(Afghan Hound Database and Breed Information Exchange)
Author Steve Tillotson 1996 Preamble  I am the editor of the only newspaper in Armenia about dogs and generally about animals. I like your page very much, it is very nice source of information about Afghans. These dogs are not widespread in Armenia and personally I know only of 4 Afghans living here. I like this dog because the Afghan is different from other breeds, I once owned one. I bought my Afghan from Kiev in 1988, at that time this breed was relatively new in the former Soviet Union and most of the dogs were imported. The father of my dog was from Germany and the mother from Hungary. The name of my dog was Araks, Sant-Gal Araks. When he was 1 year old I was with him in Kiev again, and all the experts from the clubs were amazed and shocked, he became higher then his brothers from the same litter for more then 10sm (78sm), very powerful, energetic, with thick long coat and very bright colors, wide chest. The people from Ukraine said that I made from the Afghan a real Caucassian Ovcharka :-) He was very impressive, strong and proud, from the all human race he only recognized me, among the dogs he was always a leader. When he was 1.5 years old I went to US for study. After 1 month of my departure, my parents called me and told that Araks left the home and disappeared, some people saw him in the mountains, out of the city, he was with a group of homeless dogs and was leading them and living with wild life. After one year I came back for two month vacation and the first thing I did was to find him. After a week I found him 20 km away from the city. I saw him surrounded by a large group of dogs. When I called him he came to me very quitly, just stayed without any emotions next to my leg.  Upon my return Arak's was happy, but I had to leave again after two months. I heard that two months later he had died in a car accident. he three pictures that I'm enclosing were done by me when I was in vocation, it was how he looked like after 1 year of wild life. Araks was completely different, I even thought that he is not a dog but some other animal. Everything he did was so unusual, undoggy. What always amazed me was his unbelievably proudness, he always reminded me an Indian chief like Chingakchguk from the Coopers novel "The last Mohican" (I don't know if the spelling is correct in my English) Before buying the puppy I never saw alive Afghan, only photos, but I was impressed of it's unusual appearance and the fact that it's ancient breed, not human made, nobody can trace the roots etc. and when I did inquiries I've found out that the breed is very rare in the former Soviet Union, and few examples are imported for breeding purposes and not for general sale or use at that moment. But I insisted and after app. 1 year of search I found a club in Kiev called "Redkaya poroda" (in Russian Rare Breed), but the price was very high, app. 2000 rubles, at that time it was huge money, you could buy the best german shepherd for only 50 rubles. So we made an agreement with the breeder, I'm paying only 1500 rubles and with the puppy she is giving me only the Puppy Card (in Russian it's Shenyachaya kartochka) which is the exact copy of the pedigree but the header is different. And after my dog is becoming 2 years old we were hoping to mate him in Kiev, and she is getting all the litter, and then only after that, she is giving me the original pedigree. But then I never had a chance to mate him and get puppies to exchange with the pedigree, but I still have the Puppy card, and like in the pedigree there is 4 generation. All my dog and pedigree papers are in my parents home, in Giumry and I'm living now in Yerevan, so as soon as I go to Giumry I'll have the papers and can send them to you. His father's name was Galyan, and mother's Santa Q. - Have you seen the Ukraine Afghan page, there is a link from the main menu that is another very interesting place and we only just learning about afghans there too? Yes, I saw the page from Tirnopil, it was very interesting. I saw many Afghans in Ukraine, mostly in Kiev, but never heard about working Afghans (hunting) in Ukraine. I was present at several dog-racing events in Kiev (hunting the mechanical hare), usually they did in the Central Republican stadium, and mostly with Afghans, but the dogs were not trained well, and it was more show then professional racing. (Thank you Tigran for sharing your experience in Afghans with us, we look forward to learning more about Afghans in Armenia and corresponding with you - Steve) |