Our new photo contest is just started and you can vote for a photo or enter a picture here Whippet Photo Contest.

The prize is a very special leather collar. I found this kind of collars in a Spanish shop and I fell in love with them.

They are handmade with a typical local leather working technique that reminds of the beautifully intricate Moorish patterns.

These collars are originally made for Spanish galgos but can fit also a whippet.

So, warm up your cameras and start taking whippet pictures!

To win this wonderful collar, send your pictures with a short story with the form on this page.

We are waiting for your favorite pictures!

Make your whippet a star for a day (or longer) by entering a picture in the Dog of the Day and see your pooch in our homepage!

The Azawakh, an African Dog Breed

We only walk in the early ours or at night but some sighthounds were selected for their stamina in extreme weather conditions.

During a dog show I met an Azawakh owner with his beautiful dogs. He told me that they have no problem running run at full speed in temperatures reaching over 100 degrees.

Read this article that introduces the Azawakh, a little known African dog breed.

A Look at the Azawakh Dog - The Rare African Sight Hound
By Darren R Sturridge

The Azawakh, an African sight hound, has been a popular hunting partner for African hunters for hundreds of years (and in fact some rock paintings would suggest that this has been the case for as many as 10,000 years). Its keen eyesight, quick speed, and pack mentality make it a ferocious and effect hunting dog. It's long legs propel it forward at nearly 40 miles per hour, allowing it to effectively hunt gazelles and hares. It is also very protective of its family (which it includes into it's pack) and therefore makes a great guard dog (especially when there are more than one Azawakhs to work together as they instinctually do).

Although other sight hounds, like the Greyhound, have similar builds to the Azawakh, the African breed is quite different. It not only has the ability to run at full speed in temperatures reaching over 100 degrees without tiring (a feat which would kill a Greyhound), but it enjoys to do so. It also has a rare glucose isomerase allele (GPIB) that is only found in a few unrelated Japanese dogs, foxes, jackals, and Italian wolves which would suggest that where as most known canines stem from the family tree of wolves the Azawakh may come from more feral pariah dogs like the jackal.

Azawakh dogs are pack animals by nature, In the African villages where Azawakhs are popular, Azawakhs often sleep on the low straw roofs of their owner's homes. If a hyena or other predator approaches, the first Azawakh to see it will jump down from its roof to soon be joined by the other Azwakhs in the village. They will then form a pack to chase away the intruder, or kill it. When there are no other Azwakhs around (such as an American family who keeps one as a pet), they treat the family as their pack, defending them at all costs while still being loving and affectionate to the family. While they are not often openly aggressive toward strangers, they are quite reserved in the presence of the unknown and do not like to be touched by anyone outside their owning family.

My name is Darren and I run the Rare Dog Breeds web site. It carries information on many types of rare dog, including lots on the Azawakh.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_R_Sturridge

https://EzineArticles.com/?A-Look-at-the-Azawakh-Dog---The-Rare-African-Sight-Hound&id=2080351

I hope you enjoyed this issue of The Whippeteer.

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