The Azawakh is an ancient race of hounds indigenous to Africa's sub-Saharan Sahel where the peoples of the Kel Tamajaq raise them. Bred for millennia to guard, hunt, and to adorn, they continue to serve these purposes even in today's threatened Tamajaq culture.
The Azawakh closely resemble the Middle Eastern Saluki and the North African Sloughi, but with basic and subtle differences. For example, the Azawakh's natural beauty is austere, angular and architectural, contrasting the arabesque loveliness of the Saluki or the rather somber dignity of the Sloughi. All are hunters, but the territorial instinct of the Azawakh is typically more pronounced. All three are almond eyed, lean, and graceful, but the Azawakh appears at once more sere, more attenuated, more feral. Superior specimens move with an almost feline grace; collected, elastic, articulate, their demeanor guarded and mysterious, their glance fierce, predatory.
The Azawakh are extremely alert and intelligent but their instinctive reactions to stimuli underscore the reality of an aboriginal temperament. They are fiercely loyal, will readily form an attachment to a single master and in their own home are independent, loving, and playful. However, in unfamiliar situations or surroundings they may be reserved, avoidant, even unapproachable.
For More Information Contact:
David Moore
Azawakh Al-Ifriqiya
3500 Williams Bridge Road
Toccoa, GA 30577 USA
Phone/Fax: 706 886-2994
E-mail: 
ifriqiya@alltel.net
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