Domiko Kennel

08/20/2024

Rescue Alert!!! These 3 Azawakh/Saluki mix puppies were brought into a shelter in Tallahassee, FL last night. It seems the person who owned the Saluki has passed away and his partner who has the Azawakh wasn't in a position to keep them. Saluki rescue is assisting with this since there is no official Azawakh rescue. There are 2 boys and 1 girl. They are 12 weeks old and have already been spayed/neutered. Please share this, and let's try to help.

08/19/2024

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm sharing my newest musical obsession to start our week with a dance. I shared last week how I've fallen heavily for Chappell Rose and she's still playing continuously here. But I've added a new emerging artist to the playlist. She's incredible. If Grimes and Kate Bush had a baby, she would be Hemlocke Spring. Do yourself a favor and listen.

Album · 2023 · 7 Songs

08/19/2024

Sergei (Gran Vencidor Abioy) and Khai (Khai Ayur-es-Sahel) wanted a little attention today also. Both of these gorgeous Azawakh are loved by me and Lilia Berezkina. Lilia bred the gorgeous Khai who is only the 2nd Azawakh to ever win the Grand Seiger at an IABCA show in addition to being Best of Winners at the AKC Nationals in 2023.

08/18/2024

My new happy little family.

GCH Seydou of Silverdale x MBISOH GCHB Eidi n'Amanar

08/08/2024

Check out my blog post https://wix.to/75NRThM

In the world of canine breeding, there's a delicate art to preserving the unique characteristics of a breed while maintaining its health and vitality. Azawakh, the elegant slender dogs with roots in the Sahel region of Africa, are no exception. Today, we delve into the captivating world of Azawakh b...

07/29/2024

I saw this video from class yesterday, and I knew I had to share it. At our handling class, Dogs by Mara, our instructor Mara Powell has us switch dogs with each other. For my breed, the Azawakh, this is so beneficial on many levels. The dog then can be handed off in the ring if you enter 2 dogs and have to take both back into the ring and it helps the dog become more secure in any environment. At least those are some ways I've benefitted from this. But that isn't the reason I'm sharing this video.

It is important to show the dog on a loose lead in Azawakh specifically and for other breeds generally. I love how Mara, our instructor, enforces that with all of us in class. For an Azawakh, pulling up on the lead or having it too tight results in the hackney movement we have been seeing so much of lately. It exaggerates this hackney action even more on a dog with a poorly built front that is too narrow. This video shows exactly how the dog moves differently on a tight vs loose lead.

07/16/2024

Puppies expected mid August. ❤️😁🤰🏼🍾

07/10/2024

https://showsightmagazine.com/the-parent-club-dilemma/

This. Bravo Doug Johnson for calling out the issues with parent clubs today. I've said this many times before, they are nothing more than cliques for the most part. I can relate to this article fully. While I am a full member of the parent club for my breed - and the 1 person in the club who has championed the breed for the longest in the US- (I was accepted when the breed club was aiming for recognition and needed members to obtain this, so I was allowed in) another long time person in the breed I sponsored was not admitted. In our breed club, one kennel controls every position on the Board. We have no diversity in that area. If that kennel doesn't like you, or if you beat their dogs too often, then you aren't allowed in. The pettiness of this is insane to me. In my case, I sponsored a person who has been in the breed as long as I have. This person is the person who bred the only American-bred dog of our breed ever to win Westminster and the first male to do so. When I sponsored this person, they were denied. I objected at our annual meeting, and while making my case for membership, the Secretary of the club, who had the former top dog and was threatened by my friends, objected to their membership bc they said this person was "too controversial". Of course, I asked how we define controversial and the President of the club went - in the words of a judge friend who was in the meeting - unhinged. The call was rapidly ended with no one else allowed to speak or ask questions. Inappropriate things were shared by the President and, yes, were reported to AKC. At the end of the day though, the club got what they wanted and blocked my friend, one of the originals in our rare breed in the US, from joining. The "clique" was able to keep out the person they didn't like. In a sport that is struggling to maintain participation, this is exactly what is doing harm to it. We need to be open. We need to welcome people in with different views. We need to listen more and talk less. We need to be inclusive. I cant speak for the other breed clubs out there, but as the person in my breed club who has champions and support the breed the longest, I urge the American Azawakh Association to do better. Open our club to new members and stop the divisiveness of not allowing in people who threaten those in charge. I believe that every single person who applies for membership in clubs should be allowed in. That is the only way we are to survive. We must be inclusive.

Exclusivity in parent clubs can hinder purebred dog progress. Learn how opening doors benefits breeders and the whole dog community.

05/20/2024

Domiko Bigger Than The Whole Sky (Skyler) female

05/20/2024

Domiko Bigger Than The Whole Sky (Skyler) female

05/18/2024

Earlier this morning, I woke to a drawing that someone sent to me (below in black and white) asking me why this didn't look like the Azawakh I have had through the years. Mind you, this was before the first double espresso and a long time before the daily sugar-free Red Bull. So, glancing at the picture, I responded, "Because that's not an Azawakh. It looks like some sort of whippet cross". I was shocked at the reply telling me this represents the breed on the official AKC site. THIS IS IN NO WAY A REPRESENTATION OF A CORRECT AZAWAKH. Let's start from the back and work forward. The rear is far too angulated to correctly represent the breed. From the AKC Standard, the hindquarters are seen as a whole: long and lean, with legs perfectly vertical.
Additionally, the rear here is too low. The Azawakh rear is slightly higher than the withers but no less than level to them. For me, the loin in this drawing is too long for a male. While females can have this length of loin, males should always have a very short loin/back. Let's move to the shoulder. In this drawing, it is overdeveloped. It's the same with the chest. Here is is too deep and should never reach or, in this case, be this close to the elbow. The upper arm in this drawing is too short as well. I was taught by a very well-informed source that the "long bones," such as the upper arm, give this breed the verticality they are known for. The head is also not ideal for an Azawakh as there is far too much stop where the muzzle meets the skull. It should slope far more gently and not have a pronounced stop.
Additionally, the ears here are set too low and should be set higher. For the neck, it should be "long, fine, and muscular". This dog's neck is too short.
Im also attaching a drawing (the one in color) of a correct Azawakh, with the proper proportions outlined. I believe this was drawn by Anne Hochgesand of Aulad al Sahra's Azawakh. (Someone please correct me if I am giving credit inaccurately.) This drawing is the one that should be attached to the breed page to represent the "ideal" from the Standard. I have no idea how the other one was ever approved to be how we represent this breed on an official AKC webpage.

05/09/2024

Bad move, Apple. Who's idea was it to promote a new iPad with an ad featuring the destruction of human tools of creativity and cultural achievements?

04/16/2024

I shouldn't be surprised, but honestly.... When a breed club allows in someone who is doing incredible damage to the breed but refuses a person who has tirelessly worked for almost 30 years to preserve the breed, that's a problem.

03/18/2024

Today, I was speaking to a friend who is soon judging a sweepstakes involving my breed, the Azawakh. Im blessed with 7 Azawakh of varying types and colors who I am able to showcase to those wanting to learn more about the breed. While I am a member of our parent breed club and the member who has been involved in this breed far longer than anyone else in the club, I am not a mentor but I am able to share the knowledge I have gained over the past 30 years with others. I digress (club politics that is endemic to all parent clubs, it seems)... Im really proud to be able to showcase the various types of dogs I have here from rustic (lack of breed type) to correct (exhibiting appropriate breed type)". Showcasing these to others unfamiliar with the Azawakh is a visual way to show correct vs incorrect.

This made me start to reflect on the breed here in the US. For those of us who show in conformation, we are blessed to have had Patrick Guilfoyle and his girl Relic (MBIS BISS GCH Azamour Anbar) pave the way for Azawakh in the American show ring. Without Patrick and Relic (and Chris Manelopoulos, who handled her exquisitely), this breed would not be where it is today in the competitive world of dog sports. For me, it's extremely important to recognize our past and those who worked so hard to make our present what it is today for us to continue making progress. GCH Azamour Anbar made the Azawakh a force to contend with in the Group rings, and I will always be grateful to her for that and to Patrick, who loved her with all his heart.

03/15/2024

If successful, we will have puppies in early May! 🤞🤞🤞 This will be the first time two Grand Champions have been bred to produce a litter and the first time a Westminster winner has produced a litter. I am very excited, as this litter, God willing it be successful, is an excellent example of how we can utilize the oldest lines in the breed to still produce an outcross litter that should exemplify breed type and temperament. inquiries are welcome to very select homes.

03/15/2024

I've been noticing more and more that people here in the US involved in the breed of dog that I love, the Azawakh, are openly hostile to others who serve as mentors to the breed after studying its history and phenotype and spending copious amounts of time with experts who have been working to preserve this breed for decades. It is not now, nor has it ever been, necessary for a person to own a breed to know and become an expert of it. In fact, through studying and exposing themselves to various examples of the breed and learning in depth about them through those who have put in the hard work to develop their lines, one knows far more than those who have only known their own dogs. I would much rather spend my time speaking to and learning from someone who has tried to learn about the breed than someone who only knows the very limited gene pool in their backyard.
I also think it's rather rich that a lot of this hostility is coming from my own breed club—the breed club that chose a person with zero experience in the breed to serve as judge for the 1st National Specialty. Hypocrisy, anyone? Unfortunately, when one kennel dominates a breed club and continuously shouts down the voices of any who disagree, they can select the judges/mentors who choose their own dogs, not the best dog. How sad and pathetic is that? 😢

07/15/2023

Lilia Berezkina and I are so proud of Khai Ayur-es-Sahel who took a major from the 6-9 month old puppy class at her first weekend of shows here at the Jupiter-Tequesta Dog Club in West Palm Beach, Florida yesterday. Today, her sister took the major. Greatness runs in the family it seems. 😁 I am incredibly excited to be on the other end of the lead from this exceptional Azawakh. She is everything - and more - that I love about Azawakh. ❤️❤️❤️

06/29/2023

GCH Chalas Amber Sand bred by Tamara Grina in Latvia. Chalas was Best of Breed at the 2023 Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, only the 2nd Azawakh to achieve a Best of Breed there. Chalas is handled exclusively by Brendan Coleman.