Agile and light, without hackney action or pounding...

Anyone who knows me knows that I have three things I look for in an Azawakh before looking at anything else. The first is a good, straight front. I hate easty-westy fronts. The second is a short loin, which is one of the defining characteristics of this breed. Lastly, it's movement. While I can live with a slightly off front and even a slightly longer loin, I can't live with a dog who moves with a hackney action or shows any sign of pounding. This is sacrilegious to this breed. As the AKC Azawakh standard says regarding the gait: The Azawakh's movement is agile and light, without hackney action or pounding. He has particularly graceful, elastic movement at the walk. The trot gives the appearance of floating effortlessly over the ground. At the trot, the front foot should not extend past the end of the nose. The gallop is leaping. The movement is an essential point of the breed. Fault - To move with exaggerated reach and drive or heaviness. Unfortunately, hackney movement and pounding action have become the norm in the American show ring.

So, why are we now seeing this incorrect movement prevalent in the American show ring? I'm fully aware that this blog post will probably cause some issues for me in the show ring. A lot of money has been spent on incorrect dogs to get them top status. A lot of judges have been misinformed by handlers who have now become the "instant experts" of the breed after showing for a couple of years only one Azawakh. The blood, sweat, and tears a few of us have spent decades on with this breed are disregarded. And now, unfortunately, our beloved breed has become one that is being redefined by those with no knowledge of what a correct Azawakh is. That is why I'm writing this blog entry - to preserve and save this breed from becoming unrecognizable from other sighthounds. For me, I refuse to allow three decades of blood, sweat, and tears for this breed to be swept away due to arrogance and ignorance of what makes an Azawakh an Azawakh.

As the Standard says, movement is an essential point of the breed. As much as you hear me say if we lose type, we lose the breed, you will hear me say if we lose correct movement, we no longer have a true Azawakh. When I say true Azawakh, I mean this in the sense of what the breed evolved into - that beautiful dog sculpted in the Sahelian desert over the centuries. Breed type is more than form. It also has function. You won't see a hackney dog survive in the Sahel as it has to exert too much energy to move in that harsh environment. You won't see a dog with a pounding motion survive for the same reason. Our Standard specifies that the movement must be agile and light, without these incorrect movements, and this is why.

I must admit, prior to the Azawakh being accepted into AKC, I worried that we would see the breed devolve into a sighthound with too much reach and drive. In some cases, that is true. I showed the only Azawakh bitch to achieve Grand Champion Bronze status, multi-group placements, multi-owner handled Best in Shows, and NOHS Platinum status. She moved beautifully, but she had too much reach - she reached past her nose. I knew that when breeding her, I had to find a male who would pull her reach back and shorten her loin that was too long. Mind you, she has the best front you will ever see on this breed, so I wanted to preserve that. So far with her 9-month-old puppies, I have achieved this as none overreach. Some have her movement, some don't, as is always the case. We will work on that in the next generation.

What I didn't expect was to see dogs that are campaigned that don't reach enough. I never thought I'd see large versions of Min Pins in the Azawakh ring. Well, here we are. So, how do we correct this? For me, this blog post is my contribution to pulling us back to what is correct. Recently, I witnessed a judge pull the handler of the special he awarded Best of Breed to aside after he judged the class and questioned the dog's movement. He was told it was correct. He went on to give the dog a very nice Group placement later in the day. Judges, trust your gut, regardless of whether hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on the dog annually! Read the Standard and if it deviates in any way, judge accordingly. Don't let the fact that a lot of money has been spent on the dog's campaign sway your judgment. You are a judge for a reason: to choose the dog that best exemplifies the Standard. Judges, it is up to you to help us preserve this breed to what it is supposed to be. By awarding what in my opinion should be a DQ in our breed, you will change this breed for the worse. That dog who is today's #1 dog will tomorrow sire or give birth to more incorrect dogs until one day soon, the breed won't resemble an Azawakh at all. And, when we lose type, we will lose the breed.