The Afghan Hound is one of the oldest sighthound dog breeds. Distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the end, the breed acquired its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan,and east of Iran where it was originally used to hunt hares and gazelles by coursing them. Its local name is Sag-e Tāzī : سگ تازی or Tāzhi Spai . Other alternate names for this breed are Kuchi Hound, Tāzī, Balkh Hound, Baluchi Hound, Barutzy Hound, Shalgar Hound, Kabul Hound, Galanday Hound, or sometimes... incorrectly African Hound. Sighthounds are among the oldest recognisable types of dogs, and genetic testing has placed the Afghan Hound breed among those with the least genetic divergence from the wolf on some markers; this is taken to mean that such dogs are descended from the oldest dog types, not that the breeds tested had in antiquity their exact modern form. Today's modern purebred breed of Afghan Hound descends from dogs brought in the 1920s to Great Britain, and are a blending of types and varieties of long haired sighthounds from across Afghanistan and the surrounding areas.
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| Breed Group: | Hound Group |
| Place of Origin: | Afghanistan |
| Also Known As: | Tazi, Baluchi Hound, Ogar Afgan, Sage Baluchi, Levrier Afghan, Lebrel Afgano, Afghanischer Windhund |