What did you think? Were you immediatly hooked?

----------------
Afghan Hounds International

Surprisingly I do remember the first Afghan I ever saw. She was a matted up mess that showed up to our door when I was very young. This was in the late 60' or very early 70's. We spent many, many hours brushing the poor girl out, when the owners showed up to claim her. Her name turned out to be Raven and we had to give her back even though the owners did not care for her properly.
It wasn't until the late 80's that I ended up getting an Afghan for myself.
Kathy

The woman at the dog training centre where I helped out gave me a dog encyclopaedia for Christmas and once I saw the photo of the Afghan I said, I WANT ONE!! She said she'd only known 3 or 4 and they were a law unto themselves, totally untrainable and unreliable. Mother being mother said no so that was that ... A few years later I got a weekend job as a dog groomers assistant and, after a few weeks, 2 Afghans came to the parlour (and came back once a month or so.) They were so gentle and easy to work with compared to the snapping yapping westies, yorkies and bichons. They'd be happy to meet the staff, tolereate their bathing and drying then lay on the shop window box looking utterly fabulous. I was hooked from then and swore I'd have one someday...

Steven x

I saw a picture of an Afghan hound in the Observer Book of Dogs given to me by my mother when I was 14. I was determined to have one, but had to wait until I left home before I realised my dream.

----------------

The first one I saw was one I was being given. He was a total freak. The lady who gave him to me was use to discpling and training GSD and tried those techniques on him. She broke his spirit, but she did right by him by trying to find him a good home.
She took me under her wing and taught me how to bathe & groom and introduced me to the show world with my little freak.
As scared of everything as he was, he was totally comfortable at the dog show ring. He did love to take walks but everyone would stop and stare (as they had never seen a real Afghan) and want to touch him, which I would intervene.
He turned out to be totally happy, he was never fully socialized but much loved just as he was. I actually took him to obedience class, trying to build his confidence and he passed his class. He also passed his Therapy dog test.
The breeder found out I had him and I went to visit. I wound up taking his sister home with me. I had a nickname as the 'Mother Teresa of Afghan Hounds' and the breeder (to this day) as a standing joke with me that 'if I touch it - I take it'. I wound up touching 2 more of his Afghans.
I lost my old crew due to old age a few years ago and have a new crew They are so totally addicting.

I was immediately hooked! I saw Coastwind Gazebo and I knew I had found my breed. It was love at first sight.

----------------

My first dog was given to me when I was a toddler by my grandfather who was a serious breeder of American Foxhounds. Later, I had a Border Collie, then as a young teen-ager, got a "Scotch" collie as they were sometimes called back in those days. I bred some really nice dogs, according to Collie fanciers back then. I did not know until many years alter, that I had shown collies at some of the same shows Kay Finch had attended, but I don't remember seeing her or her Afghans back then. I went away to college, then took a job in Germany, leaving my dogs with my parents. I was hoping to import a nice Collie bitch from England to bred to my remaining stud back in the States. I started researching kennels and lines when one day while walking in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, I saw an elderly, rotund lady with two red "llamas" (Afghans) -- one on each side of her! I was hooked! Had to have one IF that would be the right breed for me and IF I'd be right for the breed! I wrote breeders in England; I agonized if this was the right thing for bothme and an Afghan. I had written Dr. Betsey Porter ("Kabul") whose reply I'll never forget,"My dear, I do wish I had an Afghan puppy for you, but alas, I am too old to breed!" So she then referred me to Mary Watts ("Divels"), and in the spring of 1969, 10-month old Divel's Kohizata became my first Afghan hound! Oh, how I loved that girl and still tear up whenever I speak of her. She was the first, but certainly not the last Afghan over the past forty (can it really be that long?) years. Kohi was also the first dog I put an obedience title on.

Nerine

It was spring, 1956 in Philadelphia. I was just 10 years old and born to a family of dog lovers. We owned at that time a very beautiful cocker-dachshund bitch named Juno and during one of our daily walks together we were startled by two magnificent Afghan Hounds running in our direction. They were off leash, but their owner was nearby and had total control of them. I remember one was colored fawn and the other one was black and they posed no threat to me and Juno. I think I saw them again maybe two or three other times and after that I never saw them again. I began having dreams about them and when I was twelve my mother purchased the complete World Book Encyclopedia and inside the "D" volume there was a color portrait of Ch. Rudiki of Prides Hill and he looked just like one of those dogs I had remembered. I've loved Afghan hounds for their grace and uniqueness ever since.

I was 8 years old, sitting in the vets waiting room with my mother and a hamster who was unwell at the time. There was a leaflet on the window sill and on the cover was the most amazing dog I had ever seen, an Afghan Hound.

Didnt know what breed it was at the start but still informed my mother that I would own one later on in life. My mother laughed and dismissed my comments as she usually did.

20 years later I was driving home, teary eyed and emotional with the most beautiful, black, Afghan hound puppy, who I'd named Rogue.

I love all animals but to this day I have never seen another breed of dog that makes me stop dead and think WOW!
And now, I get to relive the feelings I had when I saw that leaflet everyday when I see my own two hounds.

The gits....lol

----------------