guard them, even though this
might not be expected of him. Always ready and alert, an Azawakh would
warn about approaching "intruders" (every visitor would be given a "loud
welcome"), and would be the brave protector of his family members. Yet,
Azawakhs choose to attack quite rarely. They'd rather bark at intruders
and encircle them making it impossible for them to move forward. The
owner's role is to teach the Azawakh that when given a sign he or she
should discontinue the alarm. Outside of their area, Azawakhs remain
fairly shy and withdrawn yet stay ready to protect their close ones when
they sense the danger. Azawakhs are not easy to bring up. In a way they
remain independent, despite being loyal towards their masters. Their free
spirit cannot be wholly managed. This is especially evident during long
walks in the large, outdoor open spaces that make Azawakhs miss freedom.
One needs much patience, love, peace, empathy, and consequence in action,
but primarily a great deal of time and personal contact to bring up these
proud and independent dogs.
At the same time roughness and aggression cause
disturbance in any dog's psyche. Therefore people who cannot control
themselves would consequently not make good contact with Azawakhs. The
dogs would become withdrawn, mistrustful, aggressive, and unpredictable.
Another important element it Azawakhs disposition is a relatively highly
appreciated presence of the "pure African blood" in their pedigrees (however,
some breeders claim it is still not enough). The situation now is that
there are breeders who put more emphasis on the appearance of the breed
and carry on with quite high inbreeding ratios, and there are those who
care more about preserving the breed's original qualities adding as much
of native African blood as possible to the gene pool. I would put myself
somewhere in the middle if I were to give an opinion on that matter. But
definitely it is of a great importance to keep the breed "genetically
healthy" and close to its native natural disposition. The African
influence has an impact on the way Azawakhs behave - they stay primitive
and a bit uncivilized. A puppy of this breed with much of African
influence can be afraid of things like: a lift, a car, changing surface,
can try to jump off windows etc. It is very important not to save a little
Azawakh form all these different experiences. From the youngest age you
need to take your dog downtown, to your friends, in a car, on a train or a
tram, teach him/her to recognize altitude difference, to walk on a leash
and to come back to you on command… Only that way we are able to help
these dogs to get used to and feel at home in our stressful and loud
civilization…
I personally do recommend
to sign up with a young Azawakh for a dogs' basic training class. For a
little prize Azawakh will do a lot and it learns very quickly. And if the
learning process is a positive experience and is based on praising (the
only penalty is no prize) it will perform on command with the "Swiss"
precision and joy. Upbringing of an Azawkh, if carried out correctly, is
very rewarding, and the love it will pay you back with for careful
handling cannot be compared to the love of "normal, civilized" dogs. I can
only imagine you might experience the similar kind of a relationship with
a wild cat or a dolphin; despite their loyalty to humans they still remain
independent in a way.
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