...Batna whelps five female puppies on 05/23/09, al hamdullilah...

Over millenia
In a harsh land
Where water is life a
Near perfect form arose;
The Azawakh,

One of the Living Treasures of the Sahel.

My primary goals are to breed and raise typical Azawakh: dogs which most closely resemble their ancestors which where imported to Europe in the early 1970s as well as their contemporary "relatives" in today's Africa; ideally, specimens which display archetypal structural traits and temperaments as well as an over-riding mixture of nobleness and gentleness. 

 In trying to understand the dogs I've come to see them not as just as a race but rather as a culture.  They are at once something beyond a dog and just a dog.  In every sense they display seemingly mutually exclusive motivations and behaviors:  they are fierce yet gentle, intelligent yet hard to teach, sensitive yet tough, protector and predator.  All extremes meet and co-exist within the dogs.  It is this "internal conflict" that fascinates me.  Surely no dog is more self-aware, more self-conscious!

They are creatures possessed of relentless independence and self-reliance; devoid of slavish tendencies and disinclined to overt displays of obedience.  You must have the capacity to learn from other creatures or the Azawakh will not be the right dog for you. 

My dogs are many things to me.  One of the most important things to me is that they are my beloved companions; I respect and admire them.  But they are not my pets.  For me the term pet is derogatory; and the other important thing is that they are breeding stock, priceless genetic promises in a race that, without direct preservationist intevention, may not be long for this world. 

I hope this site (and my blog!) will contribute in some way to increased awareness of the unique qualities of  the Azawakh, one of the living treasures of Africa's Sahel---and to greater appreciation of the their place both in history and in contemporary Sahelian culture, Insh'Allah. 

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