Hi all, been a "lurker" on this website for several months now, but haven't felt the need to post anything, today however I felt like registering and so I'm going to post a little intro about myself :oP hope you don't mind!
I have 11 Afghan Hounds and they are all treated like my babies. I work from home and help out around my husband's farm so they get attention whenever they want. They all sleep in my stables (which are on the back of my house) but in the morning my hubby let's them out and they can lounge around in the garden. I have 3 oldies who are retired show dogs, the other 8 are all show dogs. I have one in training also for obedience and he is working "B" in competition. My youngest Affi, Abby who is 2 years old competes in agility and already has a Novice Agility win under her belt. Abby and my 3 other bitches are all either in pup or due to be put in pup.
My main reason for posting this was 1) to see if any of you out there have afghans? And 2) My dogs have always been fed on a protein content of 25%, hence they are all quite loopy (and the eldest has to be muzzled as she is a "hit the roof" kind of dog). Have any of you found that lowering the protein content in the dogs' food calms them down? As the food I feed is such good quality and Abby's "hyperness" seems to help speed her up in agility I have always stayed away from the idea of changing their food, but now as I have some little ones on the way I am once again thinking about changing it. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Thanks greatly,
Catherine

hi,
i noticed a change in my hound(whippet) when i droped the protein down, only my opinion and going by my own experience do feel that the higher protein in especially the puppy foods can make them hyper i only feed a higher protein for puppy's for a few months then drop it down, the higher protein is fine for realy working dogs or running dogs as they work it off,i feed mine on raw tripe and a handfull of pedigree complete as a mixer, they love it, excellent coats and all round good condition, regards tina

Hi Catherine - welcome:D

I feed my boys on Nutro - normal - which has a protein level of 22%. I started with Nutro when my first boy was so obviously hyper on Euk as a young puppy. He was literllay climbing the walls - I think the additives also contributed to his "madness" too. He became much better on the Nutro almost immediately - within a week he was calmer. He'll always be a live wire - but he is still calmer. Their coats and general health are excellent on it - Cockers with long coats like your Afghans

hth

Pam n the boys

Hi i have a 5 year old affie , i got him originally to show but it's not his favourite thing to do so after getting his stud book number i pulled him out of the show ring and now we do agility and obedience which he absolutely loves. He was always a fussy eater and whilst showing him i had to resort to force feeding him to maintain his weight.Just before christmas i decided to change his diet completely and now i wished i'd done it a long time ago. the difference in him is amazing he is like a different dog, i changed him onto the barf diet he is eating really well and starting to body up and his temperment has changed 100% for the better, he is still full of energy but not hyper,he goes round the agilty full of enthusiasum , he is approaching total strangers with a wagging tail even men who before he had a real thing about strange men.He was always a lovely dog to live with but now he is a dog to be proud of outside the home enviroment ,and because of all the changes for the better i am going to work him now in our local dog club display team this year as my Gsd that i normally work retired last year.

Wow! I have an afghan AND my name is also Catherine! how about that!

I hope mating 4 bitches Catherine, you are sure you can find the RIGHT homes for your puppies. Knowing what Afghans are like, I would consider mating 4 bitches irresponsible and greedy.
Dawn.

Have only just read the initial post properly. Great that you do so much with your Affies. But 4 litters! How many do they have in a litter on average? Knowing what Affies are like (we were servants to one once) you need to be very clued up to train them as you do.

It's a very specialist breed , but so glamorous that a lot of puppy people are taken in by outward appearances. I do hope that you stand by a rigid re-homing policy for all your puppies if things don't quite turn out as they should.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi, thanks for your replies. It's great to hear of people who, like me enjoy their afghans so much. I'll definitely consider changing some of their foods, especially the ones that I'm not working.
I can understand your concern for my dogs if I'm breeding 4 litters. I don't normally do this but unfortunately the last 2 dogs I mated didn't have pups and I had a almost a whole waiting list for both of these litters so as you can imagine I had some very disappointed people. I have had quite a few enquires from people at agility shows and our agility club who have wanted a pup from Abby after seeing how much success she's had. So I've mated her as she's got 6, possibly 7 people who want a pup from her, my other 2 dogs who mis-carried have got 5 and 9 people who want pups from her and the last bitch I mated has 4 people who want a pup from her litter and I want to keep probably 2 from the 4 litters but if any of the pups don't sell I will keep them until a home can be found for them. Please don't think I'm a backyard breeder as I don't breed for the money. All my dogs are kept in an excellent environment and I only breed them if I feel I've got enough people who want pups from them, even though I've never had trouble selling them before.
Regards,
Cath.

How many puppies are in an average afghan litter and how much do afghan puppies sell for? Just curious :-)

I don't want to offend anyone - but I feel that this could be seen as advertising... :( It just feels a bit close to the mark.

Hmmm lots of people wanting Af's for agility, must be nearly April Fools Day :D

A very hard breed to train even the basics on

Hi, normally there are around 7 or 8 pups born, most pups I've ever seen born in an Afghan litter is 14 and the least is 3.
Sarah - you say that it's unrealistic? 6 people wanting an Afghan? They aren't just getting one for agility but for show aswell, but they are wanting it for agility first and foremost. I don't consider 6 people wanting a pup to be alot, especially seeing as there was a waiting list of 12 for Abby!
As I'm a newbie I wondered if you could help me Chloe - why would it be considered advertising? I don't sell any of my pups through the internet as you don't know who you are dealing with.
Catherine and the hooligans.

I think Chloe was referring to the Terms of Service ...but as you had a reply from Admin I wouldn't think there was a problem ;)

Melody :)

Catherine. I was under the impression that someone stating that they have a litter due and how many puppies they would be expecting *could* be seen as advertising. But I could be wrong. I'm not saying you *are* advertising, just that it you could be *seen* to be.

Chloe :)

Hi Chloe
Thanks for explaining :) I just thought because you all seemed to think I was carelessly breeding for the money that I should explain that I had homes for alot of them and I wouldn't dish them out to any old person. I didn't even think I could be advertising! Sorry admin :(
Catherine

**Sarah - you say that it's unrealistic? 6 people wanting an Afghan? They aren't just getting one for agility but for show aswell, but they are wanting it for agility first and foremost. I don't consider 6 people wanting a pup to be alot, especially seeing as there was a waiting list of 12 for Abby!**

Are we talking UK here? Yep I find it most unrealistic that 6 people want an Afghan for agility :-)

Sarah had to respond to your comment about affies and training etc. I do obedience and agility at my local dog club with my afghan hound He passed his grade 1 test getting equal 1st place with a border collie and has just passed grade2 the test consisting of heelwork recall retrieve sit stay down stay and a drop on command all off lead i might add.Yes i know affs aren't reknowned for training but feel that if you are willing to put in the time it can be done although i must admit baron my afghan has been one of the easiest dogs i have trained that includes my gsd's. His temperment with other dogs is fantastic he doesn't have a nasty bone in his body.And he is so willing to please and if i say so myself his heelwork is fab. He has just started sendaways he can be sent over 4 jumps and will stop and wait at the end on command without getting giddy and doing a runner I think that some people that have afghans are under the illusion that they are very difficult to train so just don't bother but my boy has proved if you are willing to put in the time it can be done.

I have owned Affies for more years than I would like to say and in all that time I have only had two that I would not run off the lead. At one point I was running up to four loose at the same time and the only distraction was the local pond! The oldest one I have at present liked agility but was unable to continue due to a serious back op. Affies are not the first breed you would think of for agility but in the States a lot do well.
Sue L

Been listening to viscious rumours then Sarah? :) A common mistake to make that afghans are untrainable....mine just passed her kennel club good citizen bronze award, and is better behaved than many other breeds there. Beat the retrievers at retrieving too! So who is the April fool :D

Congratulations Pinklillies you must be rightly proud :-)

Afghans are not particularly common as pets, let alone as obedience or agility dogs. I don't particularly believe they are growing in popularity via BRS figures, but I am happy to be corrected on that one, I can't find the general figure issue to check.

They are not 'untrainable' but they are also not an easy breed to train, being both a sight hound and relatively highly strung, therefore to achieve anything with one is always to be applauded :-) As Dizzy or was it Marie would say, they are not easy to turn :D

I am still bemused by the fact that 6 people want one for agility, all from one litter....

Hi Admin,
Normally about 8 pups in a litter, Abby's pups will sell for £300-350 and the rest £400.
Cath

I am totally shocked and horrified with the thought of this person breeding this number of Afghans , if ever it smells of commercial breeding this is it. Having owned with my wife, Afghans for over 30 yrs I have never in all this time known such a mass production of this breed even at the height of their popularity in the 1970's, even the top breeders in the UK never went to these lengths to produce so many puppies.
My only hope is that if you are in the UK you have a commercial breeders licence and declare the amazing amount of money you expect to earn from these puppies alone to the Inland Revenue. I estimate by your figures that you are expecting to earn the sum of around £12000!!!!!!!!
Bazza

I must say my thoughts were that this was indirect advertising, but as Happyaffie's e-mail address is hidden, I imagine it isn't. Still, a hell of a lot of pups.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hello,
Everyones reactions seem to be so bad. If I said I had one bitch in whelp no-one would bat an eyelid (plus I do have a liscense). The litters will all be in 6 weeks of each other and as I am at home all day if anything goes wrong I'll be there to assist. Bazza I hadn't actually worked out what money I'd make from the litters, but as our farm (and most other farms) isn't doing too well at the moment any profits I do make will go straight back into that. I don't feel any of my dogs get badly treated. There are many dogs that are worse off than mine. With their long coats, affie's do take quite a lot of looking after and alot of people wouldn't be able to cope with the grooming which is why I generally do not sell to pet homes. I am not planning any other litters until late 2004 so I don't actually breed that many litters.
I don't have any trouble letting my dogs off their leads, I have two fully enclosed fields where they can run in and I also have some agility equipment which is extremely good in channeling their energy into something useful. Occasionally they do take off after a rabbit but this is only natural as they are sight hounds. Aff's are generally not seen in agility but this does not mean they are any harder to train than the many of the advanced lurchers/leggy breeds seen in agility.
Regards,
Cath

Hi Cath

I'm not an Affie owner, actually I'm owned by an 18 month old GSD!!! Going back to your original post about protein levels I would say that I have definitely seen a difference when reducing the protein with Os. He was VERY hyperactive, and still has him moments, we started him on a good large breed puppy food (28%) protein and went through a few months of sheer hell for us and Ossie until our trainer suggested lowering the protein levels. So we moved onto Nutro Lamb and Rice for nearly a year (21% I think) and he was better. He looked great on it but there was still something not quite right. About 1 month ago we moved him onto Burns Lamb and Rice (18%) and he is doing fantastic on it: looks great and has calmed considerately.

I'm not saying that hyperactivity is all linked to protein as we work him hard too: obedience etc and train regularly to make sure that he is getting exercise and having to use his brain. All I know is that by lowering his food protein levels has made him a lot more manageable. Saying that I have my suspicions that he may have been allergic to some of the additives in the previous foods.....

Hope this helps
Jayne