Hi all! While I still intend to get my irish next year, my partner who is afghan mad has the opportunity to have an 11 week old black pup (who appears to have not made the showing grade) - she is well bred and KC reg etc etc. I have never even met one although Gary (the other half) has owned one before - So come on guy's be honest with me....What am I letting myself in for?????
Sarah. (Oh, I am aware about the grooming :D)

Not sure what sort of Irish you are thinking of buying, most breeds are different. The Afghan is a typical hound, they like a play but not silly like a Red Setter most are aloof with strangers but not all, and they are good with kids.

Hi Jackie, I meant Irish Setter - just that I've mentioned it sooo many times on the forum (irish was quicker to write)!!!! :)
Sarah.

Sarah, you have, I was having a senior moment, on of many :)

:D

Hi

I grew up with 3 Afghans, all with completely different personalities. One I dont remember particularly well as he died when I was four, my only memory was of sitting on his back when he was laying down - and he didnt even growl !! The cream Afghan we had was 15 when he died, he was a real nancy boy we used to call him "twinkle toes" :D :D he was a real ponce, he trotted right on the edge of curbs and would only eat from the very edge of his bowl, he was quite aloof and tended to ignore people rather than greet them (unless you had chocolate in your pocket !!) Khan was a black masked gold who died at 14, he hated dogs, people, cars etc....... he was the most loving pet and quite playful too he had nervous aggression which was bred into him (the whole litter were the same) we had to be careful around people because he would nip.

Afghans (in my opinion) arent particularly trainable, you can get them to do stuff but usually with a big bribe (liver was a good one!) they tend to only come back on their own terms when let off the lead, and you need a big expanse of grass to do this as they tend to run non stop when first let off (we used to exercise ours with some friends - 5 Afghans let off at once is quite a sight, and you dont want to get in their way !!) Being sight hounds they will chase anything, one of our Afghans caught and killed our pet rabbit when it escaped, that same Afghan also used to bring back msymatosis rabbits when out running. I also recall waving goodbye to one of them when it spotted a deer over the downs - he came back about an hour later !!

Our family used to show and race the Afghans, I was showing our cream one when I was the same height as him - he was so good !! Racing was fun, one of ours made the southern team (I think thats what it was!!) he was quite small for a dog though which made him quick !!

I could go on - I loved my Afghans, one day I know I will own another, mum and dad now have a lurcher, they love the sight hounds but didnt want the hassle of a long coat again. I want a Weimeraner but thats because I want a dog i can train and work. If you groom them every day about 15mins Afghans wont knot up. Be prepared for loads of lead walking, and prepare to try out every brand of dog food on the market (and then end up designing your own ) they are proper fussy eaters :rolleyes: . Also dont forget to give your Afghan a decent name - you will spend hours walking around the local dog walking field with a lead in your hand calling your dogs name :D :D They like their comfort too - prepare to give up your sofa, ours had their own !!

As a rule Afghans are lovely, but obviously they all have a their own temperaments and little quirks :D

Best of luck, let us know what you decide - Affie pups are such fun with their lanky legs - would go well with a setter too - both as batty as each other :D :D

Claire :)

Edit to say : I just realised how much I wrote about them - sorry to go on but I do love them !!

i have an affie! they are great...they run off, are slow to housetrain and need a bath weekly. never brush them dry. you will need a grooming table and probably a drier if you dont want a bath to take 4 hours! email me if you want more info!

hi

they sound like hard work!why is it there are certain dogs you see out on walks ie labs ,retrievers,springers then theres dogs you hardly if ever see ie red setters,boxers,old english sheep dogs ,boxers and afgans i sure lots of people own them is it because their difficult to let off so they have to be walked in more isolated places ,the reason i ask is i have a boxer pup and i never bump into anyone else with one and if their all like mine i can understand why!!!

Thanks for the reply's - I drove down to Somerset this evening (I'm in Bristol so not too far) I met pup and her sister - I'm in lurve :D - Her sister was quite aloof but my one came skidding in jumped all over me giving me special doggy kisses :D She is sooo lovely, she is black with a white spot on her chin and some white toes on her back paw! After lots of cuddles and grown up breeder chat we left a deposit!!!! She comes home next week....I cant wait - We are trying to decide on a name! We like Lana at the mo.
Sarah.

Good luck with your new Affie baby and sorry to disagree with one or two of the other posts, but i have an Affie as well as GSD,S and i do both obedience and agility with my Affie and he took to the training absolutely brilliantly and i might add without bribes , i have trained him the same way as the shepherds as i refused to do it any differently. And he has also done some filming as in Emmerdale and he was also a show dog gaining his stud book number, you get out of a dog what you are willing to put in whether it be a collie ,shepherd or an Afghan.And before anyone one says rubbish i challenge them to come and watch my boy work, you just might change your mind about Affs and training and he is allowed free running out on walks.

i agree with ace..i also do obedience with delilah, but it is probably harder work than training other dogs...hounds are like that. i would honestly say that the lengthy grooming is the only drawback.....I dont mind it, but it is very timeconsuming, and depends if you can make time for it. this time of year they are full of twigs and leaves. I would say i do about 15 mins a day with afro comb, to keep matt free. I bath her about once every 10 days, leaving in conditioner, and dryind her with a big stand drier (cost£350 , but cuts down drying time by half). I do her on a grooming table or it kills the back. The shampoos and conditioners are expensive for shows, but you can use pantene, which is not too bad. you need to bath them regularly as pups to get them used to it, even though they dont really need it till they get older. I can bath her and dry her in an hour and a half, but it used to take 4 hours! They are not particularly expensive to feed, similar to an irish.
Can I ask who the breeder is?
Also there is a good website for affie people....[link]http://login.prospero.com/dir-login/index.asp?webtag=afghanhound&lgnF=b&lgnDST=http%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Edelphiforums%2Ecom%2Fafghanhound%2Fstart[/link]

Cathy and Delilah!

I had a friend many years ago whose dog would open all the cupboards and the fridge and freezer so they had to have locks on everything. Other than that she was one of the most wonderful Afghans going:d

Hi Cathy, you and Ace have made some really encouraging comments :) I have got in touch with a trainer friend of mine and we are going to socialisation and clicker training classes - I wonder if I get any funny looks :D I really cant wait. She was bred by a Mrs farmer in Biddisham, Somerset and her affix is Simonhay. We are going shopping for pup accessory's tomorrow!
Sarah.

Sarah loads of luck with your baby and hope you have as much fun with her as i do with my beautiful boy , they are the most special breed and yes the coat is a lot of work if you decided not to clip but when they are all freshly bathed and groomed my god they are worth it and i would second the comment about the big dryer they are worth their weight in gold don,t know what i would do without mine , mind you i also have Tibetan Terriers in full coat Gosh i must be a glutton for punishment. Anyway keep us posted about her

My puppy came home yesterday - I am sooooo chuffed and very proud of her, she is gorgeous and a right little scamp :D - 10 minutes after coming home she was walking round the place like lady muck!!! :) :D

Oh wonderful keep us posted on how she is doing and enjoy every minute you will have loads and loads of fun, i am really jealous Affie babies are just the best, what breeding is she?

Hi Ace, Dam:Kabella heaven help us at shimonay - Sire:Xciting no blondes after midnight!! That reminds me I must fill out change of ownership details! She is soooo cute the only thing at the moment is the toilet training I think she may be a bit slow in that department this morning we were outside for an hour!!!! Yep, she came in without doing anything and had a wee in the kitchen. She just doesn't get it - she has done a poo and wee in the garden so far and I praised her so much I think she got fed up, but she seem's to find the garden far to interesting to wee in it!!

Hi Rozzer, Great aunt Ebony sends congratulations on your new puppy
Sue