Azawakh
A Sahel sighthound, lean enough that the bones show by design rather than by neglect. It guards as well as it runs, which few sighthounds do.
Photo by Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0
Overview
The Azawakh is a sighthound from the Sahel, kept by the Tuareg and other nomadic peoples of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to course gazelle and to guard camps. It is extraordinarily lean, with visible hip bones and ribs at correct condition, and long legs relative to its body.
That leanness is the breed standard rather than a welfare problem, and it is worth understanding before someone reports a healthy Azawakh as underfed.
Temperament
Aloof, deeply loyal and unusually protective for a sighthound. Azawakhs bond intensely to their own household and are genuinely reserved with strangers, often actively so.
They are pack oriented with dogs they know and they can be sharp with dogs they do not. They do not enjoy being handled by strangers, and early socialisation matters more here than in most sighthounds because the guarding instinct is real.
Care and grooming
The very short fine coat needs almost nothing, a rub down weekly.
With almost no body fat they feel cold badly and need a coat in winter, and they are sensitive to anaesthesia in the way sighthounds generally are. The breed is generally healthy, and epilepsy and hypothyroidism have been reported.
Living and exercise
Daily hard running in a securely fenced space. They are built for sprinting and they need to do it.
They are not park dogs off lead, because the coursing instinct is intact and a distant moving animal wins. They are also climbers and jumpers, so fencing needs height as well as integrity.
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